World Heritage Sites and Armed Conflicts: A Case of Sukur Cultural Landscape and Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria

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CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE:
CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY
Proceedings
Fourth International Conference
on Heritage Conservation and Site Management
DECEMBER 5–7, 2016, BTU COTTBUS
edited by
Peter Schneider
Partners Funded by
Ministry of Antiquities
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE : CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY Conference Proceedings
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE:
CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY
The destructive effects of war, and particularly the deliberate
targeting of cultural sites, constitute an exceptional challenge
for Heritage Conservation. The general principles of retaining
cultural VLJQLÀFDQFH by continuous care and by minimal inter-
vention may seem of little use when one is faced with catastro-
phic and wide-spread damage to culturally VLJQLÀFDQW places
– be they individual monuments, urban structures or archaeo-
logical sites. 3RVWFRQÁLFW recovery encompasses a wide range
of topics, many of which have not yet been studied in depth.
This puplication presents papers presented during the confe-
rence on » Cultural Heritage in 3RVW&RQÁLFW Recovery«. The
conference, held in December 2016 was the fourth out of the
series »Heritage Conservation and Site Management«, initiated
both by BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg and Helwan University Cairo.
The conference series is linked to their Joint Master Programme
»Heritage Conservation and Site Management«. Adressing the
subject of 3RVW&RQÁLFW Recovery, BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg
and Helwan University Cairo are taking a ÀUVW step towards sket-
ching the scope and the depth of the problems of Heritage
and War. Speakers from many countries are providing insights
into approaches to cope with these problems.
Download of this publication: heritage-post-conflict.com

2
Herausgeber / Editor
Peter Schneider
Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg
Chair of Architectural Conservation – Lehrstuhl Denkmalpege
Konrad-Wachsmann-Allee 8, 03046 Cottbus
Text revision: Leonardo Leckie – Larissa Dougherty
Layout: Peter Schneider
Cover design: Laura Hernandez
Verlag / Publisher
Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg
IKMZ-Universitätsbibliothek
© 2017
ISBN 978-3-940471-39-0
In Zusammenarbeit mit /
In cooperation with
Helwan University
Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management
Abd El-Azeez Al-So’od st.
Manyial
Cairo, Egypt

5
Table of Content
CONTENT
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
PREFACE
WELCOME & GREETINGS
Prof Dr Jörg Steinbach
President BTU
Prof Dr Maged Negm
President Helwan University
Dr Martina Münch
Minister of Science, Research
and Culture of the State of
Brandenburg
Prof Dr Ahmed Ghoneim
Cultural Councellor, Embassy
of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Prof Dr Friederike Fless
President DAI
Dr Renate Dieterich
DAAD
HERITAGE CONSERVATION
AND SITE MANAGEMENT
Prof Dr Hosam Refai
Helwan University
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Welcome
Greeting
Greeting
Greeting
Greeting
Greeting
Joint Master HCSM –
The First Three Years
08
11
15
17
19
21
23
25
29
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6
OPENING LECTURE
Bijan Rouhani
CASES & EXPERIENCES
KEYNOTE: Nigel Walter
Ivana Nina Unković
Constanze Röhl
Peter I. Schneider
Aisha Darwish
METHODS& TOOLS
KEYNOTE: Emma Cunliffe
Azadeh Vafadari
Graham Philipp
Richard Jennings
Barbara Caranza
Cristina Muradore
Milica Božić Marojević
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035
055
073
083
099
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127
137
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In Search of Lost Values:
Is Post Trauma Cultural Heritage
Reconstruction Possible?
The ‘Second Battle of Britain’:
Lessons in Post-War Reconstruction
Post-Conict Recovery of Diocletian’s
Fortied Villa in Split (Croatia) and
Kostanjevica Monastery (Slovenia)
Coping with Concrete and Contaminaton:
Lessons to be Learned from the Archae-
ological Investigation of the Missile
Factory Building F1 at Peenemünde
Suq el-Mdineh in Aleppo in the Pre-
war Period: the Historic Value
Heritage Destruction: Lessons from
the Middle East and North Africa for
Post-Conict Countries
A Historic Environment Record for
Heritage Condition and Risk Assess-
ment in Post-Conict Syria
Cultural Properties as Tools for Building
Resilience. The Psychological Reaction
toward Catastrophes, the Victim and
the First Aider
Questioning the Impact of Contem-
porary Post-War Reconstruction Ideas
on World Heritage Sites

7
PROCESSES & PEOPLE
KEYNOTE: Johanne Bouchard
Olukoya Obafemi
Mary Kupelian:
Céline Yvon:
MEMORY & IDENTITY
KEYNOTE: Leo Schmidt
Esra Can Akbil
Giorgos Psaltis
Ksenia Surikova
CLOSING LECTURE
John Schoeld
Contributors
Living Heritage: Cultural Rights as Tools
to Apprehend and Comprehend Cultu-
ral Heritage from its Human Perspective
World Heritage Sites and Conict:
A Case of Sukur Cultural Landscape
and Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria
Armenian Cultural Christian Heritage Sites
in Syria: An Overview of the History and
Post Conict Recovery Challenges and
Strategies
First Aid to Cultural Heritage in Crisis:
Ethics for an Emerging Field
Guidelines On Safeguarding Cultural
Signicance of Urban Structures
Damaged by Armed Conict
From Conict to Reconciliation:
A case of Heritage Conservation in
the Nicosia UN Buffer Zone, Cyprus
Memorialisation of the Events of
the Second World War in Russia
and Belarus
People First? Reassessing Heritage
Priorities in Post-Conict Recovery
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161
171
179
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199
209
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225
Table of Content
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PROCESSES AND PEOPLE

161
East have been well-documented (Chinwe 2015).
