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ABSTRACT
Insurgency has gained prominence in Africa. It is usually associated with marginalisation, poverty, and inequality and often has religious links and bases. Insurgency frequently originates in communities situated along the borders of a country but soon spreads to neighbouring countries due to the poor response from the concerned state. The literature reveals that when state institutions ignore insurgent groups, they utilise that window of time to network with terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) to solicit funds, arms and ammunition and training of new recruits and existing members. This was the case with Boko Haram, which was initially ignored by the Nigerian government only for it to become a security threat to the entire West African sub-region. An Islamic group, Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jammah (ASWJ) has recently emerged in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province with the aim of creating an Islamic state within the region. Drawing from the Boko Haram experience in West Africa, this article critically assesses the short- and long-term security threats that this group poses to Mozambique and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and explores the strategies that could be deployed to combat the insurgency before it becomes a fully-fledged security challenge.
Notes
1 Bussotti and Charles, ‘Islamic Terrorism in Mozambique’, 10.
2 Kilcullen, ‘Counter-insurgency Redux’, 113.
3 Laqueur, ‘The Terrorism to Come’, 63.
4 Ibid.
5 Hellesen, Counterinsurgency and the Norwegian Special Operations Forces, 23.
6 Siegel, Theories of Criminology, 363.
7 Gompert and Gordon, Counterinsurgency, 32.
8 Kilcullen, ‘Counter-insurgency Redex’, 112.
9 Okunade, Border Communities, 1.
10 Herbst, States and Power in Africa, 8.
11 Okumu, Africa’s Problematic Borderlines, 22.
12 Herbst, States and Power in Africa, 7.
13 Asiwaju, Partitioned Africans, … … ; Mulindwa, ‘The Interstate Border’, 606.
14 Eselebor, Border Management; Okunade, Border Communities, 6; Small Arms Survey, The Economics of Small Arms.
15 Salehyan, Transnational Insurgencies.
16 Okunade, Border Communities, 30.
17 Ibid.
18 Human Rights Watch. The Lord's Resistance Army.
19 Ibid.
20 Akinbi, ‘The Boko haram Insurgency’, 36; Osumah, ‘The Boko Haram insurgency’ 539.
21 Salaam, ‘The Boko Haram’, 156, 157.
22 Isa, Militant Islamist Groups, 332.
23 National Bureau of Statistics, Human Development Report, 19.
24 Akanji, ‘Combating Domestic Terrorism’, 60.
25 Agbiboa, ‘Relative Deprivation’, 145.
26 Hickey, ‘The Maitatsine Uprisings’, 251–6.
27 Faluyi, Khan, and Akinola. ‘The Boko Haram’, 77.
28 Onuoha, ‘The Boko Haram’, 159–60.
29 Onuoha, ‘The Islamist Challenge’, 55.
30 Ibid.
31 Al Jazeera. ‘Northern Mozambique’.
32 Matsinhe and Valoi. ‘Northern Mozambique’, 13.
33 Morier-Genoud, ‘Insurgency in Mozambique’, 397.
34 Matsinhe and Valoi, ‘Northern Mozambique’, 13.
35 Forquilha and Pereira, Cabo Delgado.
36 Fabricius, Mozambique’s Jihadist Insurgency.
37 Okunade, Border Communities, 245, 260.
38 Alden and Chichava, Cabo Delgado, 2.
39 Alden and Chichava, Cabo Delgado, 4.
40 Alden and Chichava, Cabo Delgado, 5.
41 Alden and Chichava, Cabo Delgado, 6.
42 Fabricius, ‘Mozambique’s Jihadist Insurgency’.
43 Onuoha, ‘The Islamic Challenge’, 56.
44 Okunade and Ogunnubi, ‘Border Communities’, 690.
45 Okunade, Border Communities, 169, 208.
46 Institute for Economics and Peace. Impact of Terrorism, 16.
47 Onuoha, ‘The Islamist Challenge’, 56.
48 Onuoha, ‘The Boko Haram’, 172.
49 Faluyi, Khan, Akinola, ‘The Boko Haram’, 77.
50 Meehan and Jackie, Boko Haram, 18.
51 Abada, Akale, Udegbunam, and Ononogbu, ‘The Multinational Joint Task Force’, 41.
52 Faluyi, Khan and Akinola, ‘The Boko Haram’, 77.
53 Morier-Genoud, ‘Insurgency in Mozambique’, 396 and 401.
54 Morier-Genoud, ‘Insurgency in Mozambique’, 400.
55 Morier-Genoud, ‘Insurgency in Mozambique’, 396.
56 Ibid.
57 Ibid.
58 Alden and Chichava, ‘Insurgency in Mozambique’, 1.
59 Alden and Chichava, ‘Insurgency in Mozambique’, 5.
60 Fabricius, ‘Mozambique’s Jihadist Insurgency’.
61 Habibe, Forquilha, and Pereira, ‘Islamic Radicalization’, 10.
62 Habibe, Forquilha, and Pereira, ‘Islamic Radicalization’, 11.
63 Habibe, Forquilha, and Pereira, ‘Islamic Radicalization’, 20.
