Last week’s unabated multiple bombings in Kaduna and Kano states, especially the introduction of female suicide bombers in the attacks, appear to be the new face of terror in the country. Even scarier is that the insurgents now attack with little or no counter-offensive from the security forces, perhaps due to the superiority of weaponry and motivation of their members. Whatever may be responsible for that, the message that this latest phase sends most poignantly is that the authorities must up their game in their efforts to tackle the menace of terrorism in our country.
It is noteworthy that the number of terrorists seems to be growing and as far as sovereignty goes, parts of Yobe and Borno states are now under siege with insurgents hoisting flags on Nigerian territories. Clearly, the war on terror is now not only long-drawn but appears to be entering a more indeterminable stage. Even the hope generated with the influx of foreign assistance is beginning to wane as there are no visible signs that they have yielded any results.
Against the background that Nigerians had thought that the foreign intervention would help to finish off the job the nation’s armed forces could not complete, it now appears as if they were mere tourists who came to size up the situation. There has been talk of support from many countries with little or no impact on the situation on ground. Even the kidnapped Chibok students whose abduction triggered the wave of foreign pledges are still in captivity more than three months after.
With the recent revelation that government is planning to get a $1billion loan to finance its anti-terrorism fight, many have given up on any meaningful resolution of the conflict within the shortest possible time-frame. In the meantime, the terrorists have become more emboldened, taunting the nation’s armed forces and promising to over-run the country. They appear organised, well equipped and well motivated. Buoyed by a religious ideology, they have a sense of mission, fuelling their crusade with zeal.
Apart from the weaknesses identified with the foreign assistance, another worrying dimension is the continued failure of intelligence. Whether we want to admit it or not, the insurgents also appear to be light years ahead of the intelligence community with better plans, expertly executed on a well-coordinated basis. One of their refrains, when loosely translated into English, is “we can see you but you can’t see us. We would do as we wish and there is nothing you can do about it”.
The apprehension here is that the security forces are not getting the right information concerning the insurgents’ activities. And where they are getting such information, they are not well processed. And even when they are, the courage to carry them through is grossly lacking. Therefore, we urge the government to name and arrest the sponsor of the insurgency since it keeps claiming it knows them. What is the point in identifying the financier of the current carnage and allowing them to freely forage? Are they above the law? Or is the claim by government false?
Perhaps the Nigerian authorities need to learn some lessons from Cameroon, one of our allies in the war on terror. Last week, the country sacked top members of its military for their failure to contain the insurgent action that led to the abduction of the wife of the country’s deputy prime minister. At the last count, over 400 women have been abducted this year and almost a thousand people killed within the last one month in our country yet not a single official has been held to account. For us to win this ever-expanding war, something definitely has to give. We cannot continue with business as usual and we definitely need to revisit our strategy, if ever there was one.