However, the philistinic absurdities against cultural
heritage which represent collective memories and
identity of a people seem to be an aggravated
global phenomenon in recent times, with different
parts of the world experiencing their own shares of
such atavism, in various degrees and dimensions.
In such context, Nigeria as a sovereign entity is
no tabula rasa to this overarching phenomenon.
Nigeria is one of the African nations which gained
independence in 1960. Throughout her national
history – pre/post-colonial context – Nigeria has
experienced the deliberate destruction of her cul-
World Heritage Sites
and Armed Conicts
A Case of Sukur Cultural Landscape
and Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria
The destruction of cultural heritage site/property in
times of conict – even during intervals of relative
peace – is an age long phenomenon. It has been
a functional component of humankind’s historical
process. It is simply a perverse means by which
new rulers afrm and establish their own ideologies,
without tangible and intangible perturbation by
the experiences of the past that created identity
(Albert 2002). Invigoratingly, classical authors allude
how Persepolis was burnt in 330 BC by Alexander.
Also, during the Middle Ages, the disastrous effects
of the Mongols on the cultural heritage in seve-
ral precincts of the Central Asia and the Middle
Obafemi A.P. Olukoya
Abstract
Deliberate aggression and cataclysm against cultural heritage sites/properties in times of war or armed conict is without
a doubt, an age long phenomenon. This assault on heritage seems to be getting more aggravated and it is perpetuated
in various dimensions, under different umbrages with the different global precincts experiencing its concomitant pillage.
Against such a background, this descriptive paper makes a case of the Nigerian experience of aggression against the
United Nation Educational, Scientic and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site by the Boko Haram insurgent
group. The canonical argumentation of this paper stems from the fact that the case at hand – Boko Haram insurgency and
Sukur Cultural landscape – has not received comparative attention in research vis-à-vis the mainstream media.
To achieve its main argument, this study is organised into three parts. Firstly, this paper attempts to move beyond the
existing blanket assertions on the discourse of Boko Haram insurgency by positing an academic theory to interrogate and
analyse the emergence of the insurgent group in Northern Nigeria. Secondly, this paper frames the activities of the insur-
gents in Nigeria and discusses the attack on Sukur Cultural Landscape. Thirdly, this paper posits an argument as to why the
insurgents attacked this particular World Heritage Site. Conclusively, the paper discusses the methodologies as used by the
State Party – Nigeria – in synergy with the local community to ensure recovery of the World Heritage Site and reiterates that
such approaches can be adopted by countries under similar scales of insurgency.
Keywords:
Armed Conict, World Heritage Sites, Boko Haram Insurgency, Sukur Cultural Landscape, Criteria for Recovery.

162
tural heritage under different umbrages, mould
and dimensions, ranging from supposed peace
times to war periods (Chinwe 2015). The most re-
cent of such destruction to cultural heritage within
the Nigeria national space today is perpetuated
by a radical Islamic group – Boko Haram. These
insurgents who have already destroyed numerous
local heritage sites and killed thousands of people
with careless abandon, with the intent of propaga-
ting their perverse philosophies, launched a care-
fully orchestrated attack on Sukur Cultural Land-
scape – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – which is
located at the heart of their pillage in Northern
Nigeria. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper
is to attempt to provide a theoretical perspective
to understanding how this insurgent group emer-
ged and why they attacked this site. The paper
argues that in spite of the fundamental creed pal-
pable in the Hague convention (UNESCO, 1954)
“[….] being convinced that damage to cultural
property belonging to any people whatsoever
means damage to the cultural heritage of all man-
kind, since each people makes its contribution
to the culture of the world”, the attack on this
Nigerian World Heritage Site has not received
comparative attention in contemporary research
and has been largely absent from mainstream
media. Therefore, this descriptive paper attempts
to  ll the void which exists on the case of Boko
Haram and Sukur Cultural Landscape and dis-
cusses the recovery procedure used by the State
Party. This paper concludes by positing a recom-
mendation for preventing the occurrence of such
events in the near future.
