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Abstract
Throughout history, power has more often than not been wielded through terror that is, by 
inciting fear. All despotic societies have been founded on fear, as have so-called 
totalitarian regimes in the modern era.  The precursors of terrorism are many and they 
include political, economic, social, ethnic, racial and religious factors. However, this 
paper focuses on the religious factor. This is because of its highly volatile nature in 
Nigeria. Religion plays a serious role in fostering terrorist tendencies because of its 
conception against people identified as” infidels”. It is quite disheartening that Islam; a 
religion that translates to peace is in the forefront of terrorism (various violent militant 
groups like Boko Haram and Al Sunna Wal Jamma) in Nigeria. The major reason for this 
could be because the history of Islam was very violent as indicated by the “JIHAD” 
fought by the founder of the religion and other later adherents to proselytize the society. 
This killing of “unbelievers” at that time has transmuted into terroristic activities today. 
The “blame Islam” argument would suggest that there is something inherent to “Islam” 
as a unitary phenomenon, which inspires and motivates Muslims to kill and die in the 
name of Islam.  Arguably, religious extremism is a major derivative of terrorism in the 
contemporary world and in Nigeria today, the major factor that have led to the upsurge of 
terrorism is religion.

Keywords:  Nigeria, Islam, Jihad, Religion, Extremism, Terrorism, Fear,

Introduction
In the past, terrorism was practiced by a collection of individuals belonging to an 
identifiable organization that had a clear command and control apparatus and a defined 
set of political, social, or economic objectives. Radical leftist i.e., Marxist-
Leninist/Maoist/ Stalinist movements organizations such as the Japanese Red Army, the 
Red Army Faction in Germany, and the Red Brigades in Italy, as well as ethno-nationalist 
terrorist movements such as the Abu Nidal Organization, the Irish Republican Army 
(IRA), and the Basque separatist group, ETA, reflected this stereotype of the traditional 
terrorist group. “They generally issued communiqués taking credit for and explaining in 
great detail their actions” (Lesser 1999, pp.8). However disagreeable or distasteful their 
aims and motivations may have been, their ideology and intentions were at least 
comprehensible albeit politically radical and personally fanatical. Significantly, 
however, these more familiar terrorist groups engaged in highly selective and mostly 
discriminate acts of violence. They targeted for bombing various symbolic targets 
representing the source of their animus (i.e., embassies, banks, national airline carriers, 
etc.) or kidnapped and assassinated specific persons whom they blamed for economic 

TERRORISM IN NIGERIA AND THE QUESTION OF RELIGION

OKPANACHI, Elijah Ojochonu
Department of Philosophy,

Federal University Lafia, Nasarawa State.



129

exploitation or political repression in order to attract attention to themselves and their 
causes. Even when these groups operated at the express behest of, or were directly 
controlled by, a foreign government, the connection was always palpable, if not 
necessarily proven beyond the shadow of legal doubt. According to Magnus, following 
the 1986 retaliatory U.S. air strike on Libya, Colonel Qaddafi commissioned the Japanese 
Red Army to carry out revenge attacks against American targets. In hopes of obscuring 
this connection, the Japanese group claimed its Libyan-sponsored operations in the name 
of a fictitious organization, that of the “Anti-Imperialist International Brigades” (2010, 
pp.62-63). Similarly on the other hand, Iranian-backed terrorist operations carried out by 
Hezbollah in Lebanon during the 1980s were perpetrated under the guise of the so-called 
“Islamic Jihad.” (1993, pp.63).

Edmund Burke was among the first to use the term, which he invoked to describe 
Robespierre's “Reign of Terror,” a strategy aimed at stifling opponents and controlling the 
masses after the French Revolution. Robespierre was the radical Jacobin leader of the 
new French government. Thus, 

He used terrifying means tens of thousands were executed at the 
guillotine, and hundreds of thousands of others were shot or left to die in 
prisons in the name of virtuous democratic ideals, as an instrument of 
social control by the state to restore order in a climate of anarchy. This 
somewhat positive connotation of terrorism remained largely until the 
1930s, when the term became used to connote repression of the masses by 
totalitarian states, including Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Stalinist 
Russia.' (Burke 1993, pp.90). 

The modern usage of the term, developed in the mid-twentieth century, “regards terrorism 
as a tool of ethnic and religious fanatics to serve political ends, such as liberation from an 
alien occupying group, or simply to exact righteous vengeance against a group labeled as 
a threat or enemy.” (Hoffman 2006, pp.40). 

