COUNTERTERRORISM WARFARE: THE VICTORY AND CHALLENGES OF JOINT MILITARY OPERATIONS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST MILITANTS IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA
Olutoye Israel and Rotimi Olajide Opeyeoluwa
Volume 3 Issue 2
Abstract
The study seeks to examine the antecedents of Joint Military Operations of the Air Force, Army, Navy, Police, Nigerian Securities and Civil Defense Commission, and the Department of State Security Service in the fight against militancy in Nigeria’s oil-rich zone of the Niger Delta. It explores the trajectory of joint military deployment in Nigeria's oil-producing conflict-affected zones and examines the structure and modus operandi of the Joint Military Task Force (JMTF) deployed in the Niger Delta. The study further espouses some epochs of the Niger Delta terrorism vis-a-vis the joint military operations and interrogates the impact of these activities in the Niger Delta. It further explores that the fight against the persisting terror groups has encountered challenges as the military approach in the region has not quelled the crises but still continues to engage the militants in active warfare. The paper analyses Joint Military operations deployment in the context of two observable events of the Niger Delta insurgency: the active military combat operations and the presidential amnesty program. The study concludes thus that the joint military operation has achieved successes in the course of the crisis-era but has continued to fight militants to this day because the cogent factors that necessitated the crises in the first place have not been addressed, further showing that the action of the joint military operation in the region is a reactionary measure on the path of the government rather than a proactive one. Keywords: Counterterrorism, Terrorism, Joint Military Operations, Militancy, Niger Delta
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