Mosquito nets are a constant feature in sub-Saharan Africa. It is used to prevent mosquitoes from gaining access to homes. Homes without the nets rely on insecticides to address the menace. However, the use of insecticides is temporary; it kills only the mosquitoes that have gained access and not the ones outside perched around looking for every opportunity to gain access and bite as many as possible. This is why the wisdom remains in installing nets to deny the mosquitoes access in the first place, because the constant use of insecticides in homes comes with some health challenges. Using this analogy, let us create a mental image of mosquitoes as criminal elements, insecticides as the military, and border security as the nets.
Why is the conversation around border security not loud? The northern region of Nigeria is like a house without mosquito nets in a forest. All sorts of insects gain access easily. When the insecticides (military operations) are sprayed, they kill the insects (bandits, insurgents, terrorists, kidnappers) in the house, and not those outside the house. The occupants of the house spend a fortune on insecticides, also with the risk of getting infected by malaria and other illnesses occasioned by insect bites. Play back the scenario. The house in the forest was fitted with mosquito nets and insects could not gain access and the occupants of the house lived in peace and without fear.
The case of Nigeria is a unique one. There is no mosquito net installed, which is why all sorts of criminal elements gain access easily. Our borders are not only porous, but we also have swathes of ungoverned spaces, especially in the North West and North East regions. This is why the regions have become a hotbed of criminal activities. The emphasis has been on military might to dislodge, repel, and kill insurgents and bandits, just like what an insecticide does to mosquitoes. For every insurgent that is killed within our territory, there are several others on the queue to get in because of our porous borders.
The Francophone Triangle
Nigeria is surrounded by four Francophone countries (the Niger Republic, the Benin Republic, Cameroon, and Chad). These countries are close to what is called the Francophone Triangle (Liptako-Gourma), consisting of Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Niger Republic. The Francophone Triangle is the breeding ground for violent and extremist groups operating in the Sahel region. Nigeria shares borders with Chad, Chad shares borders with the Niger Republic, and the Niger Republic shares borders with Mali, and Mali shares borders with Burkina Faso. Have we not unintentionally entered the Francophone Triangle? And do we think we can end insecurity with porous borders along this route? This is the oxygen that has sustained the Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgency in the last 17 years.
I remember sometime in 2025, when General Christopher Musa was Chief of Defence Staff. He advocated for fencing our borders. In one of his public engagements, he highlighted that: “If we are able to freeze the movement of criminal elements across our borders, it becomes difficult for the free flow of illicit arms and extremist ideologies.” He cited the example of the Saudi Arabia-Iraq and Pakistan-Afghanistan border fencing strategies. Saudi Arabia fenced its 1,500 km border with Iraq, and Pakistan fenced its 2,640 km border with Afghanistan, and it indeed proved that border fencing is an effective counterinsurgency strategy. This position is still valid.
The Conduit Pipe
Let me reveal a scary picture. Five states in the North-West (Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa, and Katsina) share a 1,608-kilometer border with the Niger Republic. Zamfara and Katsina are notorious for large swathes of ungoverned spaces. Ungoverned spaces are massive adjoining forest reserves and rugged terrains where the state has “involuntarily” ceded control to bandits and terrorist groups. A good example is the Rugu forest (Dajin Rugu) in Zamfara State. It is roughly 220 kilometres in length, cutting through Jibia, Batsari, Safana, and Danmusa local government areas in Katsina State. There is also the Ruma-Kukar Jangarai Forest Reserve.
This forest reserve was created in 1959 by the Northern Regional Government after merging two pre-existing forest domains: the Ruma forest (lying to the west) and the Kukar Jangarai forest (lying to the east). According to Suleiman Iguda Ladan, in his work “Assessing Security Threats Posed by Ruma Kukar Jangarai Forest Reserve to Batsari Local Government Area, Katsina State, Nigeria” published in the International Journal of Sciences, Volume 4 – June 2015(06), he stated that:
“In 1962, the government divided the reserve into ten state-managed ranges to serve as a structured grazing reserve for pastoralists, complete with earth dams and veterinary posts. Over decades of state neglect and climate-driven desertification, it mutated from a regulated agricultural asset into an ungoverned sanctuary.”
The North is the Breaking Point
Today, this reserve has served as the operational headquarters of various extremist groups and bandits. The movement of criminal elements and accessories between Nigeria and the Niger Republic happens mainly in this geographical space. The implication is that there is a gap that has to be filled. And it can’t be filled alone by “Operation Fansan Yamma”, a military operation established to combat the escalating threat of banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism across the North West region.
Asymmetric warfare hinders the military’s ability to wage a traditional offensive because non-state actors rely on entirely unconventional means and methods. These criminal elements behave like mosquitoes. When a mosquito perches on a human, it does so silently and undetected. In most cases, it is only after the bite that you realize that the mosquito had perched on you much earlier. That reactive moment is when you attempt to kill the mosquito. This is our dilemma as things stand.
The Terrain
When we save the North from itself, we will heal the nation of bloodshed. Its borders are porous and include large swathes of ungoverned spaces that have been annexed by criminal elements. It is our country, but not our terrain. It is the terrain of criminal elements, but not their country. This much was highlighted by the renowned Chinese military strategist, Sun Tzu, in his work, The Art of War. He posited that: “Knowing the enemy and knowing yourself makes you undefeated, but knowing the climate and knowing the ground makes your victory complete.” The position of Sun Tzu is that knowledge of the “terrain” confers an advantage in asymmetric warfare.
I align with the position of the Honourable Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, when he said: “Resilient borders are not only secured; they are adaptive, inclusive and capable of withstanding security threats, climate change and economic disruptions.” I think this should be treated as a national security emergency. The country is plagued by mosquitoes. We have been spraying insecticides. And our windows are without mosquito nets. What is the rational thing to do in this circumstance? To continue spraying insecticides or to install mosquito nets?
To spray insecticide while leaving the windows wide open is an exercise in futility. We must install the nets to prevent more from coming in, and when that is done, we can spray insecticides on those already inside. This is only rational.
– Ocheja, PhD, is an alumnus of the Nigerian Defence Academy. He is a military historian and creative writer; he is also the author of “Cash or Kind.”