Today, the more traditional and familiar types of ethnic/nationalists and separatist 
as well as ideological group according to King “have been joined by a variety of 
organizations with less-comprehensible nationalist or ideological motivations. These 
new terrorist organizations embrace far more amorphous religious and millenarian aims 
and wrap themselves in less cohesive organizational entities, with a more-diffuse 
structure and membership.”  Unlike the specific, intelligible demands of past familiar, 
predominantly secular, terrorist groups who generally claimed credit for and explained 
their violent acts, no credible claim for the embassy attacks has yet been issued. Indeed, 
the only specific information that has come to light has been a vague message taking 
responsibility for the bombings in defense of the Muslim holy places in Mecca and 
Medina and promising to “pursue U.S. forces and strike at U.S. interests everywhere.” 
(Weiner 1998, pp.6)

The fact that the most notorious instances of contemporary terrorism have a 
religious dimension, notwithstanding their political aims, should serve to remind us that 
this has also been true historically of most forms of terrorism, such as that of the Jewish 
Zealots of the first century C.E., for example, or of the Ismailia sect of Assassins from the 
eleventh to the thirteenth centuries. Indeed, the religious point of reference was long 

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central to most societies, and this phenomenon has not yet exhausted itself. Nowadays, 
terrorism beats out guerrilla warfare as the preferred and practically exclusive weapon of 
the weak against the strong. In other words:

Its primary target is the mind. In that sense, terrorism is the most violent 
form of psychological warfare, and its psychological impact is commonly 
understood to be far greater than its physical effects. Stooping to often 
pathetic means, terrorism is a way of creating power in the hope of seizing 
from below that which the state wields from on high (Chaliand and Blin 
2007, pp.9).

Typologies
Given the virtually infinite variety of circumstances surrounding terrorist events, every 
group or act that fits any conventional definition of terrorism is unique, usually in several 
respects. Still, there are a few generic dimensions that distinguish some terrorists, terrorist 
groups, and terrorist acts from most others. According to Forst, he argues that:

Particular terrorist groups and individual acts of terrorism fall into any of a 
variety of categories, based on the following dimensions: Whether or not 
politically motivated, Whether or not operating under state authority, 
Degree of association with larger terrorist organizations or networks, 
Extent of organization and planning, whether justified in religious or 
ethnic terms, whether aimed primarily at people or at symbolic targets and 
the types of people targeted (Forst 2008, pp.8). 

Each case can usually be characterized conveniently and usefully in terms of the 
particular combination of these and possibly other dimensions that fit. The variation of 
behaviors among these various categories may in most instances be greater than the 
variation of behaviors within a particular category.

Politically and Nonpolitically Motivated Terrorism
Acts of terrorism are generally carried out with a political agenda: to induce the state or 
citizens in a state to act in ways that those who carry out the acts perceive are unattainable 
through legitimate means. Typically, a terrorist act achieves its aim by instilling fear in a 
target group and thereby pressuring the state to act in accordance with the wishes of the 
terrorists. It may aim to destabilize the political, economic, or social order. It may attack 
symbolic targets, such as government buildings, a venerable statue, or a sacred shrine a 
mosque, temple, or church rather than people. In some cases, however, the acts of terror 
are committed out of sheer hatred, strictly with the goal of exterminating a group of 
people perceived as undesirable referred to euphemistically as “ethnic cleansing” by the 
perpetrators and as “genocide” by objective observers or inducing the targeted group to 
flee the territory. Gus Martin refers to these acts as cases of “communal terrorism” 
(Martin , pp.171). Such acts are not generally characterized as politically motivated, 
although principled political motives may be claimed to provide an element of legitimacy 
to a terrorist because that is rooted, in fact, primarily in hatred.

