In no time they brought back the sad and nauseating agonies of the past, the fear, the despair, the nightmare; the dark cloud of silence and uncertainties are here again. Knock, knock and knock, the demons of destruction and agents of darkness have once more murdered our sleep and our newfound victory song suddenly evaporated.
Run, run and run, Borno is on fire again!
This is the eleventh year of terror war and in the recent renewed and sudden upsurge of insurgency with impunity, the people of Borno in particular, the epi-centre of the terror saga, are being told in an unambiguous tone by the insurgents to keep vigil as all is not yet over because the Night of Long knives might, after all, just have begun.
This is Borno’s sad story. The sad story that rudely interrupted the forward march of Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, the state governor, who for the past few weeks after the assumption of office, has demonstrated the capability and capacity to lead, inspire and govern. Governor Zullum is in trouble and the recent rattle of gunfire and assault on the people of Maiduguri, Gubio, Konduga , Dalori and other towns and villages of Borno by the terrorists provoked, pricked and prodded the governor and others alike to action and reactions.
Narrating his ordeal to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Governor Zulum lamented that the Boko Harm insurgents have demonstrated higher expertise and wielded more sophisticated weapons than the Nigerian military.
According to him, the insurgents are now using drones to monitor military’s movements and operations. With this trend, Governor Zulum is of the view that the sect, from all indications, might be ahead of the military in the possession of higher technological warfare strategies and expertise.
The state governor, who was speaking at the Government House in Maiduguri recently during the Speaker’s courtesy call, stated, “Boko Haram now uses drones to monitor the operations of the military. Without providing proper and up-to –date technological capacity to the military, this thing will never end,” he warned.
According to Zullum, “the capacity of the military has to be re-examined in terms of modern technological warfare. Otherwise, this thing (insurgency) will never end.”
The governor implored the Federal Government to increase the numerical strength of the country’s security and paramilitary personnel fighting the terror war in addition to supporting the Civilian JTF in the light of serious sophisticated warfare from the terrorists and scaled up operations of ISWAP in the Chad Basin region.
Further lamenting the destruction visited on the state by the Boko Haram sect, Governor Zulum told the Speaker that although all the local government areas in the state had been liberated from Boko Haram, “only 10 villages now stand out of the 500 that used to exist in Northern Borno, only 20 now stand out of about 1,000 villages that used to exist in Central Borno before 2015.”
Responding, Femi Gbajabiamila who was in Maiduguri to assess the situation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), with regards to their population and their transition from the camp to resettlement, regretted that the insurgency had continued for” a bit too long and we have to put it behind us.”
The Speaker pointed out that the Federal Legislature had resolved to collaborate with the Executive for concerted efforts to bring to an end the terror war, pointing out that for now it is not yet “UHURU.”
And shortly after the meeting between the Speaker and Governor Zulum in the state capital, the insurgents stuck again in some parts of Borno, prompting Zulum to race to Abuja to brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the latest development with the former assuring him that plans were on to end the insurgency.
Not done, hardly had Governor Zulum left Abuja back to Maiduguri than some Borno indigenes write President Buhari on the precarious situation in the state, following the latest upsurge of the insurgency. According to the report in the Vanguard of August 27, 2019, P9, the open letter said to have been signed by Hassan Boguma, a traditional ruler, accused the military of not doing enough in the light of the recent attacks by the insurgents with no counter measures to forestall recurrence.
According to the letter, “The attempts by Boko Haram to intimidate and attack communities in the state and the actions of our soldiers in the frontline has made us lose confidence in the recent military performance in protecting not only the vulnerable citizens but even the territorial boundaries of the nation.
“Your Excellency, while lauding the efforts of the Nigerian Army for its gallantry in other parts of the state, much is needed to be done in the areas around MMC and Jere and in the light of recent attacks on Nganzai, Gajigana, Gubio, Magumeri, Amurwa, Kalali Abdul, Wanori and Dalori villages.”
