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Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language:  Insights From 

Juvenile Correctional Units in Awka, Nigeria 

 

 

Chinwe Doris Ojiako 

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State 

cd.ojiako@unizik.edu.ng 

 

Abstract 

Nigeria has been inundated by a lot of terrorist groups such as Boko 

Haram, Niger Delta Militants, Bandits, ISWAP (Islamic Republic 

of West African Province), Unknown gunmen and Al-Quaeda who 

make life unbearable for citizens. Force and rule of law have been 

deployed to correct these ills but to no avail. This paper therefore 

investigates the effectiveness of love language as a catalyst to 

stopping terrorism tendencies in Nigeria. The research is an eclectic 

study adopting Chapman’s theory of love language and Social 

Interactionist theory.  Data was collected purposely from 30 

juveniles under correction in some schools’ disciplinary committee. 

The Needs assessment design was used in the analysis.  Findings 

show that humans respond positively to love language, denial of 

love language expressions can lead to deviant behaviours but its use 

encourages stronger relationship amongst citizens and thus helps in 

prevention of terrorist activities. Having highlighted the various 

causes of terrorism in Nigeria, this study illustrates various ways 

that could be deployed in correcting deviant behaviours using love 

language. The study recommends that Nigerian government should 

prevent radicalization of citizens by deploying love language 

approach. 

 



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Keywords: Terrorism, Social Interactionism, Love Language. 

Response and Perception 

 

 

1.0 Introduction  

Local and International actors have tried to mitigate or curb the 

activities of terrorists in Nigeria but their actions did not have 

intended effects. Various interventions by governments of the 

region to counter terrorism also had minimal effect. Some Indigenes 

of different States in Nigeria are gradually becoming refugees in 

their own country. 

The term ‘terrorism’ can be described in many ways depending on 

the angle through which one views it. It could be a description for 

obscene acts of violence perpetrated against civilians such as June 

2021 attacks in Burkina Faso or weak corrupt regimes branding of 

opponents ‘terrorist’ as a way of delegitimizing their objectives. In 

Africa especially, Colonial powers labeled independence 

movements as terrorist in order to retain power and demonize their 

adversaries and justify the use of extreme retaliatory measures 

(Chatham house 2021) 

Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, 

employed by (semi) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for 

idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons whereby in contrast to 



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assassination-the direct targets of violence are not the main targets 

(Leonard et al 2004). 

In recent years, West Africa and the Sahel have become a hotbed for 

terrorist activities by violent extremist groups. A host of terrorists 

group – including, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Islamic 

state in the Greater Sahara, Ansarul Islam operating in Nigeria, 

Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and other Countries in the Sahel and lake 

Chad Basin and  Boko Haram in Nigeria have wreaked destruction 

and exploited Security Vulnerabilities in Carrying out sustained 

attacks against both civilian and security targets. Burkina Faso, 

which is fast becoming the epicenter of terrorist violence in the 

region reveal the southward spread of terrorist activity, with possible 

consequences for West African Coastal States Such as Ghana, 

Benin, and Togo (Osei, 2020). In Mali, violent extremist groups, 

including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AOIM), Al 

Mourabitoun, the Movement for oneness and Jihad in West Africa 

(MUJAO) and ISGS, have exploited weak governance and growing 

poverty to destabilize the country. Ethnic Tuareg rebels and radical 

Islamic terrorists returning from war in Libya have exploited poor 

socio-economic conditions to destabilize northern Mali. This act has 

also spilled over to Burkina Faso causing mayhem in the country 

(Osei, 2020).  Military sources in Sahel are often made up of poorly 

trained and under equipped soldiers, unpaid troops mutinying or 

deserting hence unprepared to tackle terrorism.  



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A recent UNICEF report outlined the humanitarian toll of Burkina 

Faso‘s violence and instability as follows: 330,000 children in 

affected locales need psycho-social support; 2,000 schools closed 

affecting another 330,000 children and 9,000 teachers; 69 health 

facilities closed and 71 others limited to minimal operations thereby 

affecting 817,000 people. 147,000 children under the age of five are 

suffering from severe acute malnutrition (including 86,000 children 

in seven emergency affected regions of Burkina Faso (Osei, 2020). 

This is to say that most Countries in West Africa (Mali, Burkina 

Faso, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria etc) have suffered successive 

weak Government, characterized by corruption, impunity, 

disorganization and failure of elites to provide security for the vast 

sections of the population. 

