And ‘bandits’ continue to hold Nigeria hostage

The very social fabric of Nigeria has been changed, or even dragged and torn apart, really. The culprit is the currently raging phenomenon of ‘banditry’, as that strain of terrorism is notso-fondly referred to, no thanks to the media. Just when one thinks that the worst of it has happened, incidents like the recent attack on a mosque in Giwa LGA in Kaduna – and kidnapping of about 14 residents – spring up as rude reminders of who actually are the shot-callers in northern Nigeria. Yes, you guessed it right, the near-ubiquitous ‘bandit’.

The Giwa incident is just last Thursday – two days ago – and hot on the heels of another shocking one that occurred in Kebbi State, when Deputy Governor, Sama’ila Yombe Dabai, and his entourage got ambushed by armed bandits on the Tuesday before, in Kanya, Waje District of his state, killing and injuring many. The deputy governor breathlessly narrated that the ‘bandits’ mixed up with residents, prompting him to advise his security team to pull out of the community. He also noted that they wielded high-calibre weapons. The attack, too, came two days after another attack in which the terrorists killed 63 members of local self-help group, popularly called ‘vigilantes’.

Kebbi’s Yombe, after “doffing his cap” for the soldiers of the battalion at Zuru, still engaged in hyperbole: “From the gunshots, you will assume they were 200 or 250 terrorists. And the soldiers were a unit of about 30 troops, escorting the commanding officer.” But it is understandable, as it is not every day a person passes through an ordeal as harrowing as he did. However, in all this, what stood out the most for me is how brazen the terrorists were. They actually attacked armed soldiers. While you pause to absorb that, also gander a thought towards the kind of firepower they must command to possess such guts.

Back to the most recent attack, from two days ago, in Giwa, I found it intriguing that while they struck during evening prayers, they also abducted 14 people. They appear to be more strategic than they are given credit, when you realise that they chose prime time to attack, took hostages for assurance and ransom, and basically carried out a large-scale supply run that would keep them in food and trading goods for a good length of time. (A witness told newsmen: “The gunmen divided themselves: while some were operating at the mosque, others moved house-to-house, abducting over 10 women. Some of them busied themselves carting away cows, sheep and goats numbering hundreds.”)

Police response, as usual, was lukewarm if not even cold, while a visibly overstretched military can only do so much. The problem with sitting down, wringing hands and doing close to nothing at all about this, is that everyone seems to be ignoring the fact that it is spreading. Kaduna State is suffering from the forest-dwelling terrorists, and has been for a while now. Niger State is in a sorry state currently, as it is proving to be a haven for the ‘bandits’, who attack and kill with so much ferocity that it sometimes beggars belief. Other states currently suffering include parts of Katsina, Sokoto, Nasarawa, and Kogi states (not a comprehensive listing, mind you).

Young women are also kidnapped, and raped in forced ‘marriages’, later dumped at their parents’, very pregnant and irreparably broken by trauma. The criminals run whole camps, raise families, build criminal empires and even fight turf wars, very much like a mafia, albeit an incredibly crude one. They also steal domestic animals, or even entire herds of cattle, most times killing the actual owners in the process. It is not an exaggeration to say the cattle they rustle number in hundreds of thousands, while the ransoms they collect from their kidnapping sprees total many billions.

From a novelty that would occasionally shock newspaper readers or radio listeners, this terrorism, this so-called ‘banditry’, has become a rotting, spreading cancer, as well as a thriving industry, replete with auxiliary branches much like a proper endeavour’s. The trouble with industry – legit or criminal – is that it always finds a way. And that it where the government should have come in long ago: To find a way to stop it dead in its tracks. The saddest part is that while Nigeria is held hostage by these murderous brigands, I won’t hold my breath that anything will be done by those who should. And that’s the real crime.

Back to the most recent attack, from two days ago, in Giwa, I found it intriguing that while they struck during evening prayers, they also abducted 14 people. They appear to be more strategic than they are given credit, when you realise that they chose prime time to attack, took hostages for assurance and ransom, and basically carried out a largescale supply run that would keep them in food and trading goods for a good length of time