The War against Boko Haram in Nigeria covered in Press Releases: Dispersions and Deliberations

Abstract

The war against Boko Haram has no doubt thrown Nigerians and the country into a chaotic state. Nigerians and indeed the international community have been perturbed by the seemingly security challenges ravaging the Nation’s peaceful coexistence and her economy. Information on the war whether there are successes or otherwise is what the public wants to be abreast with consistently. This, therefore, is a qualitative study on the fight against Boko Haram and the application of press releases as a communication strategy. The study seeks to examine the Boko Haram insurgency in a nutshell, the content of the press releases as well as its effectiveness. Goal Attainment Theory was used as theoretical framework. In line with the methodology (Discourse Analysis), a total of 35 Press releases issued by the Nigerian Army, Directorate of State Security Services, Defence Headquarters and the Presidency from January 2015-December 2017 were purposefully identified and studied. The study found out that Nigerian Army and other security agencies have adopted the consistent use of press release as a public relations tool which appears to be safer. The press releases are distributed by the Directorate of the Army Public Relations to a significant number of national and international media outlets through a coordinated platform, the social media (Whatsapp and Facebook) and the electronic mail, with attached photographs and sometimes relevant footages (Video). Core Information found out by the study focused on Update on the war against Boko Haram, the successes recorded and highlights of the items recovered from the group members.