In Nigeria particularly, in addition to the groups mentioned earlier, 

we also have the ISWAP terrorists in the North, the unknown 

gunmen in the South East and Niger Delta Militants all unleashing 

terror in the counry. However, in the world at large, we are seeing a 

rising trend in insecurity, insurgency, xenophobia, religious crisis, 

often fuelled through social media and other forms of 

communication. Just as Guterres (2019) puts it, “public discourse is 

being weaponized for political gain with incendiary rhetoric that 

stigmatizes and dehumanizes minorities, migrants, refugees, women 

and any so-called ‘other’. He observed that this trend has become a 

global phenomenon that weakens the pillars of our common 

humanity. 



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This is evident in the way the whole world is at war, witnessing 

different social vices. Indeed, the crisis in the world is eating deep, 

the norms that hold the nations. 

The Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) with 

significant support from other stakeholders has developed strategies 

to counter terrorism which they organized within the tried and tested 

strategic frame work of 4 P’s (CONTEST, 2018). ECOWAS whose 

major aim was economic integration has now pre-occupied itself 

with conflict management as a result of regional instability and 

conflict.  

Despite the different counter terrorism responses by the key players 

in West Africa, activities of terrorist groups, continue to escalate, 

towing different dimension, According to Guterres (2019): “Today, 

I fear we have reached another acute moment in battling this demon, 

and so I have asked my senior advisers to explore what more we can 

do”. 

Inadvertently an alternative means is necessary to tackle terrorism 

in Nigeria. Adoption of love language approach (words of 

affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service and 

receiving gifts) encourages stronger relationship amongst citizen 

and thus will help in prevention and countering of terrorist activities. 

Each of us can build stronger relationships if we take time to learn 

and understand each person’s preferred love language. This is true 

of all relationships from romantic to professional and security is no 



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exception (Chapman, 1992). It is in this view that this research 

focuses on tackling terrorism using love language approach. This is 

achieved through the following objectives: 

i. Does this concept of love language work on the target 

teenagers? 

ii. What are the consequences of abuse or denial of love 

languages in the target teenagers? 

iii. Can triggering love languages correct damaged 

behaviour caused by its denial? 

 

2.0 Literature Review 

Some of the key concepts used in this study are explained as follows: 

Terrorism is a problematic term when defined in relation to use of 

violence against civilians as practiced by some African 

Government. Other scholars opine that terrorism is an act of 

rebellion and severe violence to bring down a government and its 

people (Leonard et al 2004, Chatham house, 2021; Alex and John, 

2021). This points to the fact that terrorism can be described in many 

ways depending on the way we look at it. 

Chatham house, (2021) states that terrorism could be a description 

for obscene acts of violence perpetrated against civilians such as 

June 2021 attacks in Burkina Faso or weak corrupt regimes branding 

of opponents ‘terrorist’ as a way of delegitimizing their objectives. 

In attempt to combat terrorism, various authorities adopt counter 

terrorism approach. Counter terrorism are measures and strategies 

put in place to combat terrorism. Local and international actors have 



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always tried to prevent and counter terrorism but have not achieved 

desired result. 

Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action 

employed by (semi) clandestine individual group or state actors, for 

idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons whereby in contrast to 

assassination the direct targets of violence are not the main targets 

(Leonard et al, 2004). This agrees with Social Interactionist theory 

which opines that the actions of individuals in the society are as a 

result of the social context causing one to accept, reject or fight 

against unwelcomed behavior. This work adopts Social 

Interactionist theory for its analysis. For (Leonard et al, 2004), the 

immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen 

randomly (targets of opportunities) or selectively (representative or 

symbolic targets) from a target population and serve as message 

generators. Threat-and violence-based communication on processes 

between terrorists (organization), (imperiled) victims and main 

target (audiences), turning it into a target of terror, a target of 

demands or a target of attention depending on whether intimidation, 

coercion, or propaganda is primarily sought (Leonard et al, 2004). 

