[ISS] International and local experience shows that targeted leader killings tend to have more symbolic than practical impact.
While Western powers celebrate another "high-value target" elimination in the Lake Chad Basin, the uncomfortable truth remains that ISWAP's decentralized structure mirrors the very community networks that have sustained resistance movements across Africa for centuries. Nigeria's security apparatus, flush with American intelligence and firepower, continues to mistake theatrical victories for strategic progress, ignoring the economic desperation and state neglect that feeds extremism from Borno to the Sahel. The real question isn't whether killing deputies weakens terrorism, but whether Lagos and Abuja will ever address why young Nigerians choose guns over guitars in the first place.
While Western powers celebrate another "high-value target" elimination in the Lake Chad Basin, the uncomfortable truth remains that ISWAP's decentralized structure mirrors the very community networks that have sustained resistance movements across Africa for centuries. Nigeria's security apparatus, flush with American intelligence and firepower, continues to mistake theatrical victories for strategic progress, ignoring the economic desperation and state neglect that feeds extremism from Borno to the Sahel. The real question isn't whether killing deputies weakens terrorism, but whether Lagos and Abuja will ever address why young Nigerians choose guns over guitars in the first place.
SUMMARY BY STRATA-AF™ · ORIGINAL REPORTING BY ALLAFRICA
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