Defence Minister on the nuisance of bandits

ON Tuesday, the Minister of Defence, Major-General Bashir Magashi (retd), expressed apprehension about the havoc wreaked on the North-West and the North-Central by ‘bandits’, saying they were becoming a nuisance. Speaking after the National Security Council meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the minister said that President Muhammadu Buhari had expressed the need for urgency in dealing with the outlaws. His words: “This meeting was called in order to keep the C-in-C abreast of the current happening in the North-West and North-Central, in respect of the improvements, problems and any other thing associated with insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and the rest of it. The spate of happenings in Zamfara State and the North-Central is a source of concern to the government and to all the agencies responsible for the execution of the operations in the North-Central.”

The minister added: “We believe they’re becoming a nuisance, killing people. They are doing what they like, they make careless statements, they say what they think they should say in order to solicit the kind of audience they want from the society. If you look back, prior to our coming, in 2014, you’ll find that there’s been a lot of improvement, but people are not seeing it anymore. We are trying to find out why people are not appreciating the efforts of the government. We have appraised our position, we’ve found that we are capable, but we need the cooperation of every Nigerian in order to ensure a free society.”

To say the very least, the activities of the so-called bandits, who are actually terrorists in the strictest sense of the word, have been horrendous. They have shed blood for years. Particularly in recent times, they have become even more daring, attacking the military and paramilitary agencies and butchering Nigerians at will. The need for their proper designation as terrorists was in fact buttressed by the chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum and governor of Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), on Tuesday, when he noted that those behind criminality in Zamfara State were not bandits but terrorists. Speaking while receiving members of the governing council of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), led by their chairman, Dr. Godknows Boladie Igali and the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Joseph Adeola Fuwape, Akeredolu lamented that Nigerians were living in fear following the unending insecurity across the country. He posited that something must be done urgently to address the situation in order to restore the hope of the people and to make the country a livable place.

In July, the so-called bandits shot down a Nigeria Air Force (NAF) jet piloted by Flight-Lieutenant Abayomi Dairo in the northern borders of Zamfara and Kaduna states. The officer had just emerged from an interdiction raid when his plane came under bombardment by the outlaws. According to the NAF Spokesman, Edward Gabkwet, the jet “came under intense enemy fire which led to its crash in Zamfara State”. Dairo was later to give details regarding how he ejected from the airplane, found shelter, and outwitted the terrorists who were on his trail before he eventually rejoined his military comrades. Throughout the month of August, the outlaws engaged in killings and kidnappings, especially in schools. And only on Wednesday last week, they stormed the Government Day Secondary School, Kaya, in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State and kidnapped 100 students, together with some teachers. They staged the onslaught around 11:00 a.m.

Against the backdrop of their ceaseless crimes against humanity, it is confounding that the Defence Minister still see these terrorists as mere nuisance. The truth is that they  have become much more than nuisance, as they are now the ones effectively taking charge of developments in the country. Posing and acting like an alternative government, they have turned the country into an ungovernable space. Time and again, they have buttressed the point about their near invincibility, striking hard at the core of the Nigerian state with impunity. Sadly, rather than going after them and taking the wind out of their sails, the government prefers to deal with critics and self-determination activists. It is a fact that with the terrorists still having the upper hand in their confrontations with the State, Nigerians do not see what the government claims to be doing to curb their reign of terror. Indeed, there is no better evidence of governmental failure in checkmating them than the horrendous crimes that they perpetrate with ease on a daily basis. On current evidence, these outlaws are well-funded, well-equipped and battle-ready.

We urge the Minister of Defence to deploy all the arsenal at his disposal and stop the terrorists in their tracks. The support of the Nigerian populace, as he acknowledged, is crucial, but the point has to be made that Nigerians have not shied away from giving the government their support. The point is that the government has not built and nurtured a climate of trust. It must change tactics and curb terror in the land. The development that the country needs cannot be actualised in the face of pervasive insecurity.

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