What this explains is that the terrorists do not expose themselves but 

they indirectly create awareness and attention of the main target by 

attacking at random people within the target population. Terrorist 

use repeated violence to meet their target. It is in this same view that 

Contest (2018) opines that terrorism is designed to change minds by 

destroying bodies. This is to say that in the attempt to meet their 

target, they cause human casualties. Miller (1987), in discussing the 

language of terrorism stated that contemporary terrorism combines 



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selective violence with reliance on language to articulate terrorist 

motivation, belief and objectives. Subsequently, Yuanbo (2020) 

postulated that directive, expressive and assertive were the most 

common classes of speech acts and threatening speech acts most 

prominently used by terrorists. Their language is often filled with 

threat, coercive and assertive in nature. Language use plays a lot of 

roles in the society in that the same way language can make a 

community is the same way it can mar it. Language use wrongly 

(hate speech) can have great consequence. Aristotle as pointed out 

in Azizul (2018) defined Language as a speech sound produced by 

human beings to express their ideas, emotions, thoughts, desires and 

feelings. 

Most of the writers are pointing to the fact that terrorists use threats 

and coercion in their language which they apply to cow their targets 

into yielding to their demands. Another common act of the terrorist 

is repeated violence and human attacks. However, from the 

aforementioned one can conclude that terrorism is a complex 

phenomenon but no matter how it is viewed, one thing is common, 

the fact that in the act of terrorism, “one” often the vulnerable suffers 

coercion, oppression, violence, intimidation, suppression and 

human casualty in the hands of the ‘other’ normally referred to as 

the Terrorist. Hence for terrorism to occur, one or more of the 

following indices must be present: coercion, oppression, violence, 

intimidation, suppression and human casualty (COVISH). 



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Terrorism has been seen to be instigated by certain actions or in 

actions of people. This often comes as a result of wrong use of 

words. The term ‘Hate Speech’ has been used to refer to speech 

which expresses, encourages, stirs up, or incites hatred against a 

group of people (Anderson, 2022). Some claim the term “hate 

speech” itself is misleading, because it wrongly suggests “virulent 

dislike of a person for any reason”(Gelbers, 2017).Hate speech is 

understood as any kind of communication in speech, writing or 

behavior, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language 

with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, 

in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, 

colour, descent, gender  or other identification factor 

(Guterres,2019). Critics of hate speech argue not only that it causes 

psychological harm when it incites violence, but also that it 

undermines the social equality of its victims (Williams, 2010). 

Chapman’s theory of love language was adopted for this study. 

Chapman (1995) proposed the theory of love languages which he 

refers to as different ways of expressing and interpreting love. They 

are words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of 

service, gift giving. He proposed this theory from his experience 

from marriage counseling and linguistics. He explained that each of 

us has what he calls a primary love language meaning that what 

makes one person feel loved may not make another person feel the 

same way. In other words, if we don’t receive love in our love 

language, we are not likely to feel loved, even though the person 

may be expressing love in other ways. 



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According to him, each of us can build stronger relationships if we 

take time to learn and understand each person’s preferred love 

language. This is true of all relationships from romantic to 

professional and security is no exception. He concluded that the 

concept of love languages has helped people connect or reconnect 

emotionally to significant people in their lives.  

One can understand that people are affected differently by the winds 

of insecurity in our country and many are living with restrictions 

affecting their ability to relate to others. This notwithstanding, so 

long as the same social environment is concerned, there must always 

be chain reactions, such that either of these parties may directly or 

indirectly receive the consequences associated with insecurity. In 

this kind of situation, Love and feeling loved become vital weapons 

for keeping the mind going. 

a. Words of affirmation: Words of affirmation according 

to Chapman (1992), entails verbal Communication that 

is encouraging, affirmative, active, and appreciative. We 

can express words of affirmation through spoken or 

written messages, which show our love to others.  

Chapman opines that you communicate love strongly 

when you speak deeply to the words of affirmation 

person, affirming her for some personality trait that you 

appreciate; such words like “You are good”, “You are 

beautiful” You will survive it, “You can make it”, “we 



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can settle the dispute” are words of affirmation and are 

catalyst for change in the mindset of the people. 

b. Quality Time: This is giving someone your undivided 

attention. Quality time can be a love language expressed 

by anyone, and finding ways to express it within your 

non-romantic relationships is important too (Chapman, 

2009). Chapman’s undivided attention signals that you 

should remove all forms of distractors and focus on the 

person.  

c. Physical Touch – This is the act of showing love 

through physical signs of affection, including kissing, 

holding hands etc. Physical intimacy and touch can be 

incredibly affirming and serve as a powerful emotional 

connector for people with this love language.  

