Terrorism In A Developing Economy

Excerpts from a paper presented at the 5th conference of the Men’s Christian Association of the Diocese of Niger Delta North, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) on Friday, November 2, 2012 at St Patrick’s (Ang) Church, Ekporo, Eleme, Rivers State.

Terrorism has its origin from the French word “terrorisms” which was originally referred to State terrorism as practised by the French Government during its period of the reign of terror. The French word terrorism was derived from the Latin verb terreo’ meaning “I frighten” (Online Etymology Dictionary, 1979, Campell, 2001). Terrorism originally referred to acts committed by a State Government, presently it usually refers to the killing of innocent people by a non-governmental group in a way that creates a media spectacle (Lott, 2001).

There seem to be no one universally accepted definition for terrorism. For example in 2004 a report by a United Nations Secretary-General described terrorism as any act “intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organisation to do or abstain from doing any act (UN Reform, 2007)”.

Furthermore, the United Nations General Assembly described terrorism as “Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public. Regardless of the reasons for terrorism, whether political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious, etc, the UN General Assembly considers terrorism as unjustifiable in its totality (UN Declaration, 1994).

Although the definition of terrorism may lack a consensus, this paper has adopted the one provided by Webster’s New World Dictionary which states thus: “terrorism is the act of terrorising by using force or threats to demoralise, intimidate, and subjugate other people especially as a political weapon (Guralnik, 1974, P. 1469).

Terrorism dates back to the beginning of the 1st Century A.D. A Jewish extremist group referred to as Sicarii Zealots were involved in rebellious activities at the period and some prominent collaborators with Roman Rule were killed (Hoffman, 1988, Chaliand, 1988). The terrorist activities Sicarii were also directed against Jewish “collaborators”, including temple priests, Sadducees, Herodians and other wealthy elites (Hoffman, 1988).

Originally, the term “terrorism” was used to describe the actions of the Jacobin Club during the “Reign of Terror” in the French Revolution. During this period, Terror was seen as justice, prompt, severe, inflexible,

according to the Jacobian leader known as Maximilien Robespiere. In 1975, Edmund Burke denounced the Jacobins for letting loose thousands of terrorists on the people of France (Edmund Burke, 1995).

In January, 858, an Italian Patriot known as Felice Orsini threw three bombs in an attempt to assassinate French Emperor Napoleon II. That act killed eight people and injured 142 others (Crenshaw). This act of terrorism served as an inspiration for the development of terrorist groups in Russia led by Sergey Nechayer who founded People’s Retribution in 1869 and described himself as a “terrorist”.

In August 2005, a triple car bombing that killed 43 people took place in Baghdad bus station. In 2011  terrorists attacked Oslo in Norway. On September 11, 2001, a terrorist attack was visited on the United States which was the most devastating in the history of terrorism. In 2010, Nigeria had her first dose of great and devastating terrorist act in Abuja during the Independence Anniversary of the Nation’s 50th Birthday. Since after that incident, terrorism perpetrated through the Boko Haram Religious Sect has been of immense and devastating proportion. Presently, the State appears helpless.

The perpetrators of acts of terrorism have varying motives and can be individuals, groups, or states. Terrorism is often mostly carried out by small and secretive groups who are highly motivated to serve a particular cause. Many of the most deadly terrorist operations in recent times, such as the September 11, attacks in America, the London underground bombing, and the 2002 Bali bombing were planned and carried out by a close clique, made of friends, family members and other strong social networks. This group benefited from the free flow of information and efficient telecommunications to succeed. There are many causes of terrorism including inequitable distribution of resources among contending groups, poverty resulting from exploitation, lack of social welfare resulting in disaffection and dominance of territory or resources by various ethnic groups. Other causes are the imposition of a particular form of government, economic deprivation of a population, opposition to a domestic government and religious fanaticism.

Terrorism is a form of asymmetric warfare and is used when direct conventional warfare will not be effective. The context in which terrorist tactics are used is often a large-scale, unresolved political conflict such as secession of a territory to form a new sovereign state or become part of a different state. Other reasons for terrorism are as already enumerated above.

Terrorist attacks are often targeted to maximise fear and publicity by using explosives or poison. Sometimes, terrorists employ weapons of mass destruction. Terrorist groups or organisations usually and methodically plan attacks in advance, train participants, plant under cover agents, and raise money from supporters or through organised crime. Terrorists adopt modern telecommunications or old-fashioned methods such as couriers to communicate with one another.

Experts have classified terrorism into six categories namely; Civil disorder which is a form of collective violence that interferes with the peace, security, and normal functioning of the community. 

Political Terrorism: This is a violent criminal behaviour designed primarily to generate fear in the society for political purposes.

Non-Political terrorism: This is a terrorism that is not aimed at political purposes but which exhibits conscious design to create and maintain a high degree of fear for coercive purposes. However, at the end it intends to achieve individual or collective gain rather than the achievement of a political objective.

Quasi-terrorism: This form of terrorism involves criminal activities that may precipitate violence which are similar to those of genuine terrorism but lack the essential ingredients of genuine terrorism. For example a felon who takes hostage but flees is a quasi-terrorist while the one who takes hostages and demands a settlement for their release is a genuine terrorist.

Limited political terrorism: Genuine political terrorism is characterised by a revolutionary approach. On the other hand, limited political terrorism are acts of terrorism which are committed for ideological or political motives but not concerned with a concerted campaign to capture the control of the State.

Official or State terrorism: This refers to nations whose rule is based upon fear and oppression that are similar to terrorism. State terrorism is also referred to as structural terrorism which are terrorist acts carried out by governments in pursuit of political objectives which reflect part of their foreign policy.

Religious terrorism is the type of terrorism carried out by groups or individuals whose motivation is rooted in faith-based tenets. Most terrorist acts throughout the centuries have been performed on religious grounds.

The terrorists who carry out religious terrorism do so with the hope of either spread or enforce a system of belief, viewpoint or opinion (Peter, 2003). It is to be noted that religious terrorism does not necessarily define a specific religious stand point or view; rather it defines the view or interpretation of an individual or a group of the teaching of that belief system.