How not to play politics with terrorism
COUNTRIES around the world are grappling with internal security issues. Russia, despite all assurances of a well- policed borders and repeated threat to deploy nuclear arms, was caught napping, when four dare- devil suspected terrorists found their wayinto the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a north Moscow suburb, where they shot 137 people dead and injured more than 100 others.
It was reported that Russian President, Vladmir Putin, had been tipped off on the attack but he overlooked it.
Although the Islamic State group ( IS) has taken ownership of the terror attack, Putin is reluctant to give the group all the credit, claiming Ukraine provided the window and financial support for the attack. It was reported that the United States alerted Moscow to the likely attack on large gatherings, but the Russian authorities though it was propaganda designed to distract its presidential election.
In European cities where alertness on terrorism is high, local attacks with knives are rife. Guns are not all over the place. Statista reported knife crime offences in London to be 12,786 in 2022/ 23, an increase over figures for the previous year. Some are lifethreatening and unprovoked. Others are motivated by hate and zealotry, imported from other places. There is anger and tension everywhere. If these knife attacks were to be carried out with more lethal weapons with capacity for mass murder, the numbers could rise, like those of the United States, which are frequent and the toll, mind boggling.
France is vulnerable as well, perhaps, more because of continued tension with former colonies. More economic migrants are coming from all over the place to have their bite of the cake that was baked across continents centuries ago. So, it’s a mesh of issues, culminating in social and economic pressures cramped in one tiny political space.
The reason for these examples, especially with the unfortunate Moscow incident, is to underscore the pervasive and complex nature of terrorism as well as the different vulnerabilities. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, it became clear there are no safe havens.
For sponsors and terrorist foot soldiers, there are countries of high value and impact. One wellplanned attack goes a long way to push their evil message and ideology. While developed countries leverage economy and technology to mitigate impact, smaller countries like Nigeria take to prayers. At other times, leaders play politics with it.
Before militants of the Niger Delta introduced abduction of expatriate oil workers to press home the agitation for resource control and compel attention to their degraded environment due to exploration activities, kidnapping was alien to the country.
It was around 2002 that hostage taking was introduced, not for ransom taking per se, but to escalate the protest and mount pressure on government to conceive a development plan for the region. Before then, Nigerians only heard of such crimes happening in far places like Afghanistan, Somalia and druginfested countries of South America.
Government’s initial response to hostage taking in the Niger Delta was the deployment of force. Since the agitation had lingered from the military days, with containment measures being strict use of force, the civilian government headed by President Obasanjo was motivated to do same. When it did not work, he tried to engage some of the boys. But the urgency in the Niger Delta demanded concrete remediation plans, beside the 13 per cent derivation that had not percolated. That was the template until former President Yar’adua acceded to an amnesty programme.
Clearly, there was a cause- and- effect situation that made it easy for the government to navigate the Niger Delta situation and relative calm was achieved. The country has been dependent on oil resources in the Niger Delta to fund budgets. It was not in the interest of government to continue to neglect the region. President Obasanjo is more in support of applying constitutional solution to addressing national questions, even though that takes awful time and consensus may not be achieved.
However, Yar’adua’s outside - the - box amnesty initiative provided temporary relief, though not perfect, as trending events in the region have revealed. The amnesty programme restrained criminalities that were linked to resource control agitation, including kidnapping, and allowed oil production activities to resume.
Later, some characters in the South- east decided to elevate kidnapping for ransom into a franchise. The case of one Obioma Nwankwo, more popularly known as Osisikankwu, should illustrate this. This mysterious character operated from some forests in Abia State and terrorised the state between 2008 and 2010, until a joint task force of the Nigerian Army smoked him out.
That brought some calm to the state and to neighbouring Rivers. Hideouts of kidnappers in Enugu State and in the Zone were later smoked and Southeast became relatively safe for that period.
The point to note is that there was a measure of cooperation among the tiers of government to terminate kidnapping in its early days in the Niger Delta and the South- east. Contiguous states shared intelligence and forces to degrade the criminality. One recollects efforts of the then Rivers government, when it established a crime situation room overlooking the entire state.