d. Act of Service – This love language is for people who 

believe that actions speak louder than words. Unlike 

those who prefer to hear how much they are cared for, 

people on this list like to be shown how they are 

appreciated. If your love language is acts of service, you 

value when your partner goes out of his way to make 

your life easier. They are things like bringing you soup 

when you are sick, making your coffee for you in the 

morning, or picking up your dry cleaning for you when 

you had a busy day at work. Chapman (2009) describes 



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acts of service as “doing something for your spouse that 

you know they would like for you to do”.  

e. Giving gift – Gift is a pretty straightforward love 

language. You feel loved when people give you “Visual 

symbols of love”, as Chapman calls it. It is not about the 

monetary value but the symbolic thought behind the 

item. People with this style recognize and value the gift 

– giving process: the careful reflection, the deliberate 

choosing of the object to represent the relationship, and 

the emotional benefits from receiving the present.  The 

concept of love language should be adopted to 

discourage Hate Speech. 

Bhikhu (cited in Anderson, 2022), listed these as some of the 

examples different countries have either punished or sought to 

punish as hate speech: “Blacks are Inherently Inferior, lecherous, 

predisposed to criminal activities, and should not be allowed to 

move into respectable area” “shouting “(N-Words) go home, 

making monkey noises, and chanting racist slogans at soccer 

matches” Hate speech according to William (2010) can also include 

nonverbal depictions and symbols for example, the Nazi Swastika, 

the Confederate Battle Flag. 

Romaine (2000) discussed the effect of wrong use of words using 

the Quakers’ experience. The Quakers rejected the use of ‘You’ as 

a polite form of address, and preferred ‘thou’ which to them, showed 

intimacy and equality. By so doing, the Quakers provoked hostility 



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from others who regarded their behavior as a sign of Contempt. The 

Lady whom he addressed as ‘thou’ instead of ‘You’ swore that she 

would kill him. This goes to explain why one should be careful in 

ones choice of words. Yule (2010) attributed such perception of 

words to cultural differences. He opined that we need socially 

acquired knowledge to be able to handle such differences in 

perception of things. He concluded that the particular language we 

learn through the process of cultural transmission provides us, at 

least initially, with a ready-made system of categorizing the world 

around us and our experience of it. This is not strange because 

language when used wrongly can have a negative implication. 

 Nigerians are highly religious people. Gallup international (2012) 

ranked Nigeria as the second most religious country in the World. 

Religion plays a big role in the politics, economic and security of 

Nigeria. Certain religious doctrines and rituals are often 

manipulated to encourage violent conflict. An example is the 

campaign of terror in the Lake Chad region by the Nigerian based 

Islamist Bokoharam; which killed over 23,000 people and displaced 

3 million people as at that time (Oyewole, 2016). Recent religious 

doctrine motivated killing was the case of Deborah Samuel who was 

beaten to death in Sokoto over alleged blasphemy on Thursday, the 

12th day of May, 2022 (Vanguard, 2022). Considering the grave 

consequence of Hate Speech to national peace, it is advisable to 

resort more to affirmative words as can be seen in Chapman’s word 

of affirmation in the theory of love language. Hate speech is a 

menace to democratic value, social stability and peace. As a matter 

of principle, the United Nations must confront hate speech at every 

turn (Guterres, 2019). 



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Chapman’s theory of love language has been studied and applied by 

the following researchers. A concept from positive psychology 

asserts that positive words can do more than just demonstrate love 

(Newberg & Waldman, 2012). According to them, speaking and 

hearing positive words more often than negative ones can activate 

the motivational centers of the brain, encouraging us to take positive 

action more often. Using affirmative words like “Love”, “Peace” 

and “Loving-kindness”, improve our brain functions – resulting in 

increased cognitive reasoning, strengthened frontal lobes. 

Supporting this view, Michelle (2009) explains that positive 

affirmations ensure more than simply a good feeling for those who 

receive them. As human beings, we aspire to feel competent, valued 

and appreciated. Positive words have this type of power, creating 

the solid foundations needed to build strong, productive 

relationships that resonate clear lines of communication. Readers 

and Psychologists are in agreement that the qualitative research 

collected from over 30 years of marriage counselling points to 

useful, practical applications from which we can all benefit. 

Harmon (2010) pointed out that many Children who have not had 

ample physical and emotional attention are at higher risk for 

behavioural, emotional, and social problems as they grow up.  

