The National Security Council, on Thursday, disclosed that the Islamic State for West African Province masterminded the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, which claimed 40 lives and left many injured.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, disclosed this to State House correspondents after the council’s meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Aregbesola, who spoke in the company of the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, said security agencies are closing in on the perpetrators through their traces.
He said, “The council is quite concerned about the violent attack in Owo, Ondo State, and has been able to locate the perpetrators of that horrendous attack. From all indications, we are zeroing in on ISWAP, the Islamic State for West Africa. It is not an ethno-religious thing.
“The animals in ISWAP wanting attention, recognition, are suspected to have launched that attack. We have directed all the agencies concerned to go after them and bring them to justice.”
The June 5 massacre was the first time an attack of this magnitude in the South West was directly linked to terrorists in the last 13 years of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.
Activities of terrorist groups like Boko Haram and its splinters – ISWAP, Ansaru, Darus Salam, among others, had been limited to North East, parts of North Central and North West.
Even though security operatives had in the last few years raised the alarm over the infiltration of terrorists into parts of the South West, this was the first time the terrorists succeeded in launching a large scale attack and Thursday’s revelation by the NSC confirming the development calls for a new approach to end violent extremism.
The implication of the expansion of ISWAP’s operations includes the evolution of its attack methods such as IEDs, ambush, kidnap for ransom, mortar fires and complex attacks.
ISWAP’s expansion of its area of operation is a trend that has been observed since early 2021.
“Therefore, we urge the Federal Government and the military high command to immediately rejig those behind intelligence gathering as the war against insecurity cannot be won with a defective intelligence unit”
This expansion became more obvious following a string of Improvised Explosive Devices from January through to May 2022 in Bauchi, Kaduna, Kogi, Katsina and Taraba States that have been claimed by ISWAP.
The group’s prime targets are security forces’ formations, security operatives, bars and restaurants and religious places of worship of those considered disbelievers, including Christians.
At the moment, virtually all parts of Nigeria are currently battling with one form of insecurity or the other with various crimes going on, largely unabated.
Despite attempts by the Muhammadu Buhari administration to curb the rising criminalities and killings across the country, the nation’s security apparatus appears to be overwhelmed with criminals having a field day killing, maiming and extorting their victims.
The police, poorly funded and motivated, and the military, which is fighting a decade-long insurgency in the North East, appear to be at the end of their wits on how to curtail the downward spiral in security.
Swathes of the North West have, virtually, been taken over by rampaging bandits who kidnap for ransom and kill victims who cannot pay for their freedom.
When President Buhari was elected in 2015, he promised to protect citizens from terrorists and criminals. But there are less than 12 months left of his final term in office and the country is more unstable than it has been in decades.
Some have linked the recent surge of insecurity to the staggering poverty across the country. Youth unemployment currently stands at 32.5% and the country is in the middle of one of the worst economic downturns in 28 years.
Despite claiming during his first year in office that Islamist militant group Boko Haram had been “technically” defeated, President Buhari now admits that his government is failing to stop the insurgency, which began in the North East.
Indeed, Boko Haram, is expanding into new areas and taking advantage of Nigeria’s poverty and other security challenges to fuel its extremist ideologies.
The efforts of our security agencies in the fight against insecurity must be appreciated but, despite their efforts, challenges continue to linger.
The intelligence arms of the military and the Department of State Security Services should be blamed for the continued attacks by the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists as well as kidnapping and robbery by bandits.
These attacks are not only setbacks to the war against insecurity but a blatant embarrassment to the armed forces and Nigeria in general.
Therefore, we urge the Federal Government and the military high command to immediately rejig those behind intelligence gathering as the war against insecurity cannot be won with a defective intelligence unit.
The Federal Government and military top brass must not give room to anything that could jeopardise the many gains made in the efforts to flush out terrorists and other criminal elements in the country at large.
The continued failure of the Department of State Security and Defence Intelligence Agency has made the office of the National Security Adviser a lame duck because the office depends on intelligence provided to act accordingly.
Having overviewed the several attacks that Nigeria has suffered, we have come to the understanding that poor intelligence has made our country vulnerable.
We admit that the gallantry of our personnel is legendary and that the tactical strategies are top-notch. However, we cannot say the same about intelligence gathering.
Therefore, we call for the sack of those in charge of DIA and DSS as the nation cannot afford to keep persons who have demonstrated deficiency in such critical positions.
Nigeria cannot afford to allow persons who are not committed to the course of defeating insurgents to occupy sensitive positions as far as intelligence gathering is concerned.
We therefore in clear terms urge the Federal Government to immediately sanitize the DSS and DIA to put an end to these painful and embarrassing attacks leading to loss of precious souls in our country.
Security agencies should be proactive instead of reactive.
