The recent terror incident in Kogi State is another poignant reminder of the vulnerability of Nigerians to threats posed by Islamist fundamentalists who are gradually spreading their sphere of influence far beyond the epicentre of terrorist activities in Borno State to practically all parts of the country. Reports have it that no fewer than 10 suspected Islamists were gunned down by soldiers in a battle at Okene after they violently resisted efforts by the military to dislodge them from a mosque that served as their armoury.
It is regrettable that while the security chiefs have been busy chasing after Boko Haram terrorists in the north-eastern part of the country, Kogi, one of the most southerly states in the North, has been gradually slipping into the deadly grip of Islamist extremism. Back in August, there were also reports that 20 suspected Boko Haram commanders were picked up by agents of the Department of State Services in Lagos and Enugu, in the South, as well as Plateau, Kano and Gombe states, in the North-Central and northern parts of the country. These are clear indications of the mushrooming influence of the terror group in Nigeria. It is a sign that in many parts of the country, the authority of the Nigerian state is being contested and, sadly, the response from the government has not been as adequate as would be expected.
The Okene incident could have come with some far more pernicious consequences to the legitimate right of law-abiding citizens to peaceful existence if the security officials had not acted preemptively. The assault on the mosque by the soldiers took place after useful information was obtained following an earlier terror incident in Lokoja, the state capital. Just about a fortnight earlier, gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram had launched a vicious attack on the state headquarters of the DSS. It took a combined team of police, army and the DSS to dislodge the attackers in an incident in which the exact number of fatalities on both sides remains unclear.
Before then, there had been incidents that signposted a strong terrorism presence in the state. In November last year, about 147 inmates escaped after an attack by suspected Boko Haram members on a Nigerian prison facility in Koton-Karfe. The insurgents had broken through the prison wall after overpowering the guards on duty and set fire on the section housing the prison inmates’ records, just as they swung the gates open for the mass exodus of the inmates. It was the second of such attacks on that facility in two years.
Prior to the prison invasion, there was another incident in which the Deeper Life Bible Church building in Okene came under attack by terrorists, leading to the death of 19 people who were attending a Bible study class. It was also in Kogi that some Nigerian soldiers travelling in a convoy, on their way to a peacekeeping assignment in Mali, were waylaid. Three soldiers were killed in that ambush.
The latest incident in Okene should therefore serve as a wake-up call to those in charge of securing lives and property in the country. There has been more than enough bloodshed and breach of the peace to show that the state is gradually becoming a haven for terrorists. Therefore, while paying the deserved attention to the north-eastern states, the authorities cannot afford to ignore Kogi and, indeed, other parts of the country, which are gradually but surely becoming vulnerable to terror attacks. Any terrorist attack in any part of the country should not be taken as a one-off incident, but as an effort by the insurgents to expand their sphere of influence and entrench their desire to replicate what their better-known counterparts, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, are doing in the Middle-East.
Notable in the Kogi security alarm was the fact that the terrorists were not allowed to unleash mayhem on the state before they were contained. This is commendable. It marks a complete departure from the usual practice, which has been to react after the terrorists might have struck, often resulting in a colossal loss of lives and property.
This approach of staying a step ahead of the terrorists has been adopted in places such as Britain, Israel and the United States. After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US and the ones that followed in Britain on July 7, 2005, there have been practically no serious attacks in these countries. And it has not been for lack of trying. For Nigeria to keep terrorism in check across the country, there is therefore the need for a change of tactics. Specifically, there is the need to involve the locals more in the gathering of intelligence and in policing. This brings back into focus the vexed issue of state police, ideally the best option to adopt, especially in a federal structure such as we claim to operate.
In unitary Britain, for instance, where policing is nevertheless decentralised, there has been an attempt to take it even further. In what is clearly a response to the exigencies of the moment, the authorities there have started recruiting officers that can speak Yoruba language into their fold. No one needs to be told that this is dictated by the growing presence of Yoruba-speaking Nigerians in that country. Nigerians will benefit more by the realisation that the security of a particular society will be better served by engaging people who speak the local language and understand the culture and the terrain better.
