The Nigerian Army, which killed 42 protesters on 29 October, posted a video of U.S President Trump’s statement that the US military would consider rocks thrown by US-bound migrants and asylum seekers as firearms, implying that soldiers should open fire in response, his comments..
The Nigerian Army, which killed 42 protesters on 29 October, posted a video of U.S President Trump’s statement that the US military would consider rocks thrown by US-bound migrants and asylum seekers as firearms, implying that soldiers should open fire in response. The Army seems to use Trump’s words to legitimise their actions.
Background
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a country between Central and West Africa. It is often referred to as the “giant of Africa” owing to its large population and economy; with 186 million inhabitants, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world. Nigeria is divided roughly in half between Christians, who live mostly in the southern part of the country, and Muslims, who live mostly in the north. A minority of the population practice religions indigenous to Nigeria. It overtook South Africa to become Africa’s largest economy in 2014, and has also been identified as an emerging global power. However, it currently has a “low” Human Development Index, ranking 152nd in the world.
Boko Haram is a jihadist militant organization based in northeastern Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009 when the jihadist rebel group started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. The insurgency took place within the context of long-standing issues of religious violence between Nigeria’s Muslim and Christian communities. Boko Haram has been called the world’s deadliest terrorist group – in terms of the number of people it has killed.
Since 2016, another lesser-known conflict has overtaken the Boko Haram crisis as the deadliest conflict in Nigeria, killing six times more Nigerians than Boko Haram did in the same period. It is being spearheaded by the Shiite Islamist Movement of Nigeria (IMN), whose leader has been in jail since December 2015. More than 300 people died in the 2016 Zaria massacre which left parts of the town in ruins.
Nigerians all over the country are increasingly worried that the IMN could turn into a second Boko Haram. The movement itself, known for getting in clashes with security forces, denies any plans to take up arms. At least 42 people were killed after the Nigerian army fired live bullets and teargas to disperse a group of IMN protesters on the second day of demonstration by the group in the capital city of Abuja on 29 October.
Analysis
When United States President Donald Trump said yesterday that the US military would consider rocks thrown by US-bound migrants and asylum seekers as firearms, implying that soldiers should open fire in response, his comments reverberated globally. On 29 October, Nigerian army soldiers opened fire on protesting members of the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), some of whom were throwing stones, killing 42 people, according to group leaders.
The Nigerian army quickly seized on Trump’s comments, posting a video of Trump’s speech on Twitter and telling viewers to draw deductions. It was an undisguised attempt to use the rhetoric as justification for soldiers’ widely-condemned use of lethal force. The tweet has since been deleted. The army did not mention the fact that the US embassy in Abuja has urged Nigerian authorities to “take appropriate action to hold accountable those responsible for violations of Nigerian law”.
The Shia Islamic Movement, the country’s largest Shia minority group, was protesting the detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky, his wife, and hundreds of other members who have been imprisoned since the group clashed with soldiers in December 2015. During those clashes, soldiers killed nearly 350 members of the group, which organizes frequent religious treks and protest marches.
The US is a close partner of Nigeria’s government, but has historically been cautious when it comes to security collaboration between the countries. Trump, however, has made clear his intention to strengthen the US-Nigerian partnership, despite minimal efforts by Nigeria at genuine reform. Over the last year, the US provided training and security equipment worth $600 million to Nigeria’s military. In 2017, the Trump administration approved the sale of twelve A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft, part of a larger sale worth $593 million, lifting the Obama administration’s freeze of the sale due to the Nigerian military’s poor human rights records.
Assessment
Our assessment is that this episode proves that President Trump’s rhetoric matters in a very tangible way. We believe his recent inflammatory statements, made days before the US midterm elections, have clearly been seized upon by some in the Nigerian military as a new standard to which they would like to adhere. President Trump’s language and support of the Nigerian military could potentially undermine the efforts of US diplomats on the front-lines, contributing to the unraveling of progress on human rights concerns in Nigeria.
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