S.Africa Intel Sees 'Abuses' in Nigeria Battle against Boko Haram
Nigeria faces a prolonged battle to quash the bloody Boko Haram insurgency despite a "hardline" campaign that has witnessed rights abuses by both the state and the militants, according to a South African intelligence assessment obtained by Agence France Presse.
A National Defense Force Defense Intelligence division briefing -- delivered to visiting Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan on Tuesday -- offered a blunt assessment of Africa's crises, including Nigeria's fight against Boko Haram and its Islamist offshoot Ansaru.
The government in Abuja faces a "prolonged armed insurgency" with little prospect for resolution, the briefing said, adding that the "security situation in Nigeria is expected to deteriorate".
"Prospects for conflict resolution are likely to remain bleak -- government persists (in a) hardline counter-insurgency response to the crisis that has degenerated into human rights abuses by the state and militants alike."
Thousands of people have died in Boko Haram's bloody five-year campaign to establish an Islamic state in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria.
The insurgency, long a worry for regional governments, gained worldwide notoriety following the April kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from the remote town of Chibok in Borno state.
Deadly bombings and killings have become an almost daily occurrence in Africa's largest economy, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.
South Africa and Nigeria, both African powerhouses, are also political and economic rivals, vying for influence in Beijing as well as lucrative Chinese contracts.
Nigeria earlier this year surpassed South Africa as the continent's largest economy.
There are heightened fears that the Boko Haram insurgency is spreading after three car bombings in Abuja in as many months and a similar attack in Lagos last month.
Security experts say the overstretched and under-resourced Nigerian military is incapable of fighting an effective counter-insurgency against an enemy that is believed to have ties to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused the Nigerian authorities of carrying out hundreds of extrajudicial killings and disappearances every year.
But the government has repeatedly rejected the accusations.
Source: Agence France Presse
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