It was perhaps predictable that terrorists in the country would at some point aim for the sky if they are allowed to continue their terroristic activities.
The terrorists who threatened to kidnap President Muhammadu Buhari demonstrated their lack of respect for the country’s security agencies. Their threat was the ultimate statement on the scale of insecurity in the country and the impotency of its security system.
The threat was part of a disturbing video released by the terrorists who abducted more than 60 train passengers on the Abuja-Kaduna route on March 28.
The new video showed the terrorists flogging some of the abductees still in captivity. One of them said: “This is our message to the government of Nigeria and just as you have seen these people here, by God’s grace, you will see your leaders; your senators and governors will come before us. These ones you are seeing here, we will keep some as our slaves and sell them off just as our Imam told you in the past.”
He added: “Just like the Chibok girls that were sold off, we will equally sell these ones as slaves. If you don’t adhere to our demands, we will kill the ones we need to kill and sell the remaining. By God’s grace, El-Rufai, Buhari, we will bring you here.”
The speaker spoke in Hausa and sounded serious. His words suggested that the terrorists were targeting Buhari, who is also Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, and Governor of Kaduna State Nasir El-Rufai.
By declaring their intention to kidnap the president, and even governors and senators, the terrorists showed that they want to take terrorism to a new level in the country.
It is noteworthy that suspected terrorists had, on July 5, attacked President Buhari’s advance team of security guards, protocol and media officers. “The attackers opened fire on the convoy from ambush positions,” said Buhari’s spokesman. Two policemen were killed. The incident happened near Dutsinma, Katsina State. The team was travelling to Daura ahead of Buhari’s trip to his hometown for Sallah.
In a reaction to the new video and the threat, the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Garba Shehu, said in a statement: “The country’s security and defence forces are not clueless or helpless. They have their plans and ways of doing things… It suffices to say that the security forces are not relenting. They are acutely aware of their duties, responsibilities and what the nation expects of them.”
There is only one response to this routine reaction: Talk is cheap.