International Law Response to Terrorism: Boko Haram in Perspective

Abstract

Al-Qaida, the Islamic State, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab and Ansar Dine are names identified with terror in contemporary times. The growing political and economic divide between individuals and States has fuelled a culture of extremism and intolerance with the consequent empathy for terrorism, the growth of terrorist networks and the financing of terrorism. The security crisis in the Northeastern part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, due to the activities of the Boko Haram group, has caused a humanitarian crisis that has imperilled millions of lives, especially vulnerable groups like children, as well as implicated a response from neighbouring States, thereby resulting in an international crisis. The prevalence, scale and devastation of the terrorist attacks of Boko Haram impel a re-examination of international law and its mechanisms for responding to terrorism. In the wake of the heinous terrorist attacks of 9/11, it was felt in some quarters that international law was inadequate in its response to global terrorism. As globalisation has become more extensive in its permeation of modern society since 9/11, so has modern society become more susceptible to terrorist attacks and to this extent underscore the imperative for the analysis to be undertaken. It is against the backdrop of the foregoing that this paper would seek to critically appraise international law responses to terrorism.