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Terrorism by the State
We have noted that the term “terrorism” was coined in the nineteenth century to describe 
acts conducted by the French Republic. More than a century later, some of the most 
devastating episodes of terrorism continue to be committed by or sponsored under the 
authority of sovereign nations. Among the most brutal examples are the following: These 
various forms of support may have anyone or a combination of several aims: to 
destabilize a state to gain greater influence in the region, to create international visibility 
for a persistent problem, such as that of Palestine, to retaliate against a target state in the 
region perceived as an enemy and to undermine the influence of a larger power operating 
in the region. Although acts of state-sponsored terrorism are well known both those 
involving direct initiation and control and those involving patronage and indirect support 
few sovereign nations officially acknowledge involvement in or support of these 
activities. Today, terrorism is widely thought to originate with groups like al Qaeda, 
operating outside the official auspices of the state. Constitutional democracies have taken 
particularly strong stands against terrorist attacks on noncombatants, especially in the 
post-Cold War era. Leaders of nondemocratic nations generally express opposition to 
terrorist activities as well, especially when the targets of those activities are people who 
are friends of the state or when the activities are aimed directly against the state and its 
resources. Terrorist groups and individuals are, at one extreme, operative of larger 
terrorist networks, much like business franchises. Some are only loosely affiliated al 
Qaeda is the best known of such loosely associated networks. 

Terrorism by Militant Religious Extremists 
The fact that the most notorious instances of contemporary terrorism have a religious 
dimension, notwithstanding their political aims, should serve to remind us that this has 
also been true historically of most forms of terrorism, such as that of the Jewish Zealots of 
the first century C.E., for example, or of the Isma\ili sect of Assassins from the eleventh to 
the thirteenth centuries. Indeed, the religious point of reference was long central to most 
societies, and this phenomenon has not yet exhausted it- self. Much terrorism is 
conducted in the name of a religious mission. With the 9/11 attack, Islamic jihadism
became the most prominent example of terrorism motivated by religious extremists, but 
by no means the only example of terrorist acts done in the name of religion. Millions of 
innocent people were slaughtered as infidels by Muslim crusaders for some 200 years 
beginning in 1099, as were countless others by militant extremist factions of all the major 
religions over the years.

Ethnic Terrorism 
Ethnicity is typically associated with unique combinations of genetics, culture, language, 
religion, and common heritage, and ethnic terrorism is terrorism an ethnic group. It occurs 
typically following long-standing ethnic or tribal rivalries and is accompanied by 
slogans, such as the following: you are not one of us, you interfere with our well-being 
and thus threaten us, and we must defend ourselves against you and your kind. Ethnic 
terrorism usually follows acts of persecution, with the persecutor and persecuted often 
switching roles in episodes of mutual retaliation.

Daniel Byman observes that ethnic terrorism is often the product of government 

1 

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interventions against ethnic minorities. “He identifies several common characteristics of 
such interventions. When a government acts with force to stifle the dissent of an ethnic 
minority against government rule, the actions tend to polarize the opposition and induce a 
stronger-than-anticipated reaction” (Byman 1998, pp.149). Such acts of force often 
induce other countries and institutions that are unfriendly to the government to provide 
support to the ethnic minority.

 The Nature of terrorism the American colonialists did to the British military in the 
late eighteenth century. In the end, overly aggressive government action tends to escalate 
ethnic terrorism. Every continent has its history of ethnic rivalries that simmer and then 
boil over into acts of terrorism, some not involving government intervention. Although 
each of these histories has its own unique elements, they tend to share many attributes: 
small differences become greatly magnified while large commonalities and shared values 
are ignored; intermarriage between individuals of opposing clans or tribes become taboo, 
and the identities of the children of such marriages become confused; extremists on both 
sides put moderates under pressure to choose sides and give up conciliatory or neutral 
positions; and government interventions tend to be alternately inept and needlessly 
brutal, with both sorts of reactions having the eventual effect of energizing the opposition.

Suicide terrorism 
Arguing in line with JF Forest in his work titled Centering Terrorism, Sheikh Muhammad 
Husayn Fadlallah, Spiritual Leader of Hezbollah's avers that “What martyrdom is greater 
than making yourself a human bomb detonating it among the enemy? What spiritualism is 
greater than this spiritualism in which a person loses all feeling of his body and life for the 
sake of his cause and mission?” (Ganor 2001, pp.10). Ganor defined suicide terrorism as 
“. . . an operational method in which the very act of the attack is dependent upon the death 
of the perpetrator”) often characterize it as violence carried out by Islamists or Islamic 
fundamentalists, that is, martyrs and self-sacrificers, against a range of targets. (Ganor 
2001, pp.135).
 Pedazor Ami posited that “Recent efforts to trace the history or pre-history of 
suicide terrorism also stress its religious origins” (Pedazor 2004, pp.108). The histories of 
the phenomenon usually run from the Assassins and Sicarii through the eighteen-century 
suicide attacks of Muslim warriors against Western colonial rule in India, Indonesia, and 
the Philippines through Japan's Second World War Kamikazes to the Iranian children, the 
Basij, used by Revolutionary Guards to clear out minefields during the Iran/Iraq war 
(Basij 1980, pp.8). “The causes for which those involved sacrificed themselves and, 
usually, as many others as possible, were religious or some mix of religious and 
nationalist/patriotic objectives” (Reuter , pp.110). 

