Operation Enduring Peace On The Plateau

Plateau State holds a peculiar spot successful my heart. I began my nonrecreational vocation successful Jos. During my enactment successful Jos, it was a pleasant experience. Interestingly, the state’s sobriquet is “Home of Peace and Tourism.” I experienced this first-hand. Since I left, a batch has changed. A batch of h2o has gone nether the bridge. Five antithetic subject operations person been conducted from 2002 to date. In 2004, a authorities of exigency was declared successful the authorities by erstwhile president Olusegun Obasanjo owed to escalating hostility betwixt Muslims and Christians that led to nonaccomplishment of lives and demolition of properties.

The subject successful interior information operations

The constabulary were overwhelmed arsenic usual, and the probable solution was the involution of the subject to apprehension the descent into anarchy. Military operations successful Plateau authorities started with Operation Harmony successful 2002 and ended successful 2004. Operation Restore Peace held sway from 2004 to 2008. Operation Flush was instituted successful 2009 and terminated successful 2010. Operation Safe Haven began successful 2010 and continued until recently, erstwhile it transformed to Operation Enduring Peace. These subject operations springiness penetration into the vulnerabilities of the Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa axis.

The caller rebranding of the associated subject operations Operation Safe Haven to Operation Enduring Peace did not travel arsenic a surprise. Operation Safe Haven is 1 of the longest subject operations successful Nigeria, conscionable a twelvemonth shy of the subject operations successful the northeast. The Plateau, Benue, and Nasarawa axis has a agelong past of sectarian conflict. The 2001 Jos situation was the precursor. It highlighted the suspicion betwixt Muslims and Christians successful the authorities and sparked the indigene versus settlers’ statement that has contributed importantly to the chaos that seemed to person defied each odds.

This play assessed the engagement of the subject successful interior information operations nether a antiauthoritarian setting, and was mostly liable for the backlash it has continually received from its operations successful different parts of the country. This is understandable. The populace expects truthful overmuch from the military. They privation the subject to beryllium its might. Interestingly, times person changed. We are successful an epoch of asymmetric warfare. The epoch of unconventionalism and the conflict betwixt authorities and non-state actors. This is the mix.

It was not astonishing erstwhile Prof. Chris Kwaja, Special Envoy connected Peace and Security, to the Governor of Plateau state, declared that the beingness of soldiers has not yielded affirmative results with the continued attacks and killings of guiltless civilians successful parts of the state. He called connected the Federal Government to “consider withdrawing each subject unit deployed successful flashpoints and regenerate them with Mobile Police Squads to guarantee a much effectual and responsive information strategy that prioritises the combat against asymmetrical warfare, which the MOPOL is conversant with.” This is uncharitable and defeats logic successful my opinion. I tin stake that Prof Kwaja knows amended astir asymmetric warfare than the presumption helium canvassed.

The dynamics of subject operations

The usage of brute unit cannot adequately code the struggle successful Plateau State and environs due to the fact that of the complexities involved. This explains wherefore the subject has continually rejigged its operations successful the authorities since 2002. In asymmetric warfare, subject strategies are not static. They germinate to accommodate the peculiarities of the time. And the precocious launched Operation Enduring Peace is an illustration of the conformity to these dynamics. This, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, stated. He said the “new cognition is simply a rebranding of Operation Safe Haven, aimed to execute lasting bid successful the Joint Operations Area with the engagement of members of the affected communities.”

This is the caller absorption of Operation Enduring Peace, and I judge it would beryllium an instant success. General Musa emphasized gathering spot with members of the communities. He said, “This cognition is simply a caller mindset that we privation to make wrong the troops. We request to enactment with the communities. The communities indispensable spot us.” This is simply a population-centric attack that draws from the warfare strategy of winning the hearts and minds. It focuses connected gathering trust, understanding, and practice betwixt subject forces and the section population.

The section colonisation is important

The renowned Counterinsurgency expert, David Galula, successful his enactment “Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice”, recommended a population-centric attack successful counterinsurgency operations. He posited that “Effective counter-insurgency operations request a blend of decisive subject enactment and strategical governmental engagement, recognising that the eventual extremity is not simply to decision an force connected the battlefield...