Boko Haram Insurgency: A Synopsis
Boko Haram is a radical Islamic group whose
tentacles of operation is basically centred in six
States in Northern Nigeria. Literarily, the word ‛Boko
Haram’ is taken from the Hausa lexicon and it
translates as ‛Western education is a sin’ (Loimeier
2012; Chothia 2012). The Islamic tie of the group is
made evident by their creed – ‛Jama’atu Ahhus
Sunnah Lid Da’await Wah Jihad’, which in Arabic
means ‛people committed to the propagation
of the prophet‘s teachings and Jihad’ (Babalola,
Obafemi A.P. Olukoya
Fig. 1: Map of Nigeria indicating the concentration of Boko Haram attacks (John Emerson/Human Rights Watch).

163
A Case of Sukur Cultural Landscape
2013; Anonymous 2016). The group shares its fun-
damental creed with the likes of Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria (ISIS), al-Qaeda and other radical
Islamic insurgencies by propagating Salast-ideo-
logy – an afnity for violence against non-Muslims
and Muslims alike, and a desire to establish a glo-
bal caliphate centred on Sunni Islam (Christopher
2014).
However, there are diverse positions regarding the
exact date of emergence of Boko Haram in Ni-
geria. While several articles have alluded that the
radical Islamic group emerged in 2002 (Pate 2015;
Christopher 2014; Babalola 2013), others opined
that it dated back to the 1990’s (Awodola & Ayuba
2015; Suleiman & Karim 2015). However, while there
are multiple dimensions to the precise emergence
of the insurgency, the year the Nigerian Govern-
ment launched a military aggression against the
radical group was in April 2009 (Kristensen 2016)
and thus marks the turning point in the discourse
of Boko Haram insurgency. 2009 also witnessed
the apprehension and summary execution of the
cleric leader of the group – Mohammad Yusuf.1
The execution of Yusuf was preceded by a series
of suicide bombings, which targets churches,
Mosques, Governmental Institutions, Nigerian
Police and Federal Military, women and children
alike. Over the period of seven years (2009-2016),
the Boko Haram insurgency has displaced over
2.8 million Nigerian people and killed over 15,000
people (Blanchard, 2014: 1) (see g. 1). Given this
outlook, this paper attempts to provide in the follow-
ing, a theoretical perspective to the emergence
of Boko Haram in Nigeria. The purpose of this is to
understand the activities of the group and why
they eventually attacked Sukur Cultural Landscape.
Theorizing Boko Haram Insurgency
Generally, insurgency – both as a concept and as a
phenomenon – is an encyclopaedic compendium
which requires some critical reection and ana-
lysis. Literarily, however, the United State Counter-
Insurgency Initiative (2009: 2, 9) dened insurgency
as:
the organized use of subversion and violence to
seize, nullify, or challenge political control of a regi-
on. [….] Insurgents seek to subvert or displace the
government and completely or partially control
the resources and population of a given territory.”
The place of scientic research in the discourse
of insurgency, therefore, cannot be substituted or
relegated to a secondary role. In that vein, over
the last few decades, diverse materialist, cultural
and biological positions have been posited as
theoretical perspectives to understanding armed
conicts. This paper adopts a materialist theore-
tical perspective as a lens for the analysis of the
emergence of Boko Haram insurgency. The reason
for choosing a materialist approach is motivated
by a careful investigation of the nature of avai-
lable diachronic and synchronic data from the
environmental and cultural behaviour of the plebs
in the Northern region of Nigeria. In that con-
text, cultural and biological perspectives cannot
necessarily provide the kind of analysis needed.
Therefore, amidst the numerous dimensions of
materialist theoretical perspectives which exist
in research, this paper adopts the tenets of eco-
logical anthropology to attain its imperatives.
Ecological Anthropology Perspective:
The Basic Premises
In concise words, ecological anthropology pro-
vides a materialist explanation of human society
and culture as products of adaptation to given
environmental conditions (Seymour 1986). Also,
it primarily entails the discussion of the reciprocal
relations that exists between people and their im-
mediate environment (Salzman et al. 1996). The
approach in ecological anthropology argues that
human behaviour is a function of its environment
(Nettings, 1996). It explains that human populations
constantly have an exchange and subsequently,
an impact upon the land, climate, plant, and ani-
mal species within their proximities. Consequently,
these elements of their environment have recipro-
cal impacts on humans (see gure 2). Therefore,
ecological anthropology addresses the ways that
a population shapes its environment and how
these manners of relation form the population’s
social, economic, and political life.
