Audacious terrorists: where is our deadline& Were the train kidnappees released or rescued? Ik Muo, PhD.
The red-line
in military parlance is a warning to the enemy to expect extreme response
if they crossed ‘point-x’, which may
be geographical, or operational. I heard that term in the hay days of Syrian crises when the US warned al-Asad and
his allies that applying chemical weapons against the anti-government forces
would be crossing the red line. By the way, how come everything suddenly became
dead-quiet on the Syrian front? What happened and who won the war? Anyway, just
the other day, Jake Sullivan, the US National
Security Adviser promised Rusia
that ‘catastrophic consequences’ awaited
them if they applied nuclear weapon in their expansionist
enterprise in Ukraine. Red-line
is thus a situation in which a nation tells the aggressors, thus far and
no further. Such a nation may be
directly at war or in sympathy with those at war. And we know that Nigeria is
at war, both the one brought at its door step by a diverse but related array of
favoured insurgents (BH, ISWAP, bandits,
kidnappers) mostly in the North and the
one that the government itself has
declared in the South-East. So, in this war against insurgency, what, where
or when is our red-line and when will the red-line response be activated?
I ask this
question because our traducers, (I will generically term them bandits), have
gone beyond what any government, even an unserious one, should tolerate or
overlook. They not only indulge in noisy gyration where angels fear to tip-toe;
they are issuing orders to the government and the citizens with audacity and
impunity. They tell the government what to do; they tax the helpless citizens
and give them deadlines, and they strike in such a way that ridicules the
competence and determination of our
security forces. On march 28,2022,
the audacious bandits bombed a Kaduna-bound train and killed 8 Nigerians
on the spot, one of whom was Chinelo Maegafu, a medical doctor, who was billed
to japa (escape from
Nigeria) few days thence. And since then, they have been ‘retailing’ the
captives, for as much as N100m apiece.
Luckily and to the glory of God, one of my sons took the train-route to
Kaduna earlier on that day. Ransom-bearing relatives reported that the soldiers
on the route were taking a piece of the cake, assuring them that the bandits
would not bother because they understood.
Before then, they
had set up a permanent camp on Kaduna-Abuja highway, where they attacked and
kidnapped people at will, with embarrassing regularity. Of course, that was the
reason for the increased train traffic. And on one of those occasions
when the army acted, a more embarrassing scenario emerged. Some times in April
2022, soldiers arrested some bandits along Kaduna-Abuja highway, and made a
public show of the episode. I told some
jubilatory Nigerians that the bandits would soon repent, be rehabilitated and
reabsorbed and the matter would end just like that. However, what happened was different,faster and more bizarre
than I predicted. The following day, the police announced that there was a
mistake; that the people captured and loaded into their trucks by soldiers were
not bandits but ordinary herdsmen. How come our soldiers moved without intel,
attacked and captured the wrong people, made a lot of noise about it and then
made a U-turn…just like that? The shame of a nation. And while the attack was
carried by soldiers, the denouement was done by policemen and as I had
predicted, the matter had ended. Of course, it is very difficult to differentiate
the herdsmen from the bandits and probably, at times, they are the same people,
changing their identities as the need arose. And while some people are
arrested, interrogated and released, because of mistaken identity, in other
places like Awomamma,( Imo State) people
were killed before questions were asked,
if need be.
The bandits had
also had the audacity to attack the Kaduna Airport in broad day light. It was
then that people started asking openly why they wanted to cut Kaduna off from
Abuja and indeed from the rest of the country because they took over road, rail airport and
as somebody suggested, even the
astrophysical route to Kaduna. You will recall that they had attacked the
Nigerian Defense Academy in the past,
where they abducted a soldier. People were and are alarmed about the porous
security situation in Kaduna because
the state has the highest concentration of defense institutions
in the country including 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, NDA, Nigeria
Army Depot, Command and Staff College, Airforce Training School, Defense
Industries Corporation, Army School of Artillery, Nigerian Police College,
School of Military Policy, and Naval School of Armament. Around that period,
they attacked the advance presidential convoy in Kastina State where they
murdered two policemen and capped it all
by promising to abduct the president.
