As the saying goes, as long as there are still lice in the hair, the finger nails can never be free of blood. That seems to be the case with Nigeria and our home grown terrorist organization called Boko Haram.
Each time we pretended the threat was over or we are on top of the security situation, the group, believed to be linked to the worldwide terror network of Al Qeada either comes out smoking or throw up another trick.
You remember a couple of weeks ago they said they were ready for peace talk with the Federal Government which sent Aso Rock into wild jubilation, only for them to strike few days later at the home of Major General Muhammed Shuwa (retd) in Maiduguri, Borno State, snuffing the life out of the civil war hero.
Their offer of peace talk, blindly embraced by the Federal Government has been neither here nor there since the announcement was made. The man they nominated to be their negotiator-in-chief, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), a former military Head of State as you know, has declined the nomination. Saudi Arabia, their chosen venue for the peace parley has not said anything about the proposed peace talk, suggesting that the Arab country probably doesn’t know anything about it.
With the government’s optimism and initial embrace of the offer of peace talk by Boko Haram driven, from my own view, by naivety, President Goodluck Jonathan has now come out to say that no talk is on-going with the terrorists who he says are faceless. Informed sources within his government were reported to have said that the Federal Government was not sure of the position of Saudi Arabia on the issue.
So we are back to status quo ante.
Having said so much about Boko Haram and the latest offer of peace talk, it would have been ideal to move to other issues but then as stated above, as long as lice are still in the hair…
Listening to a former governor of Yobe State and now a Senator representing Yobe East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Alhaji Bukar Abba Ibrahim, one is left with no option than to revisit the issue of Boko Haram.
Speaking on the floor of the Senate penultimate week while contributing to debate on a motion on the state of insecurity and banditry in Maru village in Zamfara State, Senator Ibrahim gave a robust defence of Boko Haram and explained why the terrorists took up arms against the Nigerian state.
Hear him: “Boko Haram is just like any religious sect; it has existed for ages. It is not a new phenomenon altogether, but it is the activities of security agencies, particularly the police, that pushed the Boko Haram people to the wall by killing their leaders; killing thousands of other innocent people. That is what forced them to come out against the Nigerian state”.
Further blaming security agencies for causing Boko Haram insurgency, Ibrahim said; “they are killing people; many people, day in, day out. If one army officer is killed in an area, they will come and cordon off the whole place and kill people they can get hold of and then burn all property in that area. What has property got to do with people killing security agents on the road? If a security agent was killed on patrol, they will come and burn the whole area”.
While calling on the head of the various security agencies including the National Security Adviser to look into the activities of their agents regarding the Boko Haram issue, Senator Ibrahim surprisingly couldn’t find any harsh word to say on the terrorists.
I’ve heard his kind of argument before especially from people around the North east where the insurgency is at its fiercest. While one could understand where they were coming from, it is hard to accept their explanation.
Recall that a group that calls itself Borno Elders and Leaders of Thought had equally blamed the security agencies for driving Boko Haram into terrorism. In fact they called for the withdrawal of the troops.
If one could excuse the ordinary person in the Borno/Yobe axis and the self-serving Leaders of Thought having this kind of mentality, how do you explain it when a two term governor of one of the most affected States who is now a serving Senator of the Federal Republic is giving this kind of justification for terror. This is bad and spells danger for Nigeria if such a highly placed personality, a supposedly distinguish public officer is saying this, and inside the hallowed chambers of our National assembly for that matter.
His explanation suggests that he knows Boko Haram or has a fair idea of who the people are. While it looks far fetch to say that he probably has a link to them, the defence of the organization that he gave on the floor of the Senate could only have been made by someone with inner or insider knowledge of Boko Haram.
Can you recall that President Jonathan once said there are Boko Haram elements/sympathizers in all the three arms of government, including the legislature? Is the distinguish senator representing Yobe east one of those the president was talking about? I am not accusing this gentleman of anything but his comments coming on the heels of his nomination by Boko Haram as one of their negotiators in the proposed peace talk with the Federal Government speak volume about what he knows about these terrorists and on whose side he is.
While neither holding forte for the security agencies or condoning their excesses no individual or group has the right to bear arms against the state except may be in a situation of war. So, if Boko Haram declared war on Nigeria because they were wronged by agents of the Nigerian State, what should we expect? And if the people continue to harbour Boko Haram because they felt they were unjustly/unfairly treated by agents of government, shouldn’t such a people expect to share from the punishment being meted out to the terrorists? And if the reason Boko Haram took up arms against Nigeria was because of the harsh treatment they received in the hands of agents of Nigeria, why then were they bombing churches, killing Christians and some other innocent Nigerians under the guise of fighting the federal Government? Were these innocent souls also agents of government?
If anybody had been worried as to how and why a faceless terrorist group like Boko Haram chose Senator Ibrahim and co to negotiate peace with government on their behalf, that person should worry no more. Now we know that these guys are not spirits, they have a face. Now we know who they are and why they are killing us. But who will save us from this terror? These same security agents accused of causing it? I agree that our boys have not behaved very well in this fight against terror, innocent souls have been killed and the authorities need to do something urgently about this. Anyone found guilty among them should be punished. Mr. President are you listening?