Harmon further stated that the Psychology behind this form of 

communication goes deeper than one might think. Touch is the first 

language we use to communicate as infants, and it plays a critical 

role in social and behavioural development. Supporting this view, 

Gallace and Spence (2010) found several notable outcomes from 

their studies regarding physical touch: elderly nursing home 

residents tend to feel unwanted or unloved due to a lack of physical 

contact with others. Secondly, people are significantly more likely 

to return a dime left in a phone booth if the preceding telephone 



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caller touched them. Also, individuals who have been touched are 

more likely to agree to participate in mall interviews. 

Gulledge, Gulledge & Stahman (2003) elucidate, ‘Touch is crucial 

in creating and strengthening romantic relationships. They 

concluded that conflict resolution is easier with more physical 

affection including hugging, cuddling, holding hands and kissing on 

the lips. 

Kirwan (2011) observed that there are Psychological advantages to 

both giving and receiving. Giving a gift increases feelings of 

satisfaction and helps to reinforce relationships by positively 

acknowledging each other. According to Kirwan, both the giver and 

receiver benefit from the act of giving or receiving emotionally. 

Experts suggest that the entire act of giving gifts from the thought, 

the careful choosing of tangible item to represent the relationship, 

and finally to the actual giving itself, elicits the feeling of affection 

towards another person (South University, 2011). 

Acts of service is another way we give love and feel loved. The 

Psychology behind it is something we can all likely relate to that 

warm, fuzzy feeling you get from a selfless act. Michelle (2009) 

expands on the idea, noting that serving another is a type of 

relational leadership. She says, “True Leaders serve others before 

serving themselves. This level of unselfish service inspires people, 

as well as the communities and families they impact, to be greater, 

to go beyond, and to aspire. 

Hakeem Onapajo et al (2021) in   their study postulated that 

terrorism does not end with only a military approach. A coercive 

counter-terrorism strategy has often produced negative out comes 

by promoting more violence and creating humanitarian crisis. Non-

military approaches are increasingly being embraced as a more 

practical route to eliminating the root cause of terrorism. This is 

characterized by political negotiations and grassroots developments, 



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de-radicalization, disarmament, rehabilitation and reintegration 

programmes. They agreed that these de-radicalization programs are 

flawed and needs fixing. Their view corroborated with Chapman’s 

theory which was adopted in this study. 

For works in Africa, the term love language was not used but the 

concept was vividly shown. Amma Darko (2013) emphasized on the 

wonders of physical touch when she presented the words of a street 

girl about 14yrs old interviewed by a reporter from one of the Private 

FM stations as follows: “one day a kind woman I met at a centre 

made me very happy, before I went there, I knew that by all means 

she would give me food, but this woman gave me more. She hugged 

me, I was dirty, I smelled bad, but she hugged me. That night, I slept 

well, I had a good dream. Sometimes I wish to be hugged even if I 

am smelling of the streets”.  

The implication of this statement is that some street children need 

physical care and this can take them off the street. The work also 

pointed out that most of the victims of parental abuse and neglect 

are the ones unleashing terror in the streets of Accra. Reasons being 

that no one gives what he or she does not have. These children take 

to the street and become terror themselves 

In Nigeria, Ikejiani (2007) stated that the Federal Goverment had 

used Joint Military Task Force to control the activities of the Niger 

Delta Militants but this measure resulted to heavy loss of life. The 

Niger Delta Militants were known to engage in various forms of 

terrorists activities such as oil pipeline vandalization, kidnapping of 

oil company workers for ransom and crude oil theft within the Niger 

Delta region of Nigeria. Ikein (2009) stated that between 2005 and 

2008, Nigerian economy went down drastically as a result of these 

Niger Delta Militia. The most potent militant group in Niger Delta 

include: Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta(MEND) 

led by Henry Okah, the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer 



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Force(NDPVP) led by Asari  Dokubo and the Niger Delta Vigilante 

led by Ateke Tom. The then president of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu 

Musa Yaradua on seeing the weakness of Joint Military Task Force 

in controlling the activities of the Niger Delta Militant, set up a 

committee on 8th September, 2008. The essence is to recommend 

better measures to be adopted in controlling the militancy in Niger 

Delta. The committee recommended Amnesty and Disarmament of 

the Niger Delta Militants. Following the recommendation of this 

committee, President Yaradua granted Amnesty to about 20,192 

militants across 9 states.  

The key programmes of the Amnesty are as presented on Table 1. 

 
 

Amnesty according to Otite and Umukoro (2011) refers to a general 

pardon of an offence by Government or deliberate overlook of 

offences against the state or to cancel or not to exact punishment due 

for an offence. Amnesty programme proved more effective than the 

coercive approach which the then government utilized. 