It was in the midst of all these that the attack on Kuje prison occurred. It would be recalled that the powerful bandits had demanded the release of their comrades in exchange for the abducted train passengers, who had become their cash-cows. The attack, which was the most embarrassing assault on our security architecture, involved an armada of motorcycles with about 300 armed men, and lasted for about 3 hours. There was no counter attack; no bandit was felled and none of their numerous motorcycles was seized. The bandits had time to give sermon to the prisoners, gave them some cash, and successfully released ALL the BH members, some of whom had been there for the previous 20 years. 65 FULLY-armed security personnel were on guard before the attack on the celebrity prison (it had hosted Orji Kalu, Olisa Metu, Fani Kayode, Ahmed Fintri Abdulrasheed Maina and Farouk Lawan) that had neither CCTV camera nor concrete walls, while several security reports about possible attack had been written. Of course, nobody resigned and nobldy was held accountable..
People wondered
how the bandits were able to locate and release their comrades; how they
escaped the various military check-points and why the various military
formations in Gwagwalada, Mogadishu and Lungi could not rise to the occasion. Yul
Edochie lamented that while it was easy for terrorists to free their comrades
from our prison, it was difficult for our soldiers to rescue citizens from the
terrorists’ dens. And then while the Senate declared that our security system
had failed the President, who left for a
foreign tour on that very day queried
how terrorists could organize, acquire weapons, attack military installations
and get away with it. If the senate was
lamenting and the President was raising questions, what do they expect we, the
people, to do? If they ask me, ‘who I go ask?’
So,
this question about our redline is asking directly, ‘when should
Nigeria strike the final and deadly blow on these deadly rascals, whom this
government has now accepted that they
are terrorists’? I say ‘accepted’ because some of them are our misguided
brethren; some are fighting liberation wars against the
oppressive state structure, some are just trying to feed
themselves while a good number of them have REPENTED and
were speedily deradicalized and rehabilitated. About 80000 repentant terrorists are now in
military custody, including Bashir Bulabuduwaye, the chief executioner of BH, who surrendered
with his family to the troops of Operation
Hadin Kai in Borno State on 12/9/22. He
has a very good professional record, having executed about 1000 Nigerians and
abducted countless others more,
including several security operatives . This is in addition to 1600 ‘Repentant Terrorists’ whom according to the great
Lai, had learnt trades and were released into the society. I ask this question because these terrorists
have crossed all reasonable boundaries and had breached the threshold of
governmental leniency. The attacks
on Kaduna Airport, Train AK9, coupled with the
wholesale kidnapping, torture and retailing of the passengers, the
embarrassing attack on Kuje prison and the daring attack on the presidential advance party in
Kastina are enough to activate the red-line
policy.
The executioner…. Owo Massacre ElRufai: On top of the situation!
Even if these were
not enough, we have had the Owo
massacre at St Francis Catholic Church, in which at least 40 were
felled; the daylight attack on mining site at
of Shiroro, Niger State, killing 37 soldiers, seven Mobile Policemen and six
civilians while four Chinese miners and other residents were abducted; the
murder of 30
vigilante members in Gidan Dan Ina, Zamfara state, the kidnap of 80 people in Kwari Village in JIbya LGA of Kastina
state and 29 wedding guests in Zamfara as well as the sacking of 30 communities
in Zamfara. The terrorists were audacious enough to ban political activities in some Kaduna
communities, where farmers in Brinin
Gwari had paid at least N400m in taxes in the past two years. How much taxes
did El-Rufai (who has become unusually
taciturn of late) collect from them within this period? However, he is ON TOP of the situation! There
was a report that BH has killed at least 33127 in 10 years, killed 7222 and abducted 3823
between Jan and July 2022 with NE, NC and NW highest in that order and how, and
killed 115 with 131 abductions in January 2022 alone with 15 killed on August 1
The bandits had
the audacity to serve a quit-notice to 5 villages in Wase LGA
of Plateau State- (Sabon Zama, Gindin Dutse, Anguwan Tsohon
Soldier, Anguwan Yuhana and Anguwan Mangu)
failing which it would be war. A band of ‘good bandits’ had the liberty
to abduct some Zamfara health workers,
collect N5m ransom, and eventually
changed their minds and returned both the captives and the N5m. By the
way, government need to pay special attention to these good bandits of Zamfara.
