Now That Abuja Is Under A Siege!

 By Dakuku Peterside, PhD

Once upon a time, Abuja, Ni­geria’s federal capital, was a serene and sprawling city that accommodated persons of all faith, social strata, and economic pursuits. Abuja, to the elite, offered an escape from insecurity, hustling, and bustling that plagued other major cit­ies in the county. It was a city in which most elite wanted to own a property, raise a family, or even retire in old age.

The city was a haven for the pro­fessional middle class linked to the public sector. It was a city of hope to the many poor people who migrated to its surburbs with the dream of ad­vancement.

Abuja , a prototype of future cities in Nigeria. It was founded on the vi­sion of a centralised symbol of our national unity . But the era of Abuja being a fortress of peace and tranquility seems to belong to history.

Now, Abuja is fast becoming the epi­centre of terrorist activities that have literarily and metaphorically held the country captive. Abuja is technically under a siege. Recently, the barrage of attacks on this city has left everyone perplexed. The more these attacks unfold, the more it has becomes clear that they are well-orchestrated and coordinated.

The assault of bandits and terror­ists has gradually focused on symbols of power and national monuments. It is either attack on trains linking the nation’s capital, the targeting and killing of military personnel in vari­ous parts of the city, or attack on Kuje correctional centre, or an attack on the presidential guard brigade – the last line of defense of the President. These terrorists are even emboldened to is­sue a threat to kidnap the President.

Residents of Abuja, like other Nigerians, live in morbid fear of in­security, and most have doubts about their peaceful existence in a city that is gradually becoming a ghost of itself.

Things got a bit more complicat­ed after 800 inmates, among them 60 Boko Haram members, were freed in the Kuje jailbreak. The war front of terrorist activities has moved from the Northeast to the Northwest, parts of North Central, and now Abuja. Recently, the President has called a high-stake security meeting to tackle insecurity in Abuja and other parts of Nigeria that have faced the brunt of bandits and terrorist attacks. The In­spector General of Police has belated­ly raised intelligence gathering efforts and ordered the strategic deployment of security assets across the city.

The Nigerian military is promis­ing to take the war to these terrorists and bandits in their camping areas in neighbouring states near Abuja. These assurances and statements are recurring decimals and soundbites each time these criminals attack. The government assures residents of safety after every incident without a corresponding improvement in the se­curity of the people. Abuja residents, like the Nigerian populace, have lost confidence in the nation’s security ar­chitecture and apparatus . Worse still, nobody is accepting responsibility nor facing the law. Residents are reaching the point of taking their safety and se­curity into their own hands since they have lost trust in the security arrange­ment by the government.

Abuja is rightly a metaphor for the situation in the whole of Nigeria today. Nobody envisaged that Abuja would ever come under a siege, so there are no connected satellite cities to absorb refugees in such eventuality.

The heightened sense of siege is even more evident, given that road transport in and out of Abuja from a nearby state is fraught with danger. The Kaduna-Abuja express road is a den of kidnappers and bandits, while other major roads linking Nasarawa and Niger States to

Abuja are unsafe. After terrorists attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train line, travel options for the elite and middle class have been further depleted. With increasing attacks ever closer to the airport even air travel doesn’t appear so safe anymore.

Further evidence of Abuja being under a siege is apparent in the se­curity measures put in place by both government and non- governmental agencies. Abuja increasingly has more checkpoints with armed police and military men littering everywhere. There is a pervading sense of impend­ing doom in the collective psyche of residents, and individuals are more security conscious than usual. The government has shut down schools within the Abuja Metropolis and has beefed up security at other soft targets.

The increased attacks on Abuja is reminiscent of the strategy adopt­ed by other ISWAP insurgents and bandits in other parts of Africa and Afghanistan. We should remember that the Taliban started attacking the Afghanistan’s fringes and rural areas. Next, they attacked Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, intending to take over control of state power. This strategy was like their approach in nearby Af­rican countries like Mali, Chad, and Guinea.

The terrorists or ISWAP start by attacking villages and cities near the capital and capturing them. After that, they will begin destroying military facilities and other symbols of power in and outside the capital. Then they will mount an all-out attack to seize the government.

We hope Nigeria is not heading to be the next Afghanistan. Therefore, we must defend Abuja and ensure that we do not fall prey to these non-state actors with a sinister motive. A per­tinent rhetorical question is why are these terrorists fixated on attacking the President, the best representation of power, government, and democra­cy? They are sending a clear message that they are bold enough to challenge Nigeria’s very essence of raw power. If Abuja peace, safety and security are compromised , it’s meaning and symbolism of national unity will evaporate .

There are narratives and count­er-narratives as to why the Nigerian military does not wipe these people out. Some reports highlight the pos­sibility of collusion with some ele­ments in the military that give them information and protect them because they are sympathetic to their course. This narrative gets credence when re­ports indicate the security operatives got credible intelligence of some of these attacks, yet the intelligence was neglected. For example, DSS raised 44 official reports signalling a possible attack on Kuje Correctional Facility, but the security operatives could not forestall the attack.

Some conspiracy theories border on a belief that there is an unwritten agreement to allow these people to take over the government of Nigeria for whatever purpose . This conspira­cy is gathering momentum given that the security operatives know the hid­ing places of terrorists and bandits but seem to have been dealing with them lightly.

People cannot understand how the Nigerian professional Army cannot defeat this rag, untrained, criminal bunch running around killing and maiming Nigerians. It begs the ques­tion of why Nigeria, with all the re­sources it has dedicated to security in the past ten years, have not made any considerable progress in eradicating insecurity; instead, insecurity increas­es at an alarming rate.

In the last week, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has re-invigorated the ‘G7″ security oper­ations to secure the territory. The ‘G7’ security operations involve collabo­ration and partnerships with states contiguous to the FCT area. The pro­cedure would include taking the fight to the bandits and terrorists in their camps, primarily in states bordering the FCT. The extent to which this effort will allay the fears of residents of Abu­ja is yet to be seen. However, it is time to develop a more permanent solution to this insecurity problem.

An essential aspect of proffering a permanent solution to insecurity in Abuja and the country is to look at the socio-economic, religious, and po­litical dimensions of the issues. This strategy will help us identify the root cause of insecurity and the steps we must take to tackle the problem from the root causes.

Combining heightened insecurity with the free fall of the Nigerian econ­omy is a recipe for disaster. Nigeria is facing an economic siege that has dev­astating effects on its citizens.

There seems to be hopelessness in the land, and nobody is optimis­tic about fixing insecurity and the economy. The government seemed perplexed. Some in the Senate are clamouring for an Impeachment of the President if he cannot deal with insecurity in the next six weeks. What­ever becomes of this ultimatum is yet to play out for now. However, I can boldly predict that it will go like simi­lar ultimatums in the past without any serious bite or consequence.

Every day new security threats dampen the hope of ordinary citizens. The capacity of the state to enforce law, order and security keeps shrinking, and nobody seems concerned. Elec­tioneering campaigns will soon dom­inate our public space, and Nigerians will be fed with various promises on how each party or candidate will tack­le insecurity and the economy.

It is time to analyse every solution proffered critically, and the voters must vote based on their consciences and their conviction of the candidate that will solve these problems. We cannot survive as a nation if things continue like this. All well-meaning Nigerians must wake up and “smell the coffee” regardless of ethnic group, religion, or creed.

We must act now or never! We must avoid the pitfalls of Mali and Afghani­stan We must never allow our country to be in the hands of warlords like in Sudan. A stitch in time saves nine.

*Dr. Peterside is a commentator on public issues