By Lateef Adegbite
Ahead of the February 25, 2023, Presidential election in the West African country of Nigeria, panic appears to have gripped chieftains of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, and the Opposition People’s Democratic Parties, PDP, and the Labour Party, LP, who frequently gather in hotels in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to hold meetings, to restrategise for the elections.
This is because of the repeated warnings to the Nigerian Politicians, and residents of the FCT, by the North American countries of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, UK, including the Asian country of Australia, about planned ‘‘ Bandits Group and the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP, attacks.
The US government major worry is that ISWAP, which has a link with the Middle East, Islamic State Group, Islamic State Group, ISIS, has targeted hotels restaurants, bars, shopping malls, markets and schools including government buildings, churches, Mosques and other centres where large crowds gather with little or no warnings for attacks’’.
Perhaps to make the Nigerian government take the warning serious and take all the necessary security measures to protect the targeted areas, the US, government, which do not want any of its citizens to fall victim to the planned terrorist attacks had urged its citizens resident in the Abuja and other major cities in Nigeria ‘‘to limit their movements due to the elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria’’.
The US government, may not have been satisfied with the advice to its resident in the major cities in Nigeria , including the FCT, to limit their movements within their areas of residence as it was said to have gone a step further on Thursday, October 27, 2022, to ‘’order its non- emergency diplomatic staff and their families to leave Abuja.
Anthony Blinken, the US, Secretary of State, may have made the Nigerian government to understand that the decision was taken because of ‘’ heightened risk of terrorist attacks in the populous African country to calm frayed nerves.
Many believe that the US, government may have taken the decision because of the August 2011, car bomb attack which had hit the United Nations, UN, building at the FCT , barely three months after the then President Good luck Jonathan who had won the 2011, Presidential election, had been sworn in by Justice Katsina-Alu, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN.
The Nigerian Bandits Group and ISWAP, may have given the US, government , additional ammunition to ask its citizens to leave Nigeria because of the several attacks in the recent time in Abuja and its environs over the past six months which they have claimed to have been masterminded by them.
The US government, which cares for its citizenry , wherever they live in any part of the world may have feared that Nigeria may not be safe becausethe 2023, general elections is just around the corner as the politicians become more desperate to capture power at the Federal and state levels, including the FCT.
Many believe that there was no basis for the US security alert because President Muhammadu Buhari and his security chiefs, have taken all the necessary security measures in the recent time to tighten up security at the FCT and Nigeria as a whole that Banditry and Terrorism attacks have reduced considerably in the flash point states.
The Nigerian government may have tightened up security in Abuja, particular, to avoid a repeat of what had happened at the Kuje prison, in which the ISWAP, terrorists which had claimed responsibility for the attack, on the prison that paved the way for the terrorist group members serving their jail terms to escape. The ISWAP, terrorists Group, who were said to have also claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Presidential Guards around the City Bwari Area council in which eight members of the elitist Battalion and two officers, were killed by this year.
Although the Nigeria government has not officially reacted to the US, Canada, UK and Australia, security alert warning, but security experts had said that it has heightening up tension in the FCT and other parts of Nigeria. But in his apparent response to the security threat alert in Abuja, that was issued by the US and the three other developed economies, Usman Alkali Baba, Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police, IGP, had said that ‘’there is no security in Abuja’’.
Olummuyiwa Adejobi, a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, and Force spokesperson, who had issued a Statement at the instance of the IGP, had ‘‘assured Nigerians and other Foreign nationals of their safety in the country’’.
As a prelude to sustaining the tightened security already being maintained in Abuja and its environs, in the recent time, the GP, who has been up and doing, to ensure total security in the country, was said to have directed all the Strategic Police Managers in charge of Command and tactical operations within the country ‘’to beef up security in their respective areas of jurisdictions, particular, the FCT.
He has repeatedly told those that cares to listen, that the Force would continue ‘’to carry out its Constitutional responsibility of securing lives and property in the country’’, stressing that this would be achieve with the Collaboration of other security agencies, across the country.
Appealing to residents of the FCT, ‘’to remain calm and go about their Lawful businesses, normal social lives/engagements’’, he was said to have them ‘‘to report any suspicious or abnormal occurrence and persons in their locality to the Police, for necessary action’’.
He may have gladdened the heart of the FCT residents, when he disclosed that ‘’all hands are on deck to nip any security threat in the Nigerian city on the bud and respond to distress calls promptly’’.
Given the IGP, promise ‘‘to eliminating all threats’’ he was said to have directed ‘that ‘’all Force emergency numbers across the country should be activated to full capacity for a 24/7 prompt response with combatant officers and men on standby to respond in case of emergency situations and distress call’’. This is why it would be very difficult for the Bandits group and their ISWA Collaborators to strike at the FCT and go.
