Nothing can be more illustrative of the increasingly disturbing audacity of terrorists in Nigeria than the recent threat by kidnappers of victims of the March 28 Abuja-Kaduna train attack to kidnap President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, senators and other high-profile persons. This they said they would do if their conditions for releasing their captives are not met. In a video clip that showed the kidnappers flogging the victims, one of the terrorists 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…”
The audacity of the terrorists is, of course, understandable. They have kept their victims in their custody since March 28 within a sovereign republic of Nigeria with the government apparently helpless to do anything to rescue its citizens, even when the security and welfare of citizens are the prime obligations of government. It is obvious the terrorists think they share sovereignty with the legitimate government of Nigeria. In contrast to their brazen confidence, government appears timid and diffident. The government’s claim that it is hesitant to take such a step as bombing the location of the kidnappers in order not to jeopardize the safety of the victims is understandable but unconvincing. It is the responsibility of government to muster all resources at its disposal to safeguard the lives and property of its citizens. This is the basis of its legitimacy.
That kidnapers not only hold their victims hostage for months within the country, but also now threaten to abduct senators, governors and even the President himself if their demands are not met cannot but put fear into the minds of Nigerians. There is indeed no reason to dismiss the terrorists’ threat as just empty bluff. Before the last Sallah holidays, President Buhari’s advance convoy to his Daura home in Katsina State was attacked by bandits with some members of the team incurring injuries. Ordinarily, a presidential convoy should enjoy an aura of invincibility whether or not the President is present. That attack suggests the bandits have lost all respect for the authorities in Nigeria, and nothing can be more worrisome.
The recently demonstrated vulnerability of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to attacks by terrorists is another reason why threats to the President and the country’s cohesion must not be taken lightly. The capital territory of any country should ordinarily be the safest and most secure part of its territory. It should be impregnable to the forays of lawless elements. If residents of Abuja cannot be guaranteed their security and safety, what then should those in far-flung parts of the country expect? Even as Nigerians are yet to recover from the shock of the recent audacious attack on Kuje prison in the FCT by bandits who released hundreds of inmates, the nation received the news of the attack on a detachment of the 7 Guards Brigade of the Nigerian Army on patrol duty in the Bwari area of Abuja. No fewer than five officers and men lost their lives in the incident when they were ambushed after visiting the Nigerian Law School in Bwari following a distress call from the institution’s authorities that terrorists had dropped a letter indicating an imminent assault on the school.
Before then, bandits and terrorists had reportedly attacked and sacked villages in Abaji, Kuje, Kwali and Gwagwalada area councils, forcing many farmers to abandon their farmlands. Following the attack on the soldiers in Bwari, the Federal Capital Territory Authority ordered the closure of all schools in the FCT as a preemptive measure against possible attacks. This is surely a timely and commendable step but the federal authorities ought to have sensed much earlier that the FCT was susceptible to terrorist activity with the reported occupation of many communities contiguous to Abuja by bandits who even levy taxes on farmers and other villagers.
The seeming siege on Abuja mirrors and amplifies the dire security situation across the country. We call on President Buhari to rise now and take drastic steps to halt the descent into anarchy in Nigeria. The buck stops on his desk. When terrorists brazenly threaten to kidnap him and other eminent Nigerians, the prestige and aura of his office are demystified and his constitutional role as Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces challenged.
In response to the threat by the terrorists, a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Mallam Shehu Garba said: “The presidency in the meantime wishes to reassure the public that the President has done all, and even more than what is expected of him as Commander-In-Chief by way of morale, material and equipment support to the military and expects nothing short of good results in the immediate.” If indeed that is so and the desired results are not being seen despite the President’s efforts, then he should wield the big stick and fire those in positions of authority found wanting in the discharge of their duties. For instance, since the embarrassing successful attack on Kuje prison, no one has been brought to book even when Minister of Interior Rauf Aregesola has said the incident could have been prevented but for the ‘absence of will’ to act on intelligence received. The perception that those responsible will not be called to account when things go wrong under their watch promotes complacency and lethargy that compounds the country’s security challenges.
At its last meeting, the National Security Council contemplated a ban on motorcycles and mining nationwide as part of measures to cut off funding and logistics support for the criminals. While these measures may have their merits, the government must urgently take more far-reaching initiatives to decentralize the country’s security architecture to make it more dynamic, flexible and efficient in a federal polity like ours. This is even more so given the recent warning in a leaked memo from the National Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) that two separate bandit groups are plotting coordinated attacks on some states in the Northwest, Northcentral and Southwest parts of the country. This should not be a surprise given the activities of these lawless elements in recent times. The Buhari administration must urgently act decisively to more effectively protect the country and cast off the perception of its seeming helplessness and incapacity in the face of relentless terrorists’ onslaught. If we need external help from those who have faced and successfully dealt with such challenges, we should not hesitate to ask.