Ecological anthropology as a theoretical per-
spective owes its narrative to a couple of reac-
tionary stages through classical to contemporary
research. The term ‛stage’ in this context means
group of works which shares theoretical perspec-
tive, mode of explanation and research questions.
Hence, the evolution of ecological anthropo-
logy was basically in three stages. The rst stage
was characterised by the works of the foremost
Protagonists of Materialism in Anthropology name-
ly Julian Stewards and Leslie White (Hatch 1973).
The second stage was reactionary to the tenets
of these two scholars. It was a school of thought
which championed a movement called Neoevo-
lutionism and Neofunctionalism (Orlove 1980). This
stage is characterised by the inuence of theorists
like Marvin Harris, Rappaport Roy, Vayda Andrews
and Netting Roberts. The third stage is characte-
rised by the concepts of a movement called the
processual ecological anthropology, which was a
widely accepted theory from the late 1970s (Orlove
1980). To validate the aims of this paper therefore,
Julian Steward materialist theory of cultural ecolo-
gy is adopted to analyse the emergence of Boko
Insurgency and their modus operandi. The reason
for choosing Julian Steward’s perception is due
to the suitability and applicability of his methodo-
logy to the case at hand. His methods t perfectly
into analysing a localised situation, while the other
”

164
change under similar environmental conditions,
even while in different geographical locations. He
developed the concept of ‛cultural core’ which
he de nes as certain elements of culture which in-
 uences the environment, while other elements of
culture are subject to autonomous process of cul-
ture history. In his book Theory of Culture Change:
The Methodology of Multilinear Evolution, he de-
scribes multilinear evolution as
[…] an assumption that certain basic types of
culture may develop in similar ways under similar
conditions but that few concrete aspects of cul-
ture will appear among all groups of mankind in a
regular sequence.“ (Steward 1955: 4).
Steward sought the causes of cultural changes and
attempted to devise a method for recognizing the
ways in which culture change is induced by ad-
aptation to the environment. He termed this ad-
aptation ‛cultural ecology’. Steward argued that
the cross-cultural regularities which arise from simi-
lar adaptive processes in similar environments are
synchronic in nature (Steward 1955: 4). The main
aim of cultural ecology is to identify whether the
adjustments of human societies to their environ-
ments require particular modes of behaviour or
whether they permit latitude for a certain range
of possible behaviours and this concept was later
developed as possibilism in contemporary research
(Steward 1955: 36).
To buttress the above assertions, the Nigerian Cul-
tural Policy document of 1998 de ned culture as
school of thoughts of ecological anthropology
acknowledges the impacts of multiple factors,
and therefore, the conception can no longer  t
into analysing a localised situation.
Boko Haram –
ISM from a Cultural Ecological Perspective
Generally, Julian Steward is the proponent of cul-
tural ecology who advocates multilinear evolution.
Steward’s theory was a reaction to environmen-
tal determinism by positing possibilism of cultural
behaviour (cultural core) owing to environmental
conditions (Bar eld 1997: 448). He asserts the con-
cept of adaptation follow a regular sequence of
Obafemi A.P. Olukoya
Fig. 2: A Venn diagram showing the interdepen-
dent and reciprocal relationship between man,
culture and the environment (Author, 2017).
Fig. 3: Incidence of deserti cation in North-eastern States of Nigeria (Olagunju 2015).
”

165
A Case of Sukur Cultural Landscape
Fig. 4: Population, energy use and carrying capa-
city (Plag 2016).
[....]the totality of the way of life evolved by a
people in their attempts to meet the challenges of
living in their environment, which gives order and
meaning to their social, political, economic, aes-
thetic and religious norms and modes of organiza-
tion thus distinguishing a people from their neigh-
bours.” (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1998: pp.5).
Furthermore, Schaefer (2002) denes culture as the
totality of learned, socially transmitted customs,
knowledge, material objects and behaviour. It in-
cludes the ideas, value, customs and artefacts
of a group of people. Owing to these denitions
and more, it is palpable that the perception of
culture from the Nigeria has an environmental and
material inclination. Therefore, the question to be
asked is; what are the factors responsible for en-
vironmental changes which have triggered the
change in culture? This question can be answered
by analysing a complex of factors, however, this
paper analyses the following tripartite factors.
Climate change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
identied Nigeria as one of the climate change
vulnerable countries in Africa which is likely to
experience colossal shifts in weather conditions
over the twenty-rst century (Boko et al. 2007: 435).
