Nigeria must prevent dung being used for IED terror attacks

Boko Haram factions are increasingly using dung to disguise improvised explosive devices (IEDs), in particular landmines, and boost their ignition.

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These landmines are similar to conventional antipersonnel landmines – not in their shape and composition – but in their tactical use and mode of activation.

Nigerian army senior staff told researchers from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) that animal excrement had been used to prevent the detection of IEDs in several parts of northeast Nigeria, including Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

Several humanitarian sources and state officials confirmed the increased use of livestock waste by Boko Haram factions Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Compressed dung was also used as a direct component in some IEDs across the three states. Once compacted, dung and other organic waste generate methane, which is highly explosive when mixed with air.

Security personnel said an electric wire helped ignite the compressed waste, sparking the main charge. The free and abundant availability of dung, together with its lack of control and traceability, makes it a preferred IED component compared to more controlled industrial fertilisers and other chemicals.

Although there is no data on what proportion of IED attacks in northeast Nigeria involve animal waste, the extent and impact of these attacks on civilians especially are clear.

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Government sources told the ISS that 613 IED casualties (injuries and deaths) were recorded in northeastern Nigeria from January to September 2024. In the same period, the United Nations Mine Action Service said it recorded 571 casualties, with civilians making up 65 per cent of the victims.

This deadly trend has also been observed by ACLED (see graph below) and the Landmine Monitor, which showed that in the decade from 2011 to 2021, 1 387 casualties were recorded, compared to 1 487 in just three years from 2022 to 2024.

Food disruption

In addition to causing physical harm to victims, improvised landmines disrupt food production and intercity crop and livestock commerce – the primary sources of income for people in the region.

Due to explosives, farm land has become largely inaccessible in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno, and transporting the limited harvest to trading zones has become perilous.

Many farmers have been forced to relocate to safer areas, where they have had to rebuild their livelihoods and social networks. As far back as 2016, many internally displaced persons were unable to return to their farms due to a fear of landmines.

This was confirmed by United Nations Mine Action Service experts, who told ISS that in 2024 over 200 000 people had been displaced across the three states.

Displacements due to IEDs disrupt people’s lifestyles and means of income. In resettlement areas, newcomers could access only small plots of land for subsistence farming. This shift proved especially difficult for people who once cultivated hectares and lived off crop sales.

Besides farming, other essential services like schooling, healthcare and administration have also been compromised by improvised landmines, particularly in rural areas where people’s mobility is restricted.

The clearance of IEDs is slow in northeast Nigeria due to the lack of extensive demining programmes, like those in Senegal, Chad and Ukraine, and the use of inefficient traditional tools, like handheld metal detectors.

Although Nigeria recently acquired drones for IED detection, they are used purely for military operations.

Addressing the use of biological waste in spreading and manufacturing IEDs is a complex endeavour. Dung, in particular, is abundant and weakly managed, especially in rural areas. Its use for multiple purposes – fertiliser, biogas, construction and as a tactical weapon – complicates control and regulation.

Holistic approach

A holistic approach is needed that combines well-considered biological waste management systems in rural and peri-urban areas, with community-based intelligence to apprehend those using dung for IED-related purposes.

A first step for Nigeria’s state authorities could be to take a census of small-scale livestock farmers, who are the insurgents’ primary supply source according to humanitarian and security personnel. A centralised information system would enable better tracking and community outreach.

A second step is to promote energy production using dung. This involves processing the waste to capture the biogas (mainly methane) released, and storing it in tanks to be used as fuel for heating, cooking and electricity production.

Third is to upskill rural households on biogas, composting and vermiculture. This would enable a circular economy, with livestock farmers as raw material providers and populations as buyers/consumers, promoting transformation and reuse.

Income generated through the local circular economy could incentivise communities to develop a value chain around dung, making it available only for positive uses.

Successful examples are in Rwanda, India, China and the Netherlands. Rwanda values dung based on a model promoting smart manure collection and biogas for institutions such as schools and prisons.

India has implemented a similar project focused on installing biogas digesters powered by ruminants, particularly cow dung, in rural areas.

China and the Netherlands incentivise farmers to produce gas and bio-fertilisers with dung, enabling income and energy sources for rural populations.

Nigeria seems inspired by these successes, given that a study on ‘waste-to-wealth’ strategies in the northeast has uncovered small-scale projects aiming to transform livestock and slaughterhouse waste into biogas and fertiliser.

Research in 2009 showed that Nigeria’s potential to produce biogas amounted to 6.8 million cubic metres a day based on an estimated 227.5 tonnes generated daily.

But the study said implementation was constrained due to low awareness and financing challenges – both of which can be solved if state authorities decide to act.

Projects such as these could build positive relations between the government and the public, which is crucial for disrupting the activities of violent extremists. Reinforcing ties with local populations and maintaining databases on livestock farmers could also provide valuable local intelligence and prevent insurgents’ misuse of dung.

Controlling animal waste alone wouldn’t end the IED threat – but could help prevent the spread of this low-cost and deadly method of manufacturing explosives.

Moussa Soumahoro, Researcher, Africa Peace and Security Governance, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Addis Ababa
(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).