Like Chibok, Like Dapchi
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, if we were in Japan, by now, the Heads of the Security Forces would have taken bows of shame before the people, and resigned, maybe except for the Navy Chief, since the recent attack in Dapchi, Yobe State does not seem to have involved the sea or waters. What have we learnt from the 2014 kidnap of the Chibok girls? Not much, I would say! It seems that Nigeria lacks credible surveillance, intelligence, strategy and capacity, to be one step ahead of these Boko Haram terrorists; if not how would they be able to reconstruct almost the same scenario as Chibok, and successfully execute it, almost in broad day light?
The name of the terrorist group itself, ‘Boko Haram’ means “Western or nonIslamic education is a sin”. It doesn’t take Einstein to figure out that, people with such an archaic, outdated and illogical mindset, would be totally against women, most especially, getting a formal education. Therefore, it follows that educational facilities/institutions for females in Nigeria, more particularly in the areas where their attacks are concentrated, would be prime targets. Also, because, as we have seen in the case of the Chibok girls, these females are used by the terrorists, to satisfy their sexual and domestic requirements, as a matter of course, female institutions must not be left unguarded by the security forces, not even for one second.
Failure of Government The recent Dapchi incident, only goes to show that again, Government has been found wanting in its constitutional mandate to protect us. Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended in 2010) (1999 Constitution), provides that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of Government”. Government is meant to fulfil this obligation (and expectation), using the security forces, that is, the Police, Army, Air Force, Navy etc. Sections 214(1) and 217(1) of the 1999 Constitution, respectively provide for the establishment of the Nigeria Police Force and the Armed Forces, while Section 4 of the Police Act and the Armed Forces Act provide for the functions of the Nigeria Police and Armed forces, which include protection of the life and property of Nigerians (Police) and the defence of Nigeria by land, sea and air (Armed Forces).
Fighting terrorism, is not at all like fighting conventional warfare. It requires strategic thinking and action ‘outside the box’. It also requires cooperation between all the security agencies, and not competition, rivalry and that kind of shifting of blame, as to whose fault it was, that the Government Girls Secondary and Technical College, Dapchi was left unguarded, thereby making it a “sitting duck” for the abduction attack it suffered. Protecting Nigerians, by virtue of the constitutional provisions and statute, is the responsibility of all the security agencies, and not just the Army.
Troubling Questions Why is that in Nigeria, such attacks like Dapchi, are never foiled in advance? Why is it that, it is only after the Herdsmen or terrorists have struck, that the security agencies go running to the scene? Why is it that, just before the Dapchi attack, army troops were deployed to Kanama (75 miles from Dapchi)? Though, the Army has given an excuse for redeploying it’s troops to Kanama, as I listened to Honourable Sani Abdu, APC Member representing Alkaleri/Kirfi Federal Constituency, Bauchi State, saying that the recent abduction of the Dapchi girls was a complete embarrassment, especially because he believes that there are moles and saboteurs within the system, and there needs to be a proper investigation to fish these undesirables out, I could not help but feel that he was making good sense.
I recall a kidnap incident in Kebbi/ Sokoto States about 5 years ago, in which British Chris McManus and Italian, Franco Lamolinara, both Engineers, were killed by suspected Boko Haram terrorists, as Nigerian soldiers and the British Special Boat Squad tried to rescue them. I was in London at the time of the murder, and I read an analysis of what had transpired in one the dailies, Daily Mail I think. The conclusion was that, the rescue operation was going smoothly, until the Nigerian authorities were included in the plan. It was suspected, even as far back as then, that our security agencies had been infiltrated by enemy informants. As the foreign rescuers approached the house where the kidnappers had kept the abductees, the rescuers walked straight into a trap, as the kidnappers opened fire on them. Alas! unknown to rescuers, the kidnappers were expecting them. The rescuers escaped just by the skin of their teeth, the two abductees were killed, and the rescue mission was an abysmal failure. Who had forewarned the kidnappers and spilled the beans about the rescue plan? Fighting Boko Haram In our Nigerian context, it is my humble opinion that the Boko Haram brand of terrorism, is not really borne out of any ideology. It is borne out of hunger, poverty, gross ignorance and downright wickedness. All of us citizens, have a role to play, in combatting this evil. Everyone must be on the alert, and report any unusual movements or anything that seems to be out of the ordinary.