It further stated that Third World countries such
as Nigeria are likely to be at the fore of risk con-
cerns, owing to their weak adaptive capacity and
lack of political will to take action against climate
change. Recent studies also demonstrated the
practical perturbation in the geophysical equi-
librium of the country in the last decade. The nor-
thern part of Nigeria where the Boko Haram Insur-
gency broke out, is already experiencing drought
and a severe drop in crop yield and production
over the last decades (Odjugo 2009) (see gure 3).
However, climate change should not be viewed
as the only factor responsible for conict and the
birth of Boko Haram. While the connection bet-
ween climate induced desertication and conict
cannot be totally substantiated, climate change
nonetheless has increased the vulnerability of the
citizen to adapt in an autonomous manner, there-
by giving rise to a new culture.
Population Growth
Climate change cannot be analysed as a singu-
lar factor for environmental degradation cum
change in land use pattern and subsequently,
the rise of conicts in Northern Nigeria. Climate
change which is a recent phenomenon, only pre-
cipitated existing environmental challenges and
dynamics. Such existing challenges also include
population growth in Nigeria. At independence in
1960, the population of the country was 45.2 million
people. Today, the population has risen to 182 mil-
lion people and is forecasted to surge to 201 mil-
lion people by the year 2021.2 According to the
Thomas Malthus theory of population (Malthus
1959), population grows exponentially and re-
sources grow geometrically. Hence, carrying
capacity decreases as population increases.
In that vein, the population growth in Northern
Nigeria has outgrown the available resources to
manage the subsistence. For instance, a piece
of land which was shared between family of six in
the 1960’s, today it is being shared by a family of
twenty. Therefore, people have to look elsewhere
for subsistence. Again, while the linkage between
population growth and armed conicts cannot
be totally substantiated, the degradation of such
land increases the vulnerability of the people
and can cause them to adapt in an autonomous
manner. Such autonomous adaptation3 opens
them to accept any means for survival.
The Nigeria Land Use Act
The Land Use Act of 19784 is another existing
problem and cause of environmental degrada-
tion. This act transferred ownership of land from
individuals and ceded all land to the federal
government. Therefore, every individual seeks to
rent from the government. It is a generally known
phenomenon in Third World countries that there
is always prejudices when the citizens have to
depend on the government of the day for the
distribution of resources. The biases experienced
in the Land Use Act of Nigeria has also given rise
to inequalities and vulnerability of the poorer fami-
lies. Therefore, an autonomous adaptation be-
comes a way out. Hence, a birth of a new culture
in the attempt for survival becomes plausible.
Considering all these factors are relative to the
theory of ecological anthropology, it can be as-
serted that the change of culture was triggered
by attempt to adapt and survive. Such adapta-
tion gave birth to a new violent culture as a means
of survival and provided the wherewithal for the
vulnerability of the citizens to the preaching of
”

166
radical Islamic cleric – Mohammad Yusuf – who in-
doctrinated the people with hopes of subsistence.
It is also worth stressing that the group started as
a reactionary movement against the ineptitude
of the Nigerian government before it was bor-
rowed by religion which gave the movement the
necessary inertia. As opined by Karl Marx (1844),5,
religion is the soul of the soulless (vulnerable soul)
and the opium of the people (vulnerable people).
By and large, the Boko Haram insurgency broke
out in the northern part of Nigeria and consistent-
ly launched attacks on every culture contrary to
their perverse beliefs. Soon in 2014, the account of
Boko Haram took a remarkable twist when it atta-
cked Sukur Cultural Landscape – a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
Sukur Cultural Landscape and Boko Haram Pillage
According to the National Commission for Muse-
um and Monument (NCMM 2006) Sukur is a com-
munity consisting of ten wards with a population of
12,000 people. It is located within the Madagali
Local Government Area of Adamawa State on the
north-eastern border of Nigeria with Cameroon. In
1999, the 23rd Session of the World Heritage Com-
mittee in Marakesh Morocco inscribed the pro-
perty – Sukur Cultural Landscape – on the World
Heritage List based on criteria (III), (V) and (VI) as
a model of a continuing landscape with associa-
tive, powerful and religious values, kept alive over
the centuries through customary law and practice
(UNESCO 2005).
The cultural landscape of Sukur is an eloquent
testimony to a strong and continuing spiritual
Obafemi A.P. Olukoya
and cultural tradition that has endured for many
centuries. The Site which has amazing historical,
spiritual, cultural and economic values is charac-
terized by particular artefacts (stone architecture,
iron smelting technology, landscape and physical
relief) and attributes (Hidi’s Palace, stone walls, pa-
ved walk ways, stream, domesticated landscape
with sacred trees, agricultural terracing, and other
spiritual features, vernacular structures, traditional
grave yards, stone wells) respectively.