Solomon Adebayo (2016), also examined the attempt made by 

Nigerian Government in curbing the menace of terrorism and agreed 

with the fact that adopting the following measures (deployment of 

troops to the affected areas, joint task force by neighbouring 



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countries, declaration of state of emergency and encouragement of 

the public and media to provide intelligence support) alone cannot 

curb the menace of terrorism. He then recommended the creation of 

empowerment programmes that reduce unemployment, conflict 

resolution among parties, strict enforcement of laws against 

terrorism, and cutting off all sources of funding for terrorists. 

 

3.0 Methodology 
Needs assessment research design was adopted for this study. This 

design studies what is available in relation to what ought to be 

(Nwankwo, 2013). The population is purposefully open, targeted at 

teenagers involved in grave disciplinary cases in public secondary 

schools in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria and other juveniles with 

target features around Okpuno. The data was collected using 4 

Likert scale questionnaire which are filled out for during one on one 

question and answer section for illiterate ones while the ones who 

can read and write; go through the interview and subsequently fill 

out the questionnaire. 30 teenagers were used for this research, 20 

boys and 10 girls. The names of the secondary schools are withheld 

for confidentiality. The theoretical framework is enclitic adopting 

Chapman’s theory of love language and Social Interactionist theory.  

The quantitative approach was adopted for the questionnaire 

evaluations while qualitative approach was adopted for the logical 

interpretation of the interview in order to make points clear and well 

understood. Average mean was used for questionnaire analysis. 

 

4.0 Data Presentation and Analysis 

 



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   = 3.03     (where means average mean)      

 

The Interpretation rating in four Likert scale are 3.25-4.0 for 

Strongly Agree, 2.5-3.24 Agree, 1.75-2.4 Disagree and 1.0-1.74 

Strongly Disagree. From Table 2, it is observed that the quest to be 

helped as a sign of love has the mean of 2.8, which confirms the fact 

that teenagers examined, wish that feelings of love could be 

expressed in such a way. This also applies to affirmative words and 

gentle correction with the 3.1and 3.5 mean scores respectively. 

Giving of gifts has 3.2 mean score while quality time and touch 

check got 2.9 and 2.67 respectively. From this result, it is clear that 

all the five love languages are real and felt among humans. Some 

can be strong in some individuals, mild in others and others can be 

generally receptive to all or shy away from some. However, the 

analysis shows that words of affirmation is a major booster of love 

and self-esteem that people yearn for even when they deserve to be 

scolded. Touch as a love language is observed to have the lowest 



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mean. This can be attributed to the age examined; and the culture 

which sees cuddling and affection as some sort of acts of spoiling 

the child. Its importance cannot be over emphasized seeing that its 

mean score is affirmative despite the cultural restrictions. The 

average mean is 3.03 indicating that love language is a natural 

phenomenon. 

 
 

Table 3 shows that denial of love languages can create wrong 

impressions, form negative opinions and harden one up. Some 

wrong impressions observed from this study are the mind set of 

discrimination, that is, rendering good behaviour only to those they 

deem fit. This does not take cognizance of innocent people. As long 

as you have not rendered help, you are a potential victim to them. 

This makes it easier to understand innocent killings. Employing 

force in issues of terrorism only worsens the situation because Table 

3 no 8 shows that force automatically strengthens violence or 

headiness. Denial of needs only breeds resentment and jealousy as 

seen on Table 3 no 9. This is similar to focusing on a particular 

community or region as seen on Table 3 no 10. No 11 did not record 

much effect as physical touch in itself may not have the force to 

create friction. The average mean is 2.91 showing that there are 

negative consequences emanating from the denial of love languages 



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The mean scores on Table 4 shows that introducing love language 

can help ameliorate grave conditions. It is observed from the mean 

scores that when retracing steps, acceptance, apology and offering a 

token, in this sequence are the key love languages to employ, having 

mean scores of 3.2,2.9 and 2.9. The average mean is 2.86 showing 

that love language is a viable instrument in restoration of good 

behavior. Friendly touch and quality time would help restore what 

has been lost. This will be discussed in the next section with 

examples from the Niger Delta amnesty programme introduced by 

His Excellency, Alhaji Shehu Musa Yaradua, former president of 

Nigeria. 