Terrorism and Religion
“To fight in defense of religion and belief is a collective duty; there is no other duty after 
belief than fighting the enemy who is corrupting our life and our religion”. (Ibn Tamiyya, 
c.1300). At the end of the 20th century the world faced a revival of religious 
fundamentalism, quite puzzling to many people who had assumed that the process of 
secularization was, although perhaps erratic, an irreversible one. The long-standing 
liberal assumption that the rise of modern society and the decay of religion were two sides 

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133

of the same coin was suddenly thrown into doubt; and the shock effect of this was soon 
registered in writing on terrorism, where religion had confidently been consigned to the 
margins of terrorist motivation. In the 1980s terror was still the business of a handful of 
radical revolutionaries and some all-too-familiar nationalists. The next ten years, 
however, saw a remarkable shift. One of the leading surveys 96 in the late 1990s asserted 
that 'the religious imperative for terrorism is the most important defining characteristic of 
terrorism today', while the author of an American college textbook on terrorism put 
'religious fanaticism' top of her list of terrorist motives. Official assessments reflect this 
too; for instance, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service 2000 Public Report states 
that 'one of the prime motivators of contemporary terrorism is Islamic religious 
extremism'. And while the US State Department remains unshakably regional-political in 
orientation, and still does not isolate religion as a category in its statistical breakdown.

Bruce Hoffman's Inside Terrorism, an authoritative recent study by the head of the 
Rand Corporation's terrorism research unit, is devoted to religion. Hoffman notes that the 
first 'modern' religious terrorist groups did not appear until around 1980. “By 1994, 
however, fully a third (16 out of 49) of known terrorist groups 'could be classified as 
religious in character and/or motivation and this proportion leapt again the following year 
to almost half (26 out of 56).” (41)
Huffman further argued that “those involved in religious terrorism see violence as an act 
of sacrament or divine duty carried out in direct response to some theological requests or 
expectations” (43).

 Religion and Terrorism in Nigeria
There is a continued threat from extremist groups operating in Nigeria. The al Qaeda-
linked terrorist group Jamaat al Ansar al Muslimeen fi Bilad al Sudan, better known as 
Ansaru, has previously carried out attacks and kidnappings, including that of westerners, 
across northern Nigeria. Nigeria faces growing threat of Boko Haram. Boko Haram's 
international connections to al-Qaeda and its affiliates is obvious. According to Doris 
Dokua, Nigeria has one of the highest terrorism threat levels in the world” (Dokua , 
pp.10). Despite a general decrease in terror-related deaths, the country recently recorded 
the second highest number of people who died in terrorist attacks worldwide, after 
Afghanistan. Several militant groups are active in Nigeria, leading to attacks on both 
civilian and military targets. Boko Haram is by far the deadliest, mostly active in the north 
of the country. Certain deaths have also been attributed to Fulani extremists, while further 
violent outcomes have been characterizing conflicts among other herdsmen, farmers and 
ethnic groups. 

Most attacks take place in northern and north east Nigeria; there has been an 
increase in insurgent attacks in Borno State. However, there have been a significant 
number of attacks elsewhere. Public places where crowds gather have been targeted, 
including places of worship, markets, shopping malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, football 
viewing centers, displacement camps, transport terminals, government buildings, 
security and educational institutions schools, further education colleges and universities 
are all regular targets, and international organisations. Attacks have taken place around 
religious and public holidays in public or crowded places, including places of worship as 
well as during election periods. 