The management of the World Heritage Site is
vested in two authorities, namely; the Nigeria
National Commission for Museum and Monuments
(NCMM) and National Emergency Manage-
ment Agency (NEMA) which has the mandate on
handling disaster management issues.
Sadly, the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents
are around the perimeters of Sukur Cultural Land-
scape in Adamawa State. In fact, in 2016, Boko
Haram came into a full control of the Madagali
Local Government area for several months. Owing
to the presence of the insurgents, villagers  ed to
the hilltop of the World Heritage Site.6 The presence
of the population which  ed to the landscape
had already posed various degrees of challenges
to the site and decreased the carrying capacity.
Subsequently, on the 12th December 2014 (Musa
2016: 146), Boko Haram insurgents entered Sukur
Cultural Landscape, burnt the Hidi Palace, the
palace square, the black smith homestead, cow
pens, granaries and threshing  elds. They also
desecrated ritual sites, the festival ground and
community structures such as primary health care
centre, schools and the interpretation centre
Fig. 5: Maps showing and localizing Sukur Cultural Landscape (Chinwe 2015; Onukwube 2013).

167
A Case of Sukur Cultural Landscape
Fig. 6: Building burnt by the Insurgents (Photos: Stefan Kiehas & Simon Zira).
among others.7 The insurgents were recorded to
have also killed a few persons and carted away
foods and a few cultural items.
However, according to Onukwube (2013), the
evaluation of the policy frameworks of the two
agencies – NCMM and NEMA – indicated the lack
of any anticipatory Disaster Risk Management stra-
tegy for the protection of Sukur Cultural Land-
scape in spite of the heavy presence of Boko Haram
insurgents. The policy framework also showed no
contingency for the mitigation of such events
through adequate resources nor was there a stra-
tegic plan for the World Heritage Site. Furthermore,
the participatory involvement of local communities
in the implementation of policies were not strategi-
cally de ned in order to allocate roles they should
play in cases emergencies or disasters.
Responses of the State Party and UNESCO
The Nigerian military responded by organising the
local community members into para military units
which were essentially vigilante groups. These
groups relied on their belief in cosmic powers in
order to wage spiritual war fare against the insur-
gents. Locals worked in synergy with the Nigerian
military joint task force and as result, the insurgents
were successfully driven out of the Madagali
Local Government by April of the subsequent year.
Normalcy returned to the site, although, tentative.
The incidence was also reported to the 39th ses-
sion of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee
meeting in Bonn on the 6th of July 2015 by the
State Party. The Committee mandated the State
Party to consult the World Heritage Center and
the Advisory Body to prepare and submit a State
of Conservation report by on 23rd of March 2016.8
Furthermore, the State Party is also requested to sub-
mit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1st of Decem-
ber 2017, an updated report on the state of con-
servation of the property to the World Heritage
Committee at its 42nd session in 2018. More im-
portantly, the reaction of the State Party empha-
zised the importance of community involvement
in the discourse of World Heritage Site manage-
ment. The resilience demonstrated by the com-
munity members also emphasises their willing-
ness to sustain their living traditions and culture.
By September 2016, they were able to celebrate
‛BER’,9 biannual festival in the cultural landscape.
Boko Haram Attack on Sukur Cultural Landscape:
The Argument
The reason Boko Haram attacked Sukur Cultural
Landscape remains a largely contested discourse
in contemporary research and even secular dis-
course. While on the one hand, there is a populist
position which argues that Boko Haram insurgents
attacked the World Heritage Site to make a politi-
cal statement, on the other hand, some claimed
Boko Haram was mirroring the modus operandi of
ISIS who are also destroying World Heritage Sites
in Syria and Iraq. It was said to be a proof of their
allegiance to the internationally recognised Isla-
mic Group, ISIS. However, from a more scienti c
point of view, these positions are not necessarily
true and can, in fact, be contested. Relative to
the theoretical perspective adopted, this paper
argues that the interpretation of Boko Haram vio-
lence against Sukur Cultural landscape is a means
of propagating new ideologies cum cultural way
of life and this position is buttressed by the position
of Professor M.-T. Albert (Albert 2002),
[…] Destruction of cultural assets by later
generation is a function component of human-
kind historical process, because destruction of
heritage is tantamount to destruction of iden-
tity and destruction of identity gives new rulers
the scope they need to  rmly establish their own
ideologies, undisturbed by the experience of the
”

168
Obafemi A.P. Olukoya
Endnotes
1 According to The Anti-defamation League
(2011), Mohammed Yusuf also known as Ustaz
Mohammed Yusuf, was a Nigerian Muslim sect
leader and founder of the militant Islamist group
Boko Haram in 2002.He was its spiritual leader
until he was killed in the 2009 Boko Haram up-
rising. Available from https://www.adl.org/sites/
default/les/documents/assets/pdf/combating-
hate/boko-haram-jihadist-threat-west-africa-
2013-1-11-v1.pdf (accessed 07 July 2017).
