June 10th, 2021
Mucahid Durmaz, journalist with TRT World, interviewed Yan St-Pierre on the death of Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram’s leader, and it’s significance for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.
With their ruling strategy, says Yan St-Pierre, a counter-terrorism expert at Modern Security Consulting Group, the group has created an “eco-system”. “ISWAP’s effectiveness thus far has been in creating a reliable ‘eco system’ in which they exert control and strong influence over the economy, justice, education, and security. There, the organization is in full control and can ‘govern’ an area with very limited opposition”, St-Pierre told TRT World.
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“Boko Haram was defined by Shekau as the group was framed by the cult of his personality. With Shekau’s death, the group’s era is now over,” St-Pierre said. “However, with the integration into ISWAP, the threat that Boko Haram fighters represent does not change. If anything, joining a new organization could make them more dangerous.”
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“[Shekau’s death] made the task more complicated now that Boko Haram fighters will be part of a more structured and effective organization, with better training and operational capabilities”, St-Pierre said.
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