Last time, some of them arrested a petty thief, lectured him on the illegality
and dangers of thievery and handed him over to the authority! Bandits also
kidnapped 10 policemen returning from Osun elections, abducted 50 people at a
sitting in Niger state and attacked the Kaduna Millennium City. They imposed a
N12m tax on
farmers from Kwaga, Kwanan-Shehu, Unguwan Liman and Unguwan Shekarau in
Kaduna state, and gave them a deadline; collected about N19 million and a boat as a protection levy from
residents of 14 communities in the Anka LGA of Zamfara. The citizens probably
took a cue from the state government which gifted 15 brand new Hilux vehicles and cash to leaders of different 'repentant' gangs of
bandits in 2020.
Boat ‘donated’ to Bandits a matter of priorities!
Sometimes ago, Lai had accused the substantially defeated bandits of going after soft targets, In response, they re-strategised and became daring enough to attack Nigerian army convoys in Zamfara and Kastina and ambushed Presidential Guards in Abuja, all with casualties. They had also attacked several military camps and police formations across the land. They abducted 40 people in Kaduna, collected a ransom of N9m, changed their mind and upped it to N100m, just as they demanded for additional N20m for DPO Mohammed who received a baptism of fire (kidnapped) on his way to assume duty on the Brinin-Gwari highway. In faraway Niger Delta, another band of bandits, probably the corporate and global bandits were also in operation, stealing about 100m barrels ( worth about N8bn) of oil, our national commonwealth daily! It is another matter that while oil is our commonwealth, subject to FAAC ( Federation Account Allocation Committee) horse-trading, the gold in Zamfara is a local affair, belonging to the government and its people!
As all these were happening, the government,
through its ‘yours obediently’ people (not
OBIdiently!!) started giving assurance that the terrorists would be crushed by December 2022, that PMB
efforts on security were unmatched and that he would leave Nigeria safer and
more secured before 29/5/23. I wondered the kind of magic he would perform to enable them do in 7 months, what he could
not do in the past 7 years. Indeed, PMB
gave those statements a presidential
stamp when he declared during the 2023 budget presentation( which he
turned into a valedictory speech), that ‘insecurity, especially banditry and
kidnapping will be significantly curtailed before the end of this
administration… we ( will) leave a
legacy of peaceful, prosperous and secure nation’! And then out of the blues, we were informed
that the 23 passengers from the ill-fated ‘train-flight’ AK9 of 28/3/22 were free men and women. I
share the joys of the captives, who passed through the valley of the
shadow of death( Psalm 23:4); who were in the jaws of a lion still live
to tell the tale! I also congratulate the relatives. Unfortunately, one of them
was killed by bandits on his way home on the Funtua-Gusau Road in Kebbi state,
on 8/10/22, just 3 days after his release from a grueling 190-day captivity.
This is an indication that we must not just kill the snake, we must also scourge its head!