2 According to the Nigerian population statistics
available at http://www.worldometers.info/world-
population/nigeria-population/
(accessed 03 July 2017).
3
”
Autonomous adaptation: constitute not only con-
scious response to climatic stimuli, but is also trig-
gered by ecological changes in natural systems
and by market or welfare changes in human sys-
tems. It is driven by how environmental change
and scarcity present livelihood risks, rather than
physical risks alone.” (McCarthy et al. 2002:
982).
4 The Nigeria Land Use Act. Available from http://
www.nigeria-law.org/Land%20Use%20Act.htm
(assessed 8 Feb. 2017).
5 „Die Religion [...] ist das Opium des Volkes“. This
statement appears in Karl Marx’ A Contribution to
the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right which
appeared in the Deutsch-Französische Jahr-
bücher, as published in Paris on 7 & 10 Feb.1844.
6 Sukur and Boko Haram. This account is avai-
lable at http://www.sukur.info/BokoHaram.htm
(accessed 08 Feb. 2017).
7 iIbid.
881 World Heritage Committee 40th session. Report on-
line available from http://whc.unesco.org/en/ses-
sions/40COM/documents (accessed 08 Feb. 2017).
9 The celebration of ‚BER’, is the biennial male
initiation ceremony. It constitutes an important
marker in the recovery not only of Sukur but also
of its region. For further information on ‛BER’ see
http://www.sukur.info/BokoHaram.htm
(assessed 08 Feb. 2107).
100ICRC. Customary IHL. Available at https://
ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/
v2_rul_rule39 (accessed 08 Feb. 2017).
past that created identity. It is in the very nature of
society’s developmental processes that elements
of material and nonmaterial culture that have
been handed down from former generations are
rejected, forgotten or replaced [….]” (pp. 24–5)
Also, going by the appraisal classical antecedents
in Nigeria, for every time a new ideology is born
in history, it is often preceded by attempts to era-
dicate or subjugate the existing philosophies and
institutions. This is often the primary aim and one
of the approaches to enforcing a contemporary
ideology. Also, Boko Haram made their perverse
ideology known in the statement in 2011,
[…] We will never accept any system of govern-
ment apart from the one stipulated by Islam [….]
we do not believe in any system of government, be
it traditional or orthodox except the Islamic system
and that is why we will keep on ghting against de-
mocracy, capitalism, socialism and whatever [....]”
Mohammed Yusuf, BBC Online (Anonymous, 2011)
The structuring principle of Boko Haram is therefore
self-evident. The group is attempting to enforce
a new culture and ideology which this paper
argues and linked with an ecological anthropolo-
gy theory of cultural change. Enforcing a new cul-
ture through such perverse means of destruction
is also not new in the history of Nigeria. During the
colonial era, Christian missionaries also burnt down
several traditional shrines of gods in Nigeria, which
they claimed represented an affront to their bibli-
cal ‛truth’ and religious ideologies (Soyinka, 2002).
Conclusion
Destruction of cultural heritage properties in
Nigeria is not a new phenomenon, through pre/
post-colonial periods and even to the modern day
society. Such embers and afnity for destroying
cultural heritage which represents the collective
memory of a people is a functional component
of propagating a new culture and ideology. In this
case of northern Nigeria, it is therefore incumbent
on the Nigerian Government to institute policies
which can alleviate poverty and reduce vulnera-
bility of citizens to autonomous adaptation and
culture change. In the light of these positions, this
paper concludes by encouraging the State Party
to also develop risk preparedness framework for the
World Heritage Site, to mitigate the occurrence of
such events in the future. Such framework should
prioritize the involvement of local community in
line with the dictates of the Budapest Declarati-
on on community involvement. Furthermore, the
Nigeria military should also prioritize the protection
of World Heritage Sites as stipulated in the Military
Manual (1994)10 which incorporates the content
of Article 47 of the 1949 Geneva Convention and
emphasizes that
”
marked cultural objects must be
protected” in the conduct of defence.
Credits
Fig. 1: John Emerson/Human Rights Watch,
cited in: Williams & Guttschuss, 2012: 16.
Fig. 2: Author, 2017
Fig. 3: Olagunju 2015: 200, table 1.
Fig. 4: Plag 2016: 140.
Fig. 5: Chinwe 2015: 379 g. 1; Onukwube 2013:i51, g. 2.
