The resurgence of terrorism

NIGERIANS who had hoped for a continuation of the lull in terrorist attacks witnessed during the peak of the cash crisis occasioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) naira redesign policy must now be shocked by the futility of their optimism. Across the country, terrorists are shedding blood at will, setting homes and farms ablaze and mutilating their victims with demonic relish. And that, sadly, is quite apart from their serial acts of extortion and rape.  In states like Benue, Ondo, Katsina, Niger and Kaduna, among others, they have literally become a constant reminder of the growing impotence of Nigeria’s security apparatus. And for the citizenry, the lesson is that trusting in the assurances by the authorities of the Nigerian state is a costly undertaking.

According to reports, banditry and kidnapping for ransom have spiked in the North-West following the renewed inflow of cash into households and the economy. During the cash crunch period, the geopolitical zone witnessed a reduction in ‘banditry’ (that is, terrorism) and kidnapping for ransom. But the tide has since turned with the commencement of the recirculation of old naira notes. Recently, in Musawa Local Government Area of Katsina State, a three-year-old boy was buried alive by a kidnapper, one Abubakar Abdulaziz, after the boy’s parents had paid N150,000 ransom. In another ugly development, 60 women and children were abducted from the Kucheri, Wanzamai and Danwuri communities of Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, and Yankara town in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Earlier this month, at least eight communities in the Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State were  deserted following incessant attacks by terrorists who killed seven villagers and abducted 26 other persons in the local government. In Ondo State, kidnapping for ransom and wanton bloodshed by nomadic herders have become a daily routine. The terrorists have routinely defied even the best efforts of operatives of the Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun). The case in Benue State, where terrorists reportedly killed no less than 89 hapless citizens between January and March this year, is simply beyond belief. The state has literally become an abbatoir while the Federal Government, the custodian of the repressive apparatuses of the Nigerian State, has acted with mind-numbing disinterest and criminal irresponsibility.

The resurgence of terrorist activities is not really inexplicable, and Nigerians who want the authorities to fill them in on the dastardly developments are only being hopeful of at least a modicum of responsibility from their government. If the spate of vicious attacks by criminals ebbed at the threshold of the 2023 general election, a period riddled with cash crunch, only to worsen after the exercise, then it is not so hard to see that the terrorists are simply cashing in on the current cash situation in the country and the accustomed irresponsibility and failure of the government to protect life and property. For all practical purposes, the claim that the terrorists had been technically defeated is not just a ruse; it is a demonstration of the utter contempt with which officialdom views Nigeria’s long-suffering, hapless populace. The criminals who have made life miserable for most Nigerians have not been degraded, and legitimate questions must be asked about the overall impact of the huge expenditure on hard and soft ware acquired to tame them.

The primary duty of the State is to guarantee the safety of life and property. It is a fact that security is important to investors, and crucially important in inspiring confidence in the citizenry and commanding  global respect. That being the case, the inescapable reality, as demonstrated in the renewed and escalating attacks all over the country, is that the terrorists are indeed  the new overlords, with the government overwhelmed and unable to act as the real custodian of Nigerian territory. The ease and impunity with which these agents of death and destruction operate should be a shame to all those in government and the vaunted security agencies which continue to pretend that they are in charge of the country.

The fact that those who work and speak for the president habitually shift the responsibility of maintaining security away from him to others does not, and can never, erase the truth that the buck for security and its maintenance in the country stops at his table and that he has been singularly derelict in delivering on security issues.  When the point is considered that the foremost responsibility of the government is the provision of security, without which all other things cannot even be contemplated, then the inescapable conclusion is that the past eight years look like wasted years. Nigerians have been subjected to the normalisation of routine killings and banditry while the president engages in unnecessary releases of ineffectual statements while yielding space to killers of different hues.

The resurgence of terrorism in the country less than five weeks to the end of the president’s tenure is the icing on the cake for the outlaws that his administration has allowed to overwhelm the country. We can only hope that a new template of real governance making security the most important engagement will emerge to supplant the current misery that is the essential legacy of President Buhari’s government.