Multinational joint task force counter insurgency: A strategic containment of ISWAP insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin, 2009-2019.

Abstract

The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgency has existed for over two decades. Over the years, it has grown from a pygmy insurgency threat to a colossal insurgency security problem currently perplexing the Lake Chad Basin’s (LCB)socio-economic and political equilibrium. The study traced the intricacies surrounding ISWAP’s emergence, evolution, merger and transition between 2009 and 2015 and recorded details of how the micro-Islamic sect gravitated into a macro security challenge. The study examined when and why the Multinational Joint Taskforce (MNJTF) was established and the factors that have handicapped its counterinsurgency campaigns in the LCB since 2012. Despite the counterinsurgency onslaughts, the ISWAP insurgency is still in operation. This is why the successes and failures of ISWAP containment before the intervention of the MNJTF in 2014 were examined. The aim was to provide the rationale for comparing the two periods, 2009 to 2014 and the succeeding years following the MNJTF intervention, 2015 to 2019, under study. A review of previous works identified previous scholars’ weaknesses and strengths, which resonates with the logic that while significant attention was given to assessing homologous counterinsurgency arrangements, the MNJTF was largely overlooked in their literature. Both primary and secondary sources provided relevant information towards examining the factors that contributed to and sustained the activities of the ISWAP insurgency in LCB. The study critically examined the historical background of MNJTF, updated mandates, and counterinsurgency approaches in the fight against insurgency. The study also reiterated the importance of counterinsurgency approaches other than traditional military fighting, which is the root cause of insurgency, largely linked to the poor economic situation of the LCB countries and other social and religious factors. The study provides valuable recommendations that would guide the MNJTF in finding a sustainable solution to the ISWAP insurgency in the Chad Basin. Other institutions, governments and international organisations in Africa and elsewhere would also benefit from the recommendations as the world, especially Africa, struggles with insurgencies.