The essence was to collect real time intelligence, fed to strategic units of security personnel stationed in prime locations. Expatriate trainers were on hand to boost local capacity. It appeared there was apolitical plan to deal with the situation of those years.
If the political leadership condones criminality through engagement of criminally minded persons to errand during elections, the hands of political leaders become tied when elections are over. That was part of the diagnosis at that period and a number of state governments were culpable.
In the eight years of former President Muhammadu Buhari, kidnapping became widespread and cattle herders abandoned their traditional vocation to invade forests and highways. North- west governors admitted they picked intelligence on hideout of the criminals. They pleaded with the president to send forces to dislodge them.
In a leaked memo he wrote to the president, former Governor Nasir el Rufai of Kaduna State reported that terrorists had set up a parallel government with structures in his state. He warned of the terrorists’ advanced plans to create permanent operational base in the zone. All that was needed to achieve maximum impact was prompt response and synergy among governments, local, state and federal.
Locals should also not be sympathetic to the activities of terrorists for the task to be complete. We didn’t see enough of that in eight years and terrorism, especially the kidnapping arm of it, became more rewarding as it fetched resources to propagate other terrorist agenda.
Today’s measures to tackle and contain terrorism are under focus. The government seems to have acknowledged the role politics plays to undermine and fuel criminality, and also derail governance.
In the wake of the kidnap of the Kuriga pupils and students in Kaduna State, the Federal Government confessed that sub- regional forces were at play in their bid to intimidate the government. Government’s Spokesperson, Ajuri Ngalale, categorically said sub- regional geo- political forces were conspiring against Nigeria. That’s positive. It is easier to deal with situations that are traceable to certain sources.
Government needs to pursue this revelation to its logical end. Let there be no sacred cows. When the United States identified the source of 9/ 11, the matter was pursued to a logical end. Russia will not let go until the source of the recent terroristic attack is comprehensively punished, apart from the foot soldiers who are already on trial. Serious governments don’t massage terrorism.
As the pupils were released or rescued after 16 days in the kidnappers’ den, Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, admonished the political class not to politicise terrorism. Another positive. If our governments refrain from glamourising terrorism, especially the new wave of kidnapping, then a lot would be achieved.
This new wave was incubated and pampered in the last eight years and unfortunately, there are versions of it across all states. When it reached epidemic proportions, some states legislated against the crime. They promised to pull down structures and assets that had links to the operators. Many structures were pulled down across states to assure citizens that the governors meant business.
Some states even legislated death penalty for the crime. However, governors have not summoned courage to sign death warrants of persons convicted of kidnapping. Most times, kidnappers are not brought to justice, especially in mass abductions involving students. At such times, governments begin to micromanage information and turn national calamities into PR opportunities. Then they make heinous crimes look very fanciful.
Let’s take another look at Kuriga. For 16 days, Nigerians and the global community were told that 287 students were kidnapped. After the initial count, nobody returned to Kuriga to verify the numbers. The Kaduna State government that had all the time to prepare for a carnival- like reception for survivors did not figure it was appropriate to give periodic update on what the new findings were during the search and rescue.
On the day the survivors returned, only 137 were delivered and without prior notice the government lamely assumed the new numbers make sense.
The Federal Government had announced it wouldn’t pay ransom and that was accepted, even though Nigerians know ransoms are paid regularly. Government didn’t need to push that propaganda, since other tiers can pay on its behalf. It’s hush money, after all.
Government should learn to come clean in these matters, so that when such happens again ( God forbid), there would be a more manageable perception and believability. To win this battle, government should learn to trust the people and distill their opinions.
But what we see are concerted and deliberate efforts to obliterate evidence, as if Kuriga didn’t take place? And there are no signs that lessons are being learned. In these public relations attempts, people are asking, where are the kidnappers who invaded Kuriga? Government mustn’t ennoble crime, punish it!
“Some states en legislated death penalty for the crime. However, governors have not summoned courage to sign death warrants of persons convicted of kidnapping. Most times, kidnappers are not brought to justice, especially in mass abductions involving students. At such times, governments begin to micromanage information “and turn national calamities into PR opportunities. Then they make heinous crimes look very fanciful.