Five countries in Africa — Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia, Nigeria and Niger — sit among the top 10 in the Institute for Economics and Peace’s 2024 Global Terrorism Index. For years, in communities across the continent, deadly terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, and the Islamic State’s West Africa Province, have killed, wounded, abducted, and displaced millions of people.
Attacks by extremist organizations have exacerbated humanitarian crises and spread instability, hitting the Sahel region especially hard. Governmental counter-terrorism efforts have failed to curb the terrorism.
Against this backdrop, the North East Development Commission, an agency tasked with rebuilding Nigeria’s terrorism-ravaged northeast region, trained more than 100 journalists and media professionals on the use of non-kinetic approaches to address terrorism.
Here are five ways journalists can leverage their reporting to shed light and push back on terrorism in Africa.
Expose the terrorists
Journalists should strive to expose details that will disrupt, if not cripple, terrorist operations. “We must demystify terrorists. Who are these people? Why do they enjoy the support of some people, and what do they want? How do they operate? How do they get arms?” said South African journalist Beauregard Tromp, who is the convenyor of the African Investigative Journalism Conference (AIJC). “What is the level of the complicity that they receive from the government? It is almost inevitable that there would be no corrupt elements in the government aiding and abetting these organizations in their activities. What is the scale of their operations?”
In some countries, government officials have been tied to terrorist groups. Nigeria’s vice president, Kashim Shettima, for example, has been accused of sponsoring Boko Haram. In 2022, Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency, reportedly partnered with al-Shabaab to carry out a deadly bombing in central Somalia that killed no fewer than 50 people.
Journalists must find answers to the key questions above, and release incontrovertible facts to ascertain such links with the government.
Report on root causes
Covering terrorism requires journalists to paint a clear picture of its root causes with a view toward pushing governments and non-governmental organizations alike to address the issue. Poverty, corruption, unemployment, and bad governance are among the major causes of terrorism in Africa.
Ermias Mulugeta, an Ethiopian investigative journalist who has interviewed survivors of al-Shabaab terror attacks in Somalia, urged journalists to dive deep into the underlying causes of terrorist activities for their audiences. “Journalists should not merely report the incident, but the root cause so that policymakers will know what could be the driving factor of that terrorism,” said Mulugeta.
At all times, too, journalists must remain unbiased in their coverage. “Journalists should be holistic in their reporting. The sides of the victims, government, and terrorists must be brought together to make a well-rounded story, recommending solutions to the causative factors,” said Burundian journalist Desire Nimubona.
Hold authorities to account
The media, in its role as the fourth estate, must perform a watchdog role — and in reporting on the shortcomings of counter-terrorism efforts, journalists can inspire authorities to perform better.
“Journalists’ contributions do not only help in holding authorities accountable, but promote societal resilience, and solution-oriented governance,” said Kehinde Adegboyega, executive director of the Human Rights Journalists Network.
Important to note, some journalists may not have as much freedom to hold the government to account. For instance, Cameroonian journalist Peter Kum noted that his country’s government threatens journalists to publish inaccurate accounts of Boko Haram activities in the country. “The government puts pressure on you to say what they want,” Kum affirmed.
Tromp warned of the safety risks for journalists covering the issue, too. “Reporting in this kind of area is particularly dangerous, and of course, even journalists who have been abducted, some of them have been killed as a result of trying to tell the story,” he said.
Fact-check all information
It’s not uncommon for terrorist organizations to spread false information that instills fear in people and hinders efforts by security forces to flush them out. Journalists have a critical responsibility to determine the accuracy of photos, statistics, statements, and videos they refer to in their reporting.
“Terrorist groups thrive on propaganda, using misinformation, and fear-mongering to recruit followers, and destabilize communities,” Adegboyega said. “By providing accurate, balanced, and well-researched stories that expose the lies and manipulative tactics of these groups, journalists can counter their false narratives.”
Fact-checking should extend to information disseminated by the government, too.
Carry the victims and survivors along
Journalists should tell the stories of victims and survivors of terror attacks with empathy and depth, drawing attention to their suffering. This can help garner support for impacted individuals and communities.
However, there is every need for journalists to avoid sensationalizing the stories so as to avoid amplifying the notoriety of the terrorists, and spreading fear among the public.
“After an attack, [journalists should] go to the villages affected, and interview the victims,” said Tromp. “They stand to tell how the government can work in dealing with the challenge.”
Photo by AMISOM via Iwaria.
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