The letter further explained that the incessant and daring attacks by Boko Haram terrorists was becoming a source of great concern to citizens living in the two local government areas; moreso when five villages were recently simultaneously attacked for three days without any counter measures or even a response to distress calls from the locals.
No doubt, the people of Borno in particular are indeed unhappy- no thanks to the insurgents, who visit them every now and then with gunfire, bomb blast, abduction, death, sorrow and blood. The greatest question is when will this lamentation end? Gambo Dori in his Tuesday Column in the Daily Trust of August 13, 2019 asked, “ When shall we vanquish Boko Haram?”
It is indeed high time we went back to the drawing board with all sincerity and find out where things went wrong in the journey so far, instead of the present blame game. It is time we looked critically at ourselves as stakeholders in this business to ascertain whether as a group or individuals we have honestly contributed our quota positively or negatively to the struggle aimed at ending the insurgency. It is time we asked ourselves some thought-provoking, pricking and prodding questions thus: Who are the sponsors of Boko Haram and where are they? Who are their internal and external collaborators and accomplices? Is Boko Haram carrying the tag of religion, politics or criminality? How sincere are our neighbours in this war against insurgency? Equally is the question, to what extent can Nigeria trust some notable countries in the international community in this terror war?
Coming back home, do we really understand the enemy or enemies we are fighting? Does the military have a full grasp of the terrain it is operating? How equipped is the military material wise, logistics wise, intelligence wise and pro-active wise in this terror war? Are there no fifth columnists within the rank and file of the military, who aid and abet the insurgents? What is responsible for the successful ambush of the terrorists on the locations and movements of soldiers and para-military groups? How far is the allegation that some members of the security agencies fighting in the fronts are shortchanged with regard to their entitlements, especially allowances? How regular are their salaries?
More questions: To what extent is the synergy amongst the members of the armed forces, the police and other para-military formations in the sharing of intelligence? How cooperative are the locals with the military in giving helpful information to the latter on the locations and movement of the terrorists in their respective environment? How far is the allegation that the so-called overstay of the present military chiefs in their respective positions is said to be uncomfortable with some groups within the military with spillover of this prompting the less vigorous prosecution of war on terror? How honest and desirable are the activities of the Non-Governmental Organizations, some who are alleged are fraudsters and spies and would want the insurgency war to continue?
It would be recalled that on some occasions, the military has indicted some elite, especially the politicians in the North east and Borno, in particular, of trying to frustrate the efforts of the military in its determination to end the insurgency for selfish ends. The question is what has become of the said politicians?
Even the military is equally alleged to have been retarding the terror war on the said accusation that some of its unpatriotic members have turned the war to commercial venture with some allegedly fronting for the insurgents as well?
No doubt, the Federal Government, since the terror war has not kept mute. Efforts were made by subsequent central governments to tame the insurgents. Especially, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has come out loud and clear in this direction to stop the onslaught of the insurgency. To this end, success has been recorded as the large empire once controlled by the terrorists has been liquidated off its hold by the military. To a large extent, normalcy has been restored to once occupied areas of the terrorists and the economic life rapidly picking up. The Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement programme of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) is progressively on the move and thousands of the IDPs have been relocated to their permanent abodes. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
However, it is not yet “Uhuru” as the remnants’ of Boko Haram with their foreign collaborators are still on the prowl and of recent have done incalculable damage to human lives and infrastructure, especially in Borno. The nightmare for the people is back just as the Night of Long Knives is visible. Especially to the people of Borno, there is still a hanging dark cloud of doubt raising questions.
It’s time to act before it is too late. The more prolonged this terror war, the more the complexity and tasking of the meager resources of the nation and the overstretching of the nation’s military and other security agencies.
There are two options to ending this imbroglio: It is either by carrot or stick. It is either full scale military action or dialogue or a combination of the two as warranted by the circumstances.
Victor Izekor is a journalist and public affairs analyst from Maiduguri and writes at victoizekor@gmail.com