So, we are going beyond
asking about our redline, to ask another crucial question. Were the
captives released or were they rescued? This question is not relevant to the captivity-alumni and their
stakeholders, whose main concern is their freedom. One curious
development was that the rescue- operation was not handled by our longsuffering
gallant forces but by Chief of
Defence Staff Action Committee (CDSAC), whose secretary, was/is
Professor Usman Yusuf, an idle civilian like me. The press
release announcing this ‘great feat’ applauded the government and military high
command for the success. It was also learnt that bandits had their own demands
on the government, which was agreed in principle but they shifted the goalpost at the last minute,
leading to another round of pleadings and assurances . No further details were
given except that the government adopted non kinetic-strategy and deployed
social power in the process. We were not
told whether there was a prisoner-swap deal or fierce
gun-battle. Why was there no detailed
minute-by-minute account as
America did when thy ‘deleted’ Osama Bin Laden and his successor,
Al-Zawahiri? Like in the past when Buratai
lectured us on the difference between security and defense, we were lectured
on the elements of national power, which were natural and social, that could be
used jointly and/or severally. It is thus obvious that they were released,
through the benevolence, of their abductors, softened with some carrots; they
were not rescued by our military men supported by the federal might.
If they were released, which appears to be the
case, it means that we have taken our policy of appeasement a notch
higher; it means that they had shown magnanimity by releasing these unfortunate
victims and they would take another set whenever they wanted; it means that we have agreed,
through body language, that they should
go on with their bloody and deadly business. When we remember that the kidnappers had
earlier stated that PMB knew what they
wanted, that those who attacked the train were the same who attacked Kuje and
the rumoured release of 101 BH detainees from detention, around the same
period, it becomes obvious that nothing
has changed because the bandits were
paid to release the 23 remaining captives. The payment might not be in
cash because they had earlier declared that they did not want cash from the
Nigerian government. After the
surreptitious release of 101 BH inmates, ( 6 am,8/10/22) from Kirikiri the
government informed us that they had plans to release 30% of prison
inmates since 75% of them were ATM and
90% broke state laws. There were also rumours that the bandits had earlier
received 30 of the detained comrades but failed to release the kidnappees, an
indication that there had been behind the scene negotiations all along.
There were no
assurances that it would be the last there
was no stern warnings or a never again statement; there
was no assurance to bring the terrorists to book( this book must
have been so clustered). The bandits, who destroyed our train( bought
on loan from China), killed our compatriots, collected billions from the
kidnappees, overwhelmed aur security
officials and finished our Kuje prison, threatened to kidnap our dear president
and caused other macroeconomic disruption in this one single business, have been
forgiven; behold, all things have become
anew( 2 Cor,5:17) No terrorist was killed, non was arrested and
charged for military and economic
terrorism. Which other way is
there to encourage them to go on? I agree
that by this kinetic-induced release, kidnapping incorporated has been legitimized and the recent exercise
had given them the certificate of incorporation. I also agree with one analysit who said that ‘The winners are the terrorists
who achieved their objectives: cash and freedom of their colleagues without
any material or human, no losses’
There
are three burning questions:. Why have
some arrested BH terrorist been in detention since 2009, for 13 years? If the
FG could use kinetic, social power, why
wait till people have died, Kuje prison
desecrated, and families impoverished via ransoms before acting? And finally
why did the FG not apply this highly effective social power to Igboho and
Nnamdi Kanu?