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            According to Omomia, the current spate of religious terrorism in Nigeria is 
concealed by the perpetrators as a desire to “fight for God”. It is often argued by the 
insurgents that they are fighting for God”. The present level of terrorism in Nigeria, 
occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency, is commonly adjudged to be the most 
devastating in her religious and political history (Omomia 2021, pp.107). He also argued 
that Boko Haram sect which holds the philosophy that the “Western form of education is 
forbidden” is said to have captured some towns which include “Damboa, Gwoza, Bama, 
and some of Nigeria's towns bordering the Cameroons, Borno State and Mubi, Madgaki 
and Michika in Adamawa State” (Omomia 2021, pp.66) He further avers that the Boko 
Haram sect believes that Western Education is sin, and Boko Haram is bent on 
introducing sharia law across Nigeria. The implication of this, according to them, is to 
govern the nation according to the teachings of Islam. It is their opinion that they can 
enthrone spiritual sanctity which Allah demands. The implication of this, according to 
them, is to govern the nation according to the teachings of Islam. It is their opinion that 
they can enthrone spiritual sanctity which Allah demands (2021, pp.113).  
Methods of attack have included coordinated armed assaults, rocket attacks, 
assassinations, kidnapping, use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), bombings 
(including by child and female bombers), car bombings and arson. Use of military 
uniforms and vehicles have been used as a tactic to get close to the intended target.

Since 2019, there has been an increasing trend of terrorist groups constructing 
illegal vehicle checkpoints on major supply and commercial routes in Northern Nigeria 
and attacking vehicles travelling on major roads into Maiduguri, Borno State, including 
the Maiduguri-Damaturu Road. These attacks have directly targeted civilians, security 
forces and aid workers. There have been a number of actual and attempted attacks against 
IDP (Internally Displaced Persons), camps, markets, places of worship, security force 
installations, government and educational facilities in Borno and Adamawa. There has 
also been an increase in suicide attacks in central Maiduguri, Borno State.

th           The Premium times of 19 May, 2022 reported that Governor Nasir El-Rufai has 
raised concerns about the emergence of Boko Haram elements, terrorists' enclave and  the 
activities of ANSARU insurgents  in Birnin Gwari and Chukun local governments of 
Kaduna state. The governor disclosed that the debriefing of the first Abuja-Kaduna train 
kidnap victim to be released indicated that the terrorists were making comments like “the 
forests in Kaduna are even better than that of Sambisa and so they should all relocate 
here” (2007, pp.1).  According to El-Rufai, “the problem of insecurity now has moved 
from the North East to the North West.” He argued that the security situation in the state 
indicates ''a movement from banditry to terrorism with expertise in making explosive 
devices. And again, this is because Boko Haram and ANSARU elements have moved into 
the state.'' (2007, pp.1)

Timeline of Terrorism in Nigeria, 2022
th

In Niger State, the Punch reported on the 17  of January that Governor Sani Bello said that 
at least 220 people were killed by the terrorists within the first two weeks of 2022. 

The Punch also reported that: the most affected local government area in the state, with 34 
persons killed on January 12, another 18 persons killed on January 29 and 20 persons 
killed on February 3. 

Okpanachi             Terrorism In Nigeria And The Question Of Religion



135

On February 5, no less than 44 persons were killed while 31 persons were abducted, and 
on February 21, about 14 persons were murdered by the criminals in Galape, a community 
in the local government. 
The biggest carnage was in Dilalai community, Giwa Local Government Area where at 
least 50 people were killed on March 20. 
In Zamfara State, no fewer than 200 people in Anka and Bukkyum communities were 
killed on January 5, the biggest single attack so far this year. 
Despite the rising insecurity, however, security experts have warned against the 
declaration of state of emergency in the North-West. 
In separate interviews, the experts, Patrick Agbambu, Timothy Avele and a former 
Director of the Department of State Services, Mike Ejiofor, said a state of emergency did 
not achieve the desired result the last time it was declared. 
https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-monthly-protection-report-unhcr-sub-office-
maiduguri-february-2022 that:
Suspected ISWAP members attacked an ambulance which was conveying drugs for an 
INGO in Gujba town on 4/1/2022. 
Similar attacks by NSAG were also reported on Muktum, Goniri and Kasatchiya 
communities on 16th, 25th and 29th January 2022. During one of the attacks in the nearby 
Nigerian Army Institute of Peace in Buratai, vehicular movements on the referenced road 
linking to Adamawa State was disrupted for a day.
Also, on 25th January 2022, suspected ISWAP members on the Damaturu-Biu road 
abducted at least 04 civilians.
Again, reports still have it in https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › 2022_Zamfara_massac... 
that from 4 to 6 January 2022, over 200 people were killed by bandits in Zamfara State, 
Nigeria. This was the deadliest terrorist attack in Nigeria.
According to premium news online, on the 23 Jan 2022 — At least 486 people were killed 
in the first three weeks of 2022 by non-state actors across Nigeria, an average of 22 people 
a day, ...
28 March— At least eight people were killed and many others missing when gunmen 
detonated a bomb on the tracks and opened fire on the train ...
Thus, following the track of events vanguard online on 6 Apr 2022 
https://www.vanguardngr.com › reports that “The first attack on Tabanni took place on 
March 15, 2022, where two people were abducted and one was killed on Dogon Dawa-
Zaria Road. 

