By Boma Nwuke.
No one person living in Nigeria would feign ignorance of the overwhelming insecurity challenges in the country not even the blind and the dumb,
There is no day that passes in the country without incidents of killing,rape and abductions making news headlines.
If there is no sudden report of cult activities in towns and villages, there would be reports of kidnapping for ransom,as well as dreaded activities of Boko Haram, ISWAP and Bandits.
The latest report on security which has preoccupied Nigerians thought faculty is the suggestion of reabsorbing rehabilitated Boko Haram terrorists into the Communities.
And in all modesty, we ask which Communities please? Should they be absorbed in the villages which by their actions have become a shadow of themselves,or should they be absorbed by the people who are squatting in make shift homes which serve as IDP camps?which society should they be integrated please?
Ali Ndume,a Senator representing Borno South being the Chairman House Committee on the Army had several times, brought to the fore, the clutching insecurity challenge that is becoming impossible to fix.
Ndume who represented Chibok, Damboa and Gwoza in the House of Representatives from 2003-2011 is fortified to highlight the fear of being insecure.The reason for this is simple,he comes from the epicenter of the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists activities ranging from abduction to killing.
Ndume had barely two weeks ago, announced on National Television about the paucity of funds for the Military being the reason why Nigeria is not winning the war against the insurgents.
The teacher turned Senator had also warned against the release of repentant Boko Haram terrorists to the Communities.
His stance on the reintegration of the terrorist was against the opinion of state ,but not against majority of Nigerians who feel further insecure about such development.
The Nigerian President had told us time and time again through his towncriers,Femi Adesina, and Garba Shehu that the
wings of Boko Haram terrorists had been clipped or that the population of the insurgents have been decimated . This messages have become very monotonous and may assume recurring theatrical recitations if nothing is done to direct their senses to actualities.
By that we meant action, translating the spoken word to reality By that,we meant restrategising, and repositioning the Nigerian troops to stamp out whatever Garba Shehu said are remnants of the insurgents.
The Buhari government must rise to the challenge of terrorism and flush out terrorists.The president is a military man, he is still a general retired or not ,serving civilian President or not.Nigerians are tired of the daily slaughter of human beings as though it is a crime to be born poor and helpless.Beyond any doubt, the people who are in the villages daily traumatised by activities of the insurgents are those who do not have the means to travel outside of their homes and accommodate themselves and families .Only the rich could do that.
We are tired of the government’s brave stances which are usually replied by large death tolls of the insurgents arsenal.
For the sake of the confidence Nigerians reposed in Mr President, for the sake of those who have suffered untold hardship and for the sake of not allowing the situation of insecurity degenerate to a point where we might say”We once had a country,” Our President must rise.
He must rise to the fundamental duty of protecting human lives and property, he must rise to rekindle our hope and trust in leadership, he must rise to defend our states and the Nigerian territory.
The Insurgents are human beings. That is to say that they are mortals and not invisible.That is to say that they can be dealt with if there is genuine commitment on the part of government.
Since 2015, there have been stories about sponsors of the so called Insurgents and we are compelled to ask “Who are the sponsors of Boko Haram and ISWAP that boldly operate as though there are no security operatives? What punitive actions have been raised against such sponsors?”
In other countries sponsors of terrorists act would not be spared because they would be tagged “Enemy of State”
A couple of days ago, there was an incident where a gunrunner was apprehended, there was a similar one in the past where a supplier of foodstuffs and other needs of the terrorist was caught and we are eager to know what the Nigerian authorities have done to such persons .Why have they not been brought to Justice yet?
It would not be out of place to ask how prepared the military are in fighting the Insurgents,In that case, What is the state of their funding? The distinguished Senator Ndume had told Nigerians that only about 1% of the 2020 budget goes to the Army, even at that ,he said, only about 50% had been released to the Army, and that was less than a month ago.We would like to know if the report by the senator is correct,if it is not, then it is important to state that there are indexes that measure a country as doing well.It includes the Economy, and a strong Army.The absence of one affects the other , the absence of the two would be chaotic and unimaginable.
If the economy is strong and the Army is weak, territorial conquest by internal enemies and envious neighbours would be a done deal.
We are worried and align with Ndume’s fear that the Insurgents should not be released into the society as there are better ways of protecting them just as the Americans do with criminals whom they confined to the Guatanamo Bay.
We are very worried by the decision of government and the plea by the Multinational Task Force that the terrorists who have surrendered should be accepted with open arms and allow them mix and move freely . That is tantamount to” entering the jaws of a wild animal.”
Least we forget, the so called surrendered terrorists had been engrossed in bloodshed and doing all manner of wicked things to people they abduct and to themselves.
On Sunday evening, Insurgents killed one of their own in cold blood ,a former governor of Lake Chad, Amir Baba Kaka and two of his lieutenants,Amir Muhammed Lawal, and Amir Musa while they have also passed death sentence on others whom they have resolved to kill after Salah.
Kaka was said to be the most powerful Jihadist warlord in charge of all terrorists operations along the Tumbus of the Lake Chad axis for 4years.
So if this terrorists have the mind of animals in the jungle, what more opinion should we have of them?
Indeed this is the best time for the Nigerian Military to join forces with others and take the battle to them in such a way that not one of them would live to tell their story.
By so doing, perpetrators of other criminal acts especially those terrorising North West, North Central and other parts of the country in the name of bandits and will run away.
Now is the time for the giant of Africa in us to rise,it is not by mouth talk, we should walk the talk We are so called giant because we have the numerical strength, resources and ability to lead for others to follow.
We are not short sighted of other challenges staring the government in the face.The Covid-19 pandemic is one, corruption and fixing the economy are all noted, but the fact remains that security cannot be compromised at all .The issue of Army officials resigning is a signal that all is not well, the story that the military are underpopulated is clumsy and unacceptable as there are lots and lots of unemployed people who are ready to fill in vacant positions any day.
Let the government not wait until the bloated abdomen of the insurgents in the bush and those who have surrendered get ready to release very offensive gas on the Nigerian people .That won’t be nice .