Fig. 6: Photo: Stefan Kiehas & Simon Zira, cited in:
Musa 2016: 144, g. 1.
”

169
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Obafemi A.P. Olukoya

226
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE:
CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY
Proceedings
Fourth International Conference
on Heritage Conservation and Site Management
DECEMBER 5–7, 2016, BTU COTTBUS
edited by
Peter Schneider
Partners Funded by
Ministry of Antiquities
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE : CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY Conference Proceedings
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE:
CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY
The destructive effects of war, and particularly the deliberate
targeting of cultural sites, constitute an exceptional challenge
for Heritage Conservation. The general principles of retaining
cultural VLJQLÀFDQFH by continuous care and by minimal inter-
vention may seem of little use when one is faced with catastro-
phic and wide-spread damage to culturally VLJQLÀFDQW places
– be they individual monuments, urban structures or archaeo-
logical sites. 3RVWFRQÁLFW recovery encompasses a wide range
of topics, many of which have not yet been studied in depth.
This puplication presents papers presented during the confe-
rence on » Cultural Heritage in 3RVW&RQÁLFW Recovery«. The
conference, held in December 2016 was the fourth out of the
series »Heritage Conservation and Site Management«, initiated
both by BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg and Helwan University Cairo.
The conference series is linked to their Joint Master Programme
»Heritage Conservation and Site Management«. Adressing the
subject of 3RVW&RQÁLFW Recovery, BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg
and Helwan University Cairo are taking a ÀUVW step towards sket-
ching the scope and the depth of the problems of Heritage
and War. Speakers from many countries are providing insights
into approaches to cope with these problems.
Download of this publication: heritage-post-conflict.com
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE:
CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY
Proceedings
Fourth International Conference
on Heritage Conservation and Site Management
DECEMBER 5–7, 2016, BTU COTTBUS
edited by
Peter Schneider
Partners Funded by
Ministry of Antiquities
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE : CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY Conference Proceedings
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE:
CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY
The destructive effects of war, and particularly the deliberate
targeting of cultural sites, constitute an exceptional challenge
for Heritage Conservation. The general principles of retaining
cultural VLJQLÀFDQFH by continuous care and by minimal inter-
vention may seem of little use when one is faced with catastro-
phic and wide-spread damage to culturally VLJQLÀFDQW places
– be they individual monuments, urban structures or archaeo-
logical sites. 3RVWFRQÁLFW recovery encompasses a wide range
of topics, many of which have not yet been studied in depth.
This puplication presents papers presented during the confe-
rence on » Cultural Heritage in 3RVW&RQÁLFW Recovery«. The
conference, held in December 2016 was the fourth out of the
series »Heritage Conservation and Site Management«, initiated
both by BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg and Helwan University Cairo.
The conference series is linked to their Joint Master Programme
»Heritage Conservation and Site Management«. Adressing the
subject of 3RVW&RQÁLFW Recovery, BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg
and Helwan University Cairo are taking a ÀUVW step towards sket-
ching the scope and the depth of the problems of Heritage
and War. Speakers from many countries are providing insights
into approaches to cope with these problems.
Download of this publication: heritage-post-conflict.com
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE:
CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY
Proceedings
Fourth International Conference
on Heritage Conservation and Site Management
DECEMBER 5–7, 2016, BTU COTTBUS
edited by
Peter Schneider
Partners Funded by
Ministry of Antiquities
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE : CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY Conference Proceedings
CATASTROPHE AND CHALLENGE:
CULTURAL HERITAGE IN POST-CONFLICT RECOVERY
The destructive effects of war, and particularly the deliberate
targeting of cultural sites, constitute an exceptional challenge
for Heritage Conservation. The general principles of retaining
cultural VLJQLÀFDQFH by continuous care and by minimal inter-
vention may seem of little use when one is faced with catastro-
phic and wide-spread damage to culturally VLJQLÀFDQW places
– be they individual monuments, urban structures or archaeo-
logical sites. 3RVWFRQÁLFW recovery encompasses a wide range
of topics, many of which have not yet been studied in depth.
This puplication presents papers presented during the confe-
rence on » Cultural Heritage in 3RVW&RQÁLFW Recovery«. The
conference, held in December 2016 was the fourth out of the
series »Heritage Conservation and Site Management«, initiated
both by BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg and Helwan University Cairo.
The conference series is linked to their Joint Master Programme
»Heritage Conservation and Site Management«. Adressing the
subject of 3RVW&RQÁLFW Recovery, BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg
and Helwan University Cairo are taking a ÀUVW step towards sket-
ching the scope and the depth of the problems of Heritage
and War. Speakers from many countries are providing insights
into approaches to cope with these problems.
Download of this publication: heritage-post-conflict.com