 

Discussion of Findings 

Most of the studies on Niger Delta militancy owned up to the fact 

that the amnesty programme restored peace in the region. Ikejiani 

(2007) also noted that the use of force by the federal government 

fuelled the crisis. This is in line with the recommendation of this 

study that the use of love languages approach rather than 

coerciveness will help reduce tendencies that could metamorphose 

into terrorism. A look into the amnesty policy as cited in Ugwuanyi 



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et al (2014) shows the love languages in action even though 

presented in different wordings. Key activities like transformational 

training, counselling, and wellness assessment under the 

demobilization and rehabilitation column simply present act of 

service, physical touch and quality time. This explains that 6 to 12 

months rehabilitation exercise goes a long way to make the people 

concerned feel loved and accepted. They are being given enough 

quality time filled with practical experiences, all in the attempt to 

reintegrate them into the society. Quality time requires you to focus 

on the person concerned. Rehabilitation goes beyond psychological 

to include physical touch where the need for massaging and wound 

dressing become the option.  

The third column titled reintegration also presents its key activities 

to include: knowledge and skill acquisition, financial empowerment, 

placement programme, conflict resolution, micro credit amongst 

others. These are also the use of love language of gift giving, quality 

time, act of service, physical touch and words of affirmation. During 

conflict resolution, people whose language is physical touch forgive 

and feel better when they hug or shake hands to show they have 

resolved their differences, the reintegration programme also adopted 

financial empowerment which falls in line with Chapman’s love 

language of gift giving. 

In all these activities, one is indirectly affirming that these militants 

are not condemned in totality hence the use of placement 

programmes to fix them where they will use their energy positively. 

Word of affirmation according to Chapman, affirms one’s positive 

character and this has the capacity to bring out the best in the 

individual. The Nigerian government as at the time of this amnesty, 

instead of condemning these militants, has granted them pardon 

meaning they are hopeful of getting the best from the once 

acclaimed terrorists. This is indirect use of word of affirmation. In 



Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 

 

354 

 

summary, 5 years integration programme is enough quality time to 

offer services, monetary gifts, and physical touch rehabilitation, all 

geared towards affirming that the militants could be better. This 

worked like magic in returning peace to Niger Delta, 

 

5.1 Conclusion 

Nigeria and other West Africa countries are inundated with a lot of 

terrorists group. This is occasioned by a lot of factors ranging from 

inability of the Nigerian state to provide the basic developmental 

needs of the people, weak corrupt regime, growing poverty, porous 

borders, and unpatriotic behaviours and hate speech amongst others. 

Guterres (2019) concludes that what is happening is “Hate” moving 

into the mainstream of the world .Chapman (1995; Amma 

Darko,2013; Solomon  et al, 2016; Hakeen Onapajo, 2021and 

Ikejiani, 2007) are all of the view that military action only cannot 

curb the menace of terrorism in Nigeria . In agreement with their 

view, it is pertinent to point out that terrorist activities are   in 

geometrical progression, carrying with it, weapons of massive 

destruction. Something urgent must be done to put a halt to this ugly 

monster called ”terrorism” Adoption of Chapman’s theory of love 

language encourages peaceful relationship among citizens and thus 

helps in calming deviances that could result into terrorism. 

 

5.2 Recommendation 

This paper recommends that Chapman’s theory of love language 

should be adopted by Nigerian Government to discourage potential 

terrorists. Words of affirmation as a verbal positive reinforce and the 

use of physical touch should be encouraged against hate speech. 

Acts that make one feel good or focus on ones well-being should be 

encouraged so as to reduce frustration that leads people to negative 

life style. These include taking care of refugees in IDP Camps, 



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355 

 

putting them under a roof, extending continued medical care 

(physiotherapy, total rehabilitation) to deviants and other 

marginalized members of the society. Again, the act of service, like 

creating job opportunities for youths, engaging those on the streets 

into something meaningful will be a great step to peaceful co-

existence. Quality time should be extended to the vulnerable by 

spending time with them through counselling. Teaching youths self-

love and skill will help reduce their engagement in social vices. 

Through quality time, we can achieve these four ‘E’ strategy of 

educating, engaging, empowering and encouraging our youths to 

become better citizens. Gift-giving those people that have become 

refugees with clothes, blankets etc to keep going will make them 

heal faster. Unpatriotic behavior should be discouraged through 

words of affirmation. Basically and most importantly, the 

government should provide the basic needs of the citizens and 

should also not be over dependent on the use of unnecessary military 

force. 

  

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