The arrest of ‘Gentle de Yahoo’ is about the latest in the strings of successes of Nuhu Ribadu-led security agencies, but they need to do more
Unquestionably, the most significant and impactful indication of the intensity with which the Nigerian military is waging the war against non-state criminal actors perpetrating assorted acts of violence in different parts of the country, including kidnapping, banditry and terrorism was the arrest in August of two terrorist commanders, Mahmud Usman and Mahmud al-Nigeri, reportedly linked to the deadly Ansaru terrorist group.
The duo, that had for long been on the wanted list of security agencies were apprehended in a targeted operation by Nigerian operatives.
It is significant that security agencies in the United States and Britain commended Nigeria’s military and intelligence authorities for this successful operation. While both men are facing terrorism charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Usman is already serving a 15-year jail term after admitting his involvement in illegal mining and funding terror activities through the proceeds.
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Last week, reliable army sources revealed that a commander of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra/Eastern Security Network (ESN), Ifeanyi Okorienta, also known as ‘Gentle de Yahoo’, had been arrested in a coordinated operation by security agencies in Aku-Ihube Local Government Area of Imo State.
This suggests that there is no slowing down in ongoing efforts by the military and other security agencies to tame the scourge of insecurity across the country and restore security of lives and property in traumatised communities. Although some elements on social media have tried to impugn the veracity of the claim of this criminal kingpin’s arrest, an investigative journalist with Television Continental (TVC), Babajide Otitoju, gave an eyewitness account of the operation on national television and there is no basis to doubt the credibility of his report.
According to Otitoju on the Journalists’ Hangout programme, “To achieve the element of surprise, troops opted to trek for nearly four hours through rough terrain before arriving at the target location in the early hours of the morning. On arrival, the soldiers surrounded the compound housing ‘Gentle de Yahoo’ and his fighters.
However, the terrorists who were in the ceiling or rooftop opened fire, prompting troops to return fire. But when the troops noticed that those inside the ceiling didn’t want to come down; they had no choice but to set the building ablaze”.
Subsequently, the terrorist commander’s second -in- command as well as three males and two females jumped down from the building but were caught by the military cross-fire in an attempt to escape.
The mode of apprehension of ‘Gentle de Yahoo’ raises key questions about criminal elements and the seeming freedom with which they operate in communities. It is significant, for instance, that the building from where the terrorist leader and his gang carried out their activities was not a hidden structure.
Rather, it was located in the midst of a community, suggesting that the criminal elements were not anonymous or unknown people in the area. They could thus have been long caught up with by the law if security agencies had been given the requisite information on their activities.
Again, there were people resident in the building with the criminals who became collateral damage when the military struck, thus indicating a level of interaction between the terrorist gang and residents of neighbouring communities. Furthermore, in the hideout from where he operated, the soldiers recovered arms and ammunition, mobile phones, military and police uniforms and a German flag. Ten motorcycles and a workshop where stolen vehicles were dismantled and sold were destroyed by soldiers at the scene.
This was thus a clear case of the gang engaging in sheer criminality while purporting to be engaged in a liberation struggle on behalf of the people of the South-East who must certainly have been aware of the fraudulence of their stated purpose.
Over the last two years, several bandit and terrorist leaders have been eliminated in several communities, particularly in the most violence -infested areas of northern Nigeria. Some of the most notorious of these are Kachalla Halilu Sububu, who operated a large mining site in Katsina State; Buhari As lhaji Halida, “ Buhari Yada”, whose sphere of activity were parts of Katsina, Niger and Zamfara states; Boderi Isyaku who was responsible for kidnapping 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization as well as the attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna in 2021.
Others were Rufsi Waikaji who commanded over 100 fighters in Zamfara State; Alhaji Karki who was killed while attempting to overrun a military unit in Niger State and Gwarka Dankarami, who reportedly served as second-in -command to an Islamic State-linked leader.
While the increased onslaught against terrorist and bandit leaders by the military is commendable, there is still a lot to be done to enforce the requisite degree of public safety across the country and the authorities cannot afford to rest on their oars. This is especially because the arrest or killing of criminal gang leaders does not necessarily imply disbandment or incapacitation of their organisational network.
There must therefore be continual upgrading of the equipment of the security agencies, boosting of morale of personnel as well as constant institutional rejuvenation of military units and refinement of operational tactics and strategies.
