DURING the countdown to the 2015
general elections in Nigeria, a major campaign issue which the opposition All
Progressives Congress, APC, leveraged on to discredit the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, was the serious security challenges afflicting the
country at the time. The most evident and pressing of these challenges was the
relentless terror attacks carried out by the Islamist militant group, Boko
Haram, in the North East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, with several lives
lost, billions of Naira worth of property destroyed and thousands of people
forced to flee their homes and communities.
By 2014, the death toll had risen
alarmingly, climbing to 6,644 according to the Global Terrorism Index, GTI, an
increase of 317 per cent over the previous year and considered…”the largest
increase in terrorist deaths ever recorded by any country”. By 2015 it had
reached an excess of 8,000 according to the Armed Conflict Location Data. Boko
Haram Suicide bomb attacks But in spite of military campaigns by the Nigerian
Armed Forces to subdue the Boko Haram monster, a vast swathe of territory
within these states was lost to the insurgents who occupied the captured areas
and dared the Federal Government to do its worst. To compound the problem, the
Boko Haram also continued to carry out suicide bomb attacks in many other parts
of the North, including the Federal capital, Abuja. The Buhari administration
and Boko Haram, Chibok girls challenge Not long after the Buhari administration
was sworn in, it declared a full scale war on the murderous Boko Haram
terrorists. First, President Muhammadu Buhari overhauled the hierarchy of the
Nigerian military with new service chiefs appointed and the military command and
operation centre being moved to Maiduguri, Borno State for a more effective
deployment of troops to confront the terrorists. Apart from that, the President
had, while decorating new services chiefs in August 2015, given them a
three-month deadline to eliminate the terrorists from all occupied Nigerian
territories. Release of Chibok Girls The popular belief is that the failure of
the Jonathan administration to rescue the Chibok school girls who were
kidnapped in April 2014 by the Boko Haram contributed significantly to its loss
in the 2015 presidential election. On the other hand, the succeeding Buhari
administration had made the rescue of the girls a priority. Efforts in this
regard yielded the desired result with the return of some of the missing girls in
October 2016 after negotiations between the group and the Nigerian government
reportedly brokered by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the
Swiss government. It was celebration time again when news broke that 82 out of
the about 195 still in Boko Haram custody had been released. Indeed the news
understandably sparked wild celebrations among many families in Chibok town,
Borno State. It was a cheery news that resonated with hope that the over 100
girls still being held may also soon be released by their captors. The ugly
side of the security coin Unfortunately the success story being told of the
defeat of the Boko Haram has not stopped the group from carrying out fresh
attacks at intermittent intervals. While President Buhari has declared that the
insurgents have been technically defeated, it is still not yet Uhuru for people
in the North east. Apart from sporadic attacks on soft targets in the area by
the Boko Haram, its leader, Abubakar Shekau, the man likened to the proverbial
cat with nine lives and who had been declared killed several times, continues
to appear like a bad penny to issue fresh threats of overrunning more Nigerian
territories to establish his desired Islamic Caliphate. In one of such attacks
on Magumeri community in Borno State in March, no fewer than 20 persons were
killed, including some soldiers and policemen. Abduction and release of Dapchi
schoolgirls In a manner of calling the bluff of the Federal Government which
peremptorily declared it technically defeated and to demonstrate its continued
defiance of constituted authority in Nigeria, the Boko Haram had in a move
reminiscent of the kidnap of the Chibok girls re-enacted the shocking episode
in the town of Dapchi, Yobe State. Precisely on February 19, 2018, the Al
Barnawi faction of the Boko Haram terrorist group stormed the Government Girls
Technical Science College, Dapchi and abducted 110 of the students. But to the
relief and cheer of all and sundry, government had last March announced the
release of 104 of the school girls. But the news was soon dampened by the
report that five of the girls died in the process of being kidnapped, while
another girl, Leah Sharibu, is still being held by her abductors for refusing
to renounce her Christian faith. The wait continues for her release even as the
situation remain grim and uncertain. Return of killer herdsmen While the
Federal Government continues to prosecute the war on Boko Haram with a
commendable measure of seriousness, the same, according to some observers,
cannot be said of other forms of security challenges in different parts of the
country. For instance, under its watch, frequent clashes between herdsmen and
farmers have continued to escalate. The Federal Government has been accused of
often looking the other way while heavily armed herdsmen embark on murderous
invasions of farming communities. Emboldened by this lack of action by
government and security agencies, the herdsmen have since the inception of the
Buhari administration, continued to carry out fresh attacks not only in the
North Central states of Plateau and Benue, but have extended same to the
South-West, South-South and South-East zones which are increasingly becoming
their preferred theatres of wanton killings and destruction. Agatu community in
Benue State which has been frequently targeted witnessed some of the most
horrendous killings with no fewer than 300 lives lost and seven villages razed
and sacked during one of such herdsmen invasion. As the people of Benue were
counting their losses in human and material terms, it was soon the turn of
people in other states, including Enugu, Delta, Ogun and Ekiti who were left to
mourn their dead and the destruction of their farms following similar invasions
by herdsmen. Unimpressed by the Federal Government slow response in checking
the excesses of the herdsmen, the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose had
sponsored an “Anti Grazing Bill 2016” which was subsequently passed by the
state House of Assembly. In fact, the bill was specifically provoked by the
killing of two persons by suspected herdsmen in Oke Ako community in Ikole
Local Government Area of the state. Fayose said that the new law would check
cases of incessant attacks or killings of local residents and destruction of
farmlands by herdsmen and their cattle as it criminalises grazing in some