Every Mosque and religious establishment in Nigeria, should start to teach people that rape (which is also what kidnapping young innocent girls, coercing them into having sexual relations, and getting them pregnant, at the threat of killing them or never seeing their families again etc amounts to), is completely forbidden in Islam and punishable by death. That Islam enjoins men to protect women and treat them with kindness and fairness, as opposed to turning them into sex salves. That such acts are seen as humiliating women, and are classified as a form of ‘hiraba’, which means terrorism or crimes of violence. Likewise, a group of people killing cattle or destroying agriculture, is also seen as hiraba. That cold blooded murder and suicide bombing, is a sin of the highest order. That such actions, are not likely to be rewarded with Paradise or Bab al-Jihad, but the Blazing fire (Jahannam).
The Armed Forces, apart from actual physical battle with the terrorists, must study them intensely to know their ‘modus operandi’, that is, what strategies and methods they adopt to carry out attacks. So far, Boko Haram have shown their penchant for attacking Girls’ schools. Therefore, no Girls school in the North East, should be left unmanned. Ditto for IDP Camps. Most of Boko Haram attacks, are land attacks; for instance, in the case of abducting the girls, they came by road with trucks, which were then used to ‘spirit’ away the girls to unknown destinations. All roads in those areas, must always have heavy armed military presence. There have been speculations that, some of the Dapchi girls have been taken to Niger Republic. The distance between Dapchi and Niger is 676 kilometres, that is more than double the distance between Lagos and Ilorin. How would such a vast area in a ‘war zone’, be left totally unsecured by security forces, so much so that these terrorist kidnappers were able to escape with the girls, without detection?
Boko Haram also has a proclivity for using suicide bombers, in places like markets and motor parks. Defences must be set up and there must be better fortification of public areas, to forestall any attacks before they occur.
Without intelligence and state of the art surveillance equipment, especially those that see everything from up above, the war cannot be won. There are a lot of Technology giants around the world, like in USA, Israel, France and Korea, that will certainly have a lot of useful technology that can assist us in this fight.
The Government also has several important roles to play in the war against Boko Haram, not just in terms of security objectives, but in achieving economic goals that will benefit Nigerians as a whole, with a view to eradicating hunger. Government needs to revamp the economy and create jobs, as a matter of extreme urgency. The idle mind, is certainly the devil’s playground. A person who is not gainfully employed, has all the time in the world to sit outside the Mosque after busy people have left for work immediately after prayers, and be indoctrinated with ridiculous and senseless ideas by fellow jobless people, while waiting for ‘sadaka’, alms etc from people, just to be able to eat. A person must have absolutely nothing to live for, to be able to blow up themselves for any amount. Government must reduce the level of corruption in the country. As it stands today, according to the recent Corruption Perception Index just released by Transparency International, out of 180 countries, Nigeria has fallen from 136th position to 148th.
The truth of the matter is that, if the Dapchi girls are not rescued immediately, and it turns out to be another Chibok saga, it will further dent Government’s credibility, and cast serious aspersions on its claim to have defeated Boko Haram. Though terrorism can certainly not be stamped out in one day, I hope that the outcome of the Dapchi incident does not reveal the fact that, we are more or less back to square one, having not made any significant progress in the war against Boko Haram in the last 4 years.
“THAT COLD BLOODED MURDER AND SUICIDE BOMBING, IS A SIN OF THE HIGHEST ORDER. THAT SUCH ACTIONS, ARE NOT LIKELY TO BE REWARDED WITH PARADISE OR BAB ALJIHAD, BUT THE BLAZING FIRE (JAHANNAM)”