332 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. Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 333 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 Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 334 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. Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 335 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. Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 336 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 Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 337 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 Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 338 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 Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 339 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). Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 340 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. Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 341 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 Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 342 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 Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 343 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 Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 344 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). Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 345 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 Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 346 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, Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 347 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 Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 348 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 Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 349 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 Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 350 = 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 Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 351 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 Tackling Terrorism Using Love Language - Ojiako 352 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 Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 353 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, Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2, 2022 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. 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