What could be the motive behind the rising insecurity in the country? This question appears to have gained traction with Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by the United States of America (US) for alleged Christian persecution and genocide.
Since then, events have occurred in several fronts in quick succession to inject complications into the country’s insecurity matrix. Curiously, these are taking place at a time the authorities have been striving to correct the narrative of Christian persecution and genocide.
The issues may not all have to do with Christians. But they revolve around terrorism, the malfeasance on which the allegation of persecution and genocide by the US was predicated. There was a re-enactment of the Chibok school girls’ saga of 2014 when a couple of days ago, 25 girls from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town, Kebbi State were abducted by terrorists.
The bandits invaded the school at midnight, killed the vice principal in the presence of his family before absconding with the poor school girls.
As the country was brooding over the incident, another set of terrorists again abducted students at St Mary’s Catholic School Papiri, in Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State. The number of abductees was yet to be released as at the time this article was being put together.
Terrorists unleashed mayhem inside Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in Eruku, Kwara State killing three worshippers, abducting several others including the pastor. A video footage of the incident showed worshippers including an elderly woman who could hardly walk scampering for safety inside the church.
And in Kano, bandits abducted five nursing mothers in the Faruruwa community of the Shanono Local Government Area.
Catholic clerics and community groups in Southern Taraba also raised an alarm over what they described as coordinated attacks by armed herdsmen leading to widespread killings and displacements. Director of Social Communications, Catholic Diocese of Wukari, Rev, Fr. John Laikei said dozens have been killed and several communities abandoned as the attackers continue to occupy farmlands.
Within the same timeframe, Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP) ambushed Nigerian military along the Damboa-Biu axis in Borno State, killed and abducted some soldiers. In the ensuing confrontation, the terrorists captured and killed the brigade commander, Brigadier-General Musa Uba after a failed attempt by his colleagues to rescue him from where he managed to escape.
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Not unexpectedly, the upsurge in terrorism has raised speculations regarding the motive. Could it be a mere coincidence or choreographed to give the dog a bad name so as to hang it?
Before the recent escalation, some commentators had linked the upsurge in violent killings to the 2027 general elections. Parallels were quickly drawn between the renewed attacks and the escalation of terrorism before the 2015 elections-a period hallmarked by serial abduction of school children. Could it be a case of self-fulfilling prophesy or deliberate attempt by politicians to instigate violence for some foggy selfish interests?
New ideas seem to be creeping into these puzzles especially with the US designation of the country as CPC and threat of military action against terrorists. Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) George Akume toed this line when he sought to link the upsurge in violent attacks by extremists to the US action.
The SGF had said profiling the crisis in Nigeria “as genocide against Christians fuels religious tension, emboldens extremists and criminal factions seeking to exploit sectarian narratives, undermines Nigeria’s longstanding efforts to build constructive internal security and partnership”. Can this angle be reasonably sustained?
There is nothing that has happened in the insecurity dynamics of the country since the US action that is new to us, except the capturing and killing of a general by ISWAP. Acts of terrorism and killings witnessed in the last couple of weeks followed the same pattern as the previous ones. School children had been serially abducted in larger numbers in Chibok, Jangebe and even in some higher institutions around the states most prone to the attacks. Neither is the attack at CAC Church, in Kwara State the first of its type.
Perhaps, Akume’s claims may find some support in the call by the factional chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Kabiru Turaki on President Trump to intervene and save Nigeria’s democracy.
Apparently piqued by the fracas at the national secretariat of the PDP, Turaki accused Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike of leading thugs in connivance with the police to create the mayhem. “So, we are now calling on the international community. I want to call on President Trump. What is at stake is not just genocide against Christians. He should come and save democracy in Nigeria. Democracy is under threat” Turaki cried out loudly.
By extrapolation, Turaki tacitly admitted claims of genocide against Christians in Nigeria as well as serious threat to democracy. Had the US not designated Nigeria as CPC on account of alleged religious persecution with a threat of military action, Turaki may not have found a handle to call for Trump’s intervention.
In a sense, it could be argued that Turaki’s call may have been emboldened by US position on the crisis in Nigeria. If the US could intervene to degrade terrorism and protect Christians, it could as well protect Nigeria’s democracy when it is under threat, the argument further goes.
Yet, the issues that led Turaki to that desperate call are quite different from those Akume said are bound to worsen due to US characterisation of Nigeria’s crisis as genocide against Christians. But who is to blame? Definitely not the US government. Acts of terrorism have in the past decade or so tilted the country to the precipice. They had nothing to do with US characterisation of the Nigerian crisis.
The brand of politics at play in this country is at issue. The earlier we come to terms with that reality the better for all. Before now, copious attention had been drawn to the increasing slide to one-party state.
But the trend continued even as the government at the centre rationalises it on the lure of its policies. Almost all the major political parties are entangled in one crisis or the other. The PDP which is the major opposition party is a ghost of its former self as virtually most of its governors have decamped to the ruling party.
Yet, a serving minister remains a leading figure in the crisis rocking the PDP. Wike cannot be the new face of PDP in his current official position. He cannot represent credible opposition. His activities in the PDP do not help the image of the government he serves. That is why Turaki spoke in a manner that sounded unpatriotic. He did so out of frustration.
Trump spoke the way he did because we could not find a handle to the suffocating terrorism. Turaki spoke unpatriotically because of the seeming emasculation of credible opposition – the lynchpin on which the wheels of democracy revolve. The problem is within, not outside!