There has been an increasing number of attacks on Humanitarian workers in 
North East Nigeria. Areas of particular concern include northern and north eastern 
borders with Niger and Chad as well as more widely across Borno, Yobe, Gombe and 
Adamawa states in north east Nigeria, and some northern and middle belt states including 
Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, and Niger. Ansaru, Boko Haram and ISWA have carried out a 
number of kidnaps in Nigeria. Kidnappings could occur anywhere in areas where terrorist 
groups have a presence.   

Terrorist groups operating in Nigeria
Boko Haram or JASDJ is an Islamist terrorist group operating in Nigeria, Cameroon, 
Chad and Niger. The group aspire to establish a Sharia State in Nigeria and West Africa, 

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de-stabilise the Nigerian government and remove western influence from the country. 
The group was formerly linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).  The group 
split into 2 factions: Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) and JASDJ or Boko Haram.

ISWA is affiliated with ISIS core in Iraq and Syria and has expressed an intention 
to target Nigerian government, Christian and western interests. ISWA have launched a 
series of successful attacks against Nigerian military locations, increased their freedom of 
movement across Borno and Yobe states.  Ansaru is another Islamist terrorist organisation 
based in northern Nigeria, and is proscribed by the UK. It emerged in 2012 and is 
motivated by an anti-Nigerian Government and anti-Western agenda.  Ansaru is broadly 
aligned with Al Qaeda. 

Conclusion 
The issue of terrorism has become a major threat to the civil liberties that form an essential 
basis for constitutional government. While human beings tend quickly to forget the 
ravages caused by epidemics or the death toll from natural disasters, even when they 
occur on a vast scale, memories of the carnage caused by war, terrorism or other forms of 
political violence rarely fade. This is in part because the purposeful nature of such 
violence demonstrates what human beings are capable of doing to each other.  Because of 
the increased lethality of the contemporary wave of terrorism, a government cannot wait 
until a terrorist attack occurs to act. Counterterrorism must be largely preventive. But the 
traditional law enforcement mind-set is to wait for an incident to occur in order to begin an 
investigation. Even today, law enforcement systems are designed to act efficiently after 
the event—to investigate, collect evidence, arrest, charge, and prosecute. Unless there is a 
lead, the average police officer will not expend time, energy, and resources. A sea change 
in law enforcement culture is essential to combat terrorism. Instead of building cases by 
gathering evidence to prosecute, law enforcement authorities must invest their assets in 
collecting intelligence to detect and disrupt terrorist attacks. This involves effective use of 
confidential informants, undercover officers, and other covert assets, a mind- and a 
resource intensive process. Winning hearts and minds is key. To prevent terrorists from 
influencing the public, governments must co-opt ethnic and religious leaders from 
communities affected by terrorism. In as much as it is communities that eventually defeat 
terrorism, governments must ensure that Muslims are not demonized. Since no terrorist 
group can sustain itself without public support, it is critical to win over public support. 
Like a company, a terrorist group needs to grow in order to survive, and recruitment and 
flow of support intelligence, funds, weapons, sanctuary remain key. To disrupt the public 
appeal of terrorist groups, it is essential to legally criminalize and then target the terrorist 
support networks.  Comprehensive legislation targeting terrorist propaganda, including 
through the World Wide Web, and fund-raising by extremist groups, should be 
criminalized. Likewise, religious leaders who spread hatred in schools and elsewhere 
must be prosecuted. Developing a zero-tolerance policy toward terrorism in Nigeria is 
essential. Terrorists are like sharks they rapidly move in search of new opportunities. 

136

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https://punchng.com/terrorists-kill-1545-in-kaduna-zamfara-others-in-90-days/

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                                            Aquino Journal of Philosophy, Vol 2 Issue 2 2022-December
ISSN: 2786-9792


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