Mr. President, The Security Challenge Is Hitting Harder!

 By Emeka Alex Duru

It was quite depressing listening to a member of the House of Representatives from Zamfara State, Aminu Jaji recount the worsening security situation in his constituency. Jaji painted a harrowing picture of attacks, mass kidnappings, and general lawlessness that have left his constituents devastated and displaced.

Over 200 of such attacks have taken place in communities across Kaura Namoda Local Government Area alone, including Dayo, Banga, Gabaki, Korea, and Madura, according to the lawmaker. In one instance, 60 people were abducted in Banga. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 30 million naira. Out of those abducted, 10 were killed, and the fate of the remaining 50 hangs in the balance, he said. The chilling aspect of his narration was one in which a pregnant woman gave birth in captivity and her newborn twins thrown to dogs by a bandit leader. He also gave instance of a boy with epilepsy who was executed for falling in the presence of a bandit. This is bestiality at its worst.

In Borno, a gory online video depicted dead soldiers with their faces covered with green leaves. Sobs and anguish accompanied each face uncovered and the deceased recognised by colleagues. They were victims of recent Boko Haram attacks on a military base in the Marte Local Government Area of Borno State. Agency Reports indicated that the terrorists took over Marte in the early hours of Monday, May 12 and unleashed mayhem, killing over 10 soldiers. “They (terrorists) burnt down armored tanks and made away with arms and ammunition,” a source said. The assault on the soldiers came on the heels of an alarm by the Borno governor, Babagana Zulum, on the resurgence of Boko Haram onslaughts in the state. Zulum explained the renewed attacks as indications of the government losing ground to the terrorist group.

 Elsewhere, not fewer than 24 farmers were killed across four local government areas of Benue State between Friday and Saturday by armed men suspected to be bandits. From Sokoto came the reports that gunmen loyal to bandit kingpin, Bello Turji, had attacked and sacked four communities in Isa Local Government Area of the State, including Bafarawa, the hometown of former governor Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa. The assault also affected the communities of Gebe, Kamarawa, Garin Fadama and Haruwai. In Niger and Kwara states, a new terrorist group, Mahmuda, has intensified attacks at various communities, leaving in its trail, sorrow and blood.

 Social media had earlier splashed pictures of Catholic priests in Enugu taking to the streets in a massive protest against killings, kidnappings, and land-grabbing allegedly perpetrated by armed Fulani herdsmen in the state. The clerics, dressed in their cassocks and wielding placards, marched through major streets in a solemn yet powerful demonstration of frustration and solidarity with their endangered flock. These are snippets of the security challenges in some parts of the country. Many are unreported.

Now, whether it is in Zamfara, Borno, Sokoto or Enugu, the situation is no longer funny. Every Nigerian has become a target or victim of sort. We are currently living on the edge.  Insecurity in any part of the country is a threat to security in the remaining units. That is why the government should take the matter more seriously. More so, the constitution is emphatic that protection of the life and property of the people is the primary function of the government. It is a sacred duty. There is no doubt that the government has put up some measures to address the monster of insecurity in the land. We have been told of Tucano Jets and other military hardware procured for the prosecution of the war. There have also been claims of military alliances and cooperation with neighbouring countries and multilateral bodies towards checking the menace. Reports have equally regularly credited the military with successes in dislodging or neutralizing the insurgents.

Unfortunately, while the claims of triumphs and successes are being appropriated, realities on ground paint different pictures. The truth, right now, is that in many parts of the country, the people are no longer safe. They cannot visit their farms. They cannot trade. To worsen matters, many are internally displaced. For a country that is not at war with another nation, passing through this route can be quite harrowing and and humiliating. It is nothing short of an assault on the sovereignty of the nation. The troubling aspect of it all is the report that Boko Haram is using drones against the soldiers in Borno. The question therefore is: what happens to the touted Tucano Jets and other military hardware?

The war in the North East has gone beyond a police action or what can be treated with kid gloves. It is time for the government to assert its right to monopoly of instruments of violence, especially in ensuring peace and order. On no condition must this responsibility be abdicated to any non-state actor. But that is what is happening in the war against the terrorists and bandits.

Since the Boko Haram launched its murderous offensives in 2009, the government has not deployed commensurate measures in checking its excesses. Resorting to placatory overtures to the sect through middle men, concessions, monetary compensations, outright appeasement and even in most ridiculous instance, integrating the so-called repentant members into the armed forces, have clearly shown to be unproductive. If anything, such pacifist efforts are being mismanaged and misinterpreted as signs of weakness on the part of the government by the insurgents. You will, of course, not blame the miscreants for feeling indulged. If for merely proclaiming self-determination, youths from a certain part of the country were visited with military actions under various code-names and operational briefs, Boko Haram members who have caused humongous harm to the country being cajoled with different offers to lay down their arms, have every reason to assume some entitlement.

Something drastic needs to be done going forward. The rising spate of insecurity in different parts of the country is a present danger and constitutes serious threat to the corporate existence of the nation. The security challenge is really hitting harder, if the President cares to know. A time comes when a man, group or organisation stands firm and declares; thus far, no farther. That is the stage at which Nigeria is in its battle with forces of darkness manifested in terrorism, banditry and other shades of untoward activities by criminal elements. The country is presently on trial, truth be told.

*Duru is the Editor, TheNiche Online Newspapers, Lagos (08054103327, nwaukpala@yahoo.com)