places in the state. In the same vein, Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom,
whose state has for years been on the receiving end of bloody herdsmen attacks,
on May 22, 2017 assented to a law titled: “Open Grazing and Rearing of
Livestock.” The law provides for the Establishment of Ranches and Livestock
Administration, Regulation and Control and Other Matters Connected Therewith
2017. This was after the state had waited for federal intervention that was
late or slow in coming. Also obviously unimpressed by the poor response of the
executive to the problem, the Senate on Wednesday May 24, 2017 ordered the
Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Idris to urgently take steps to
arrest killer herdsmen and all armed killers masquerading as herdsmen in
communities, forests, and farms across the country. This year, precisely on
April 17, 2018, the Senate demonstrated its exasperation with the relentless
and senseless killings of Nigerians by calling for the sack of the Service
Chiefs of the Armed Forces. The Upper Legislative Chamber has also been having
a running battle with the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris,
who repeatedly ignored their summons to appear before them to explain police
inability to rein in armed herdsmen and other killer gangs operating freely
across the country. The seeming unrestrained reign of killer herdsmen had so
infuriated former Chief of Army Staff, retired Lt-General Theophilus Danjuma,
that he had used the opportunity of a public function in Jalingo, Taraba State
to accuse the Nigerian military of complicity in the killings while urging the
populace to rise up and defend themselves. Although the Nigerian Army has set
up a panel to probe Danjuma’s allegations, herdsmen sponsored and executed killings
continue unabated in Benue and other North Central states. In fact, it would
appear that the killer herdsmen have upped their ante for chilling effect by
routinely attacking churches and other places of worship at their most
vulnerable moments. This was the case when faceless gun men, fresh from
slaughtering 10 persons in the Guma area of the state, attacked St. Ignatius
Catholic Church Ukpor-Mbalom in Gwer East Local Government Area in Benue State,
killing two priests and 17 parishioners. Less than 24 hours later, the
marauders again launched fresh coordinated attacks in Guma Local Government
Area of the state killing no fewer than 39 persons. As if not satisfied with
this orgy of killings, the gun men had the following day invaded another church,
the African Church in Logo Local Government Area of the state, killing seven
persons in the process. Nationwide protest Government’s response in launching
Operation Cat Race, Ayem Akpatuma, has provided scant consolation to those
affected who see it as too little too late. This feeling was strongly on
display across the country on Tuesday, May 22, 2018, the day slain Catholic
priests and other killed along with them were buried. Indeed, the Catholic
Church had staged a nationwide protest on the day through which it demanded of
the Federal Government to end the senseless killings in the country. Upsurge in
robberies and kidnappings While security agencies continue to battle various
forms of violent crimes, they obviously were not prepared for the upsurge of hostage-taking
activities in the country. Between 2013 and 2016, abduction for ransom had
escalated in the country, occurring at an alarming frequency. It soon created a
palpable feeling of insecurity among the populace who cried out to government
for urgent intervention. While waiting for a coordinated federal response to
this, some state governments decided to take matters into their hands. For
instance, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State had on February 1, 2017,
signed into law the state’s “Kidnapping Prohibition Bill 2016”. The major
thrust of the law is the prescription of death penalty for convicted kidnappers
whose victims die in custody or in the course of being abducted. Other states
that have promulgated similar laws include Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Edo, Kano, Ogun and
Oyo. But it would seem that the advent of this law is yet to curtail the
rampaging kidnappers as cases of kidnapping, including those involving school
children, continue to be recorded on regular basis. Apart from kidnappers,
other criminal elements have also in recent time been on rampage. For instance,
going by media reports, violent robberies have been on a steady increase across
the country. Inter-ethnic, communal clashes/religious crisis The Buhari
administration is also burdened by security challenges bordering on
inter-ethnic and communal crises. Among the most prominent in this regard is
the Southern Kaduna crisis that has resulted in many killings. While efforts
are reportedly being made by the Federal and Kaduna State governments to get to
the root of the problem, its resolution has so far remained out of sight. At
the same time, government is also in search of solution to inter-communal
crises involving communities across state borders, including clashes between
communities in Cross River, Ebonyi and and Akwa Ibom resulting in deaths and
destruction. Government’s defense of its response to security challenges
Meantime, President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesmen have had their hands full
responding to numerous complaints and issues raised about the administration’s
performance in three years. Even the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has
similarly found himself in uncomfortable situations where he has to defend the
performance of the administration in the area of security. With particular
reference to security and the Boko Haram challenge, he had last year said: “…
With new leadership and renewed confidence our gallant military immediately
began to put Boko Haram on the back foot. We have restored broken-down
relations with our neighbours: Chad, Cameroon and Niger – allies without whom
the war against terror would have been extremely difficult to win. We have
re-organised and equipped our Armed Forces, and inspired them to heroic feats;
we have also revitalised the regional Multinational Joint Task Force, by
providing the required funding and leadership. “The positive results are clear
for all to see. In the last two years close to one million displaced persons
have returned home; 106 of our daughters from Chibok have regained their freedom
after more than two years in captivity, in addition to the thousands of other
captives who have since tasted freedom. Schools, hospitals and businesses are
springing back to life across the North East, especially in Borno State, the
epicentre of the crisis. Farmers are returning to the farms from which they
fled in the wake of Boko Haram. Finally, our people are getting a chance to
begin the urgent task of rebuilding their lives”
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