64 Habibe, Forquilha, and Pereira, ‘Islamic Radicalization,’ 10; Morier-Genoud, ‘Insurgency in Mozambique’, 406.
65 Habibe, Forquilha, and Pereira, ‘Islamic Radicalization’,17.
66 Ibid.
67 Fabricius, ‘Mozambique’s Jihadist Insurgency’.
68 Matsinhe and Valoi, ‘Northern Mozambique’, 1.
69 United States Department of State’, Terrorism, 27, 28, 39.
70 Ibid.
71 Faluyi, Khan and Akinola, ‘The Boko Haram’, 6,7.
72 Faluyi, Khan and Akinola, ‘The Boko Haram’, 87.
73 Amnesty International, Human rights agenda, 30.
74 Omede, ‘Security Challenges’, 90–102.
75 Osakwe, and Audu, ‘The Lake Chad Basin’, 1.
76 Sampson and Onuoha, ‘Anti-Terrorism Legislation’.
77 Faluyi, Khan and Akinola, ‘The Boko Haram’, 77.
78 United States Department of State, Terrorism, 28.
79 Human Rights Watch, Events of 2019, 406.
80 Ibid.
81 Forquilha and Pereira, Cabo Delgado.
82 Comolli, The Boko Haram.
83 Ibid.
84 Ibid.; United States Department of State, op. cit., 11.
85 Comolli, The Boko Haram.
86 Ibid.
87 Institute for Economics and Peace. Impact of Terrorism, 16.
88 Abada, Akale, Udegbunam, and Ononogbu, ‘The Multinational Joint Task Force’, 46.
89 Chikohomero, SADC and Mozambique.
90 Vhumbunu, Insurgency in Mozambique.
91 Ibid.
92 Ibid.
93 Brewster, The Mozambique maritime security hotspot.
94 Coelho, Politics and History in Mozambique, 20–30.
95 World Bank. Mozambique.
96 Cart de Mozambique, Food distribution meeting in Palma.
97 Chikohomero, SADC and Mozambique.
98 Ibid.
99 Columbo, ‘Northern Mozambique at a Crossroads’, 7.
100 Chikohomero, SADC and Mozambique.
101 Okunade and Ogunnubi, ‘Boko Haram’, 690.
102 Columbo, ‘Northern Mozambique at a Crossroads’, 7.
103 Gerber, “ISIS’ Warns South Africa’.
104 Chikohomero, SADC and Mozambique.
105 Ibid.
106 Fabricius, ‘Mozambique’s Jihadist Insurgency’; Chikohomero, SADC and Mozambique.
107 Fabricius, ‘Mozambique’s Jihadist Insurgency’.
108 Chikohomero, SADC and Mozambique.
109 Ibid.
110 SADC, Communiqué of SADC on Mozambique.
111 Matsinhe and Valoi, ‘Northern Mozambique’, 17.
112 United States Department of State, Terrorism, 28.
113 United States Department of State, Terrorism, 28–9.
114 United States Department of State, Terrorism, 40.
115 US Embassy in Mozambique, U.S. Government trains Mozambican Marines.
116 SADC, Communiqué of SADC on Mozambique.
117 Ibid.
118 Powell, ‘Southern African leaders respond to Mozambique insurgency.’
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Samuel Kehinde Okunade
Dr. Okunade holds a doctorate degree in Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Specifically, he researches on borders and migration most especially as they concern human trafficking and migrant smuggling in Africa. He is also interested in thinking through ways in which social and ethnic cleavages in border communities could be used for economic integration and social cohesion in Africa. He equally advances the course of border communities that have an age-long history of marginalisation and neglect by the government. His fields of interest cut across borderland studies, peace and conflict studies, development studies, migration, and refugee studies. He has published in high impact factor journals which can be freely accessed online and has more under review.
Olumuyiwa Temitope Faluyi
Olumuyiwa Temitope Faluyi is a PhD candidate at the School of Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. His research interests are federalism, diversity studies, public administration and public policy within the counter-terrorism spectrum. He has published in academic journals and books on restructuring in Nigeria, diversity, frictions between executive and legislative arms of government on policy matters and responses of government to security challenges, especially terrorism. He has attended conferences.
Emmanuel Matambo
Dr. Emmanuel Matambo is currently a senior researcher at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Africa–China Studies (CACS). His primary field of research is on the increasingly important Africa–China relationship. He has also published on a range of topics such as terrorism, educational theory, and post-colonial studies. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from St Joseph’s Theological Institute. He did his graduate studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal from where he graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Political Science.