Who are the criminals threatening our federal capital territory, Abuja, such that diplomatic missions, corporations, airlines, pubs and supermarkets were closing shop in the past week? The terror scare was so certain that schools closed down, and some diplomatic missions even asked their missions to scale down, giving the clue the terrorists were likely to strike anytime. As I write this piece, I am even scared the concerns raised in this piece may be read after the evil machinations of the enemies may have been carried out.
The past weekend may be the longest weekend for residents of Abuja, the government of Nigeria, and our security agencies, since diplomatic missions gave the impression that it was tailor made for terror. But how did the foreign intelligence agencies pick the scent of the terrorists, without their Nigerian counterparts knowing about the threat in advance? Is it that they are not sharing their information with our local intelligence agencies, or our agencies not collaborating with their colleagues?
On their part, the Nigerian government and her security agencies have dismissed the threats as unfounded. The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Baba, through the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, described the news as false and fake. According to him: “We still reiterate that the Federal Capital Territory is safe and there is no imminent threat, neither is the FCT being saturated with bombs as speculated in the news.”
He went on: “We therefore, urge residents of the FCT and Nigerians at large to disregard this fake news which was purportedly sponsored to create fear in our people and heat up the polity.” He also promised: “We will continue to adopt all effective operational strategies to decimate the activities of non-state actors and other criminal elements.”
If truly, the news of attack on Abuja is fake and contrived, then those responsible should be exposed and treated as enemies of the Nigeria and her people.
For while many odd things are done in the name of politics and international diplomatic chutzpah, it would be taking it too far for the leader of the world democracy, the United States of America, and her acolyte, the United Kingdom, to spread such ill-mannered and fearful rumour to create fear in Nigerians and heat up the polity. The fact that other respected nations, agreed with the terror prognosis further makes the claim of a false rumour by enemies of the state less believable.
This column recalls that there was a time the United States military claimed that Nigeria was compromising shared intelligence on Boko Haram, and there were media report that those sent to help train our military were pulled out. The country even refused to sell weapons to Nigeria, when President Goodluck Jonathan was in power and while different reasons were adduced for the unfriendly disposition of the US, Nigeria at a stage resorted to the black-market in search of military hardware to fight Boko Haram terrorists.
No doubt, a lot has happened since the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari with respect to the disposition of US and her allies to sell arms to Nigeria. The rapprochement under President Buhari made it possible for Nigeria to acquire sophisticated A-29 Super Tucano fighter planes to fight military insurgency, which has turned the tide against terrorists in the north-eastern part of the country. So, if the Buhari government is gaining the support of US in the terror war, why would they ignite a false alarm as claimed by the police, and even the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammed?
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Perhaps, the claim by the police and the government that the terror threat was false and fake may be to calm frayed nerves, instead of aggravating it. Regardless of the motive on either side, it is necessary for Nigerian security agencies to seek greater collaboration with their foreign colleagues to gain better information on the operations of the terror organizations plaguing the sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. It is common knowledge that the entire West Africa is under threat of armed insurgency.
Thankfully, there were media reports later in the weekend that indicated the help of the US intelligence in the crackdown on ISWAP, which reportedly led to the apprehension of five commanders and 30 fighters in the past week. The report also claimed that Nigerian officials said that they were on the trail of the criminals before the terror alert by the United States and United Kingdom intelligence. It also claimed that many more of such criminals would be apprehended in the ongoing crackdown.
While we praise the security agencies for their successes, it is important for relevant heads of the agencies to find out if their officials deliberately waited until the nation was internationally embarrassed before the crackdown? It is also reported that the terrorists relocated to Abuja, following the gallantry of Nigerian forces in the north-east where they were based. If that is true, it is hoped that every effort necessary is being made to ensure the terrorists don’t relocate to other parts of the country.
If this terror alert passes without any incident, it would no doubt be a plus for the capacity of our security agencies to deal with security threats within our country. Hopefully, our security agencies would also build on the experience garnered to deal with any subsequent threats across the country. This column will also importune the security agencies to spread their dragnet to a place like Lagos which has heavy concentration of people, and could provide soft targets for terrorist attacks.
It is also important that security alert is maintained across the country, while the anti-terror operations going in Abuja is conducted, since the criminals could strike elsewhere when all attention is fixated on Abuja. It is also important that going forward, security drills should form part of our public consciousness. Whether in schools, churches, mosques, market places, televisions dramas, or other social organisations, basic security drills should become part of the social menu. What should people do when there is a terror attack nearby?
Should people start running, or should they dodge? What should people look out for, when there is imminent threat of attack and what type of emergency response should those around engage in, to help victims? Perhaps, the school curricula should now include teaching pupils the basic emergency techniques to resuscitate a victim, instead of leaving such knowledge for members of the Red Cross and Red Crescent organisations. If our country has become susceptible to terror attacks, then, the psyche of our citizens must be skewed to be prepared always, like the Boys Scout.
Perhaps, embedding security cameras on all buildings should become part of the approval requirements for developers. Without equivocation, those surrounded by enemies must always be on their guard.