We have
been managing these terrorists( BH, Fulani herdsmen, bandits) in ways that are
intriguing and truly Nigerian, which
consequently increase their insuperability. First, the President advised us not to retaliate but rather to be accommodative towards the
terrorists; Femi Adesina advised that it
was better to be alive, landless, rather
than a dead land-owner( your life or your land declaration) and
then, we went into excuses and blame-trading, with the Military accusing some
foreign countries collaborating with the locals, defeated and disgruntled
politicians and poorly committed soldiers of
responsibility. The governor of Kastina State accused some traditional rulers,
volunteers( Yansakai),
informants and members of AE-APC( Amalgamated Enemies of
APC). In effect, the authorities established the Excuses and
Blame-Trading Exchange, just
like the Nigerian Stock Exchange! ( See Ik Muo[23/7/20], Insecurity,
From Abaribe to Northern Groups to EBTE) .Now we have adopted a full-blown
laisser-faire model, what our people term ‘egbe-belu ugo belu’
(live and let live)! After all, the
great Lai told us that the Government knew ( and still knows) where the bandits
were and later, that they were just as ordinary and harmless as area-boys. That
is why those who destroyed our train, killed
and impoverished our people were asked to go and sin no more( John,8:11);
that is why Ado Alero, a certified
bandit declared wanted by Kastina State for killing at least 100 Nigerians was
turbaned with fanfare in Zamfara and
that is why Turji, another certified
terrorist accused the government of betrayal and breach of trust by
attacking ‘his camp’. He announced that he had not attacked anybody
in the previous 5 months and then boasted defiantly that “I am ready for either peace or war. Whatever the government
wants, we can give them a multitude”. Of course, he is justified because the State
Deputy Governor, Hassan Nasiha had just canonized him (a living saint!),
cleansing him of all iniquities declaring that he had repented and become a
peace maker! In any case, as some disgruntled
soldiers had squealed, bandits and BH
operatives were government pickins, treated with utmost care! Is this how we
shall have a more secured country before 29/5/23?
Aleru & Turgi, Certified,
untouchable bandit generalissimos
On
Saturday,15/10/22, terrorists attacked Ngulu Community in Niger State, killing
some and kidnapping others. Three days
later (Tuesday18/10/20), the bandits
notified the terrified community of another ‘visit’ on 30/10/22 And
just the other day, Gusau, Tsafe and Gummi LGAs in Zamfara were locked down
due to increasing activities and
killings by bandits while there is
tension in whole of Abuja because the US warned of elevated risk of terror
attacks in Nigeria, specifically in Abuja, a position also held by Canada and Australia.
The US went a step further to evacuate it’s non-emergency staff
from Nigeria. Boxes of explosives were
discovered at Trademoney Estate Abuja and
earlier, one Nafiu, a soldier attached to the Muhammadu Buhari
Cantonment, Tungan Maje, Federal Capital Territory, was arrested by operatives
of the Department of State Services for allegedly hiring out and selling guns
to kidnappers. The Jabi Lake Mall has voluntarily closed shop and we were
reminded that the herdsmen are still ‘on duty’ when one of them, Bagudu
Usman, led his cattle into Kefas
Luka’s farm and chopped off his
hand for attempting to picture the
scene. There are even the fake news flying around that Abuja would fall-
whatever that means, within a week! As this is going on, the great Lai
bold-facedly announced that Terrorists have been hard hit and put on the
run. Bandits have been decimated and scattered. Our country is safer today than
at any time in recent times. In Nigeria? What manner of security and peace is this? Are we finished or
are we completely finished?
On 11/2/20, during the burial of the murdered Seminarian, Michael Nnadi in Kaduna, Bishop Kukah reviewed the state of insecurity in Nigeria and declared that
'our years of hypocrisy, duplicity, fabricated integrity, false piety,
empty morality,
fraud and pharessesm have caught up with us'. The Bishop, a genuine one, has
spoken;I cannot agree more!
I am through but I want to leave with David
Carlton’s immortal words on the
failure-bound strategy called appeasement Practitioners of appeasement are
usually held to be willing, in an ignoble and or cowardly fashion, to sacrifice
other peoples territories or rights in an attempt to buy off an aggressor or a
wrong doer. Appeasement never succeeds for long; the aggressor always returns
demanding for further concessions! Pay particular attention to the last sentence: Appeasement
does not succeed for long because the aggressor always returns to demand for
further concessions.
Meanwhile, lets await the peace flowing like a river come 29/5/23 as
promised by PMB.
“Find a great mentor, someone who has already been through the many challenges of being an entrepreneur..” -Jodi Levine
Entrepreneurship in Practice: Cases, Challenges and Lessons By IK, MUO PHD is now available on Amazon, since 14/5/21. Click here to view Available for order +2348033026625 | Delivery : Worldwide
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