By Nwangwu Uba
For years, the north east, had been the battle ground between government troops and the Islamic Fundamentalist group, Boko Haram Insurgents as the north western states of Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zanfara, enjoyed relative peace.
Political watchers believe that the seven north western states described as rich in mineral deposits may have falling into the waiting hands of Bandits when they made an inroad into the sleepy state of Zamfara with the alleged financial support of foreign miners in the state protect their business of exploiting the resources of the state .
The bandits may have spread their tentacles to Kaduna, by killing a Briton , a Nigerian and kidnapped three others in Kajuru Resort Castle in Kaduna state. They were said to have also made several attempts to enter Katsina , President Muhammadu Buhari home state through Kankara district but were stopped in their hide out in the forest by vigilante group but with loss of lives on both sides. The two sides were said to have lost seven fighter each.
It took the intervention of the police and other security agencies personnel to restore normalcy in the area. The Vigilante groups and the security operatives may have relaxed, believing that the Bandits had been crushed. They got it wrong. They may have gone back to their drawing board to ensure that they strike with precision to bring out the Katstina state born Nigerian President from his shells to declare total war on them as he had done to the Boko Haran Insurgents , in the north east.
They may have dared the President with the abduction of Musa Umar , a younger brother of Musa Daura, a retired former Comptroller f Customs and incidentally the District Head of Daura, his home town, an indication that the bandits have broken the tight security in Katsina state.
The revered Daura District Head, was sad to be taking the cool breeze in front of his Palace, when the four undignified gunmen struck , shooting sporadically into the air to scare by standers who scampered for safety as they took the Monarch away to an unknwon destination. There are fears that he may have been taken outside Nigeria to the neighbouring Republic of Nigeria in order to force the government toto negotiate with them to facilitate his release.
The visit of Abba Mato , Daura Council Chairma and other prominent sympathisers including top secirity officials to Umar’s residence to discuss the bewildering situation speaks volume. Security sources told The Value News that the President who was not happy when the information filtered out about the kidnap of his District Head by bandits, disclosed that he gave a matching order to Abubakar Adamu, acting Inspector General of Police, IGP, and other security agencies, to ensure they rescued, the Daura District Head and bring the culprits to book.
Adamu, the police boss, knew that he can afford to fail the President as he mobilised his officers to trail the kidnapers as security has been tightened up in Katsina, Kauna, Kano , Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara which share common boundary with Niger to ensure that there is no escape route for the Bandits turned kidnappers.
The banadits may be following the operational footsteps of the BokoHaram Insurgents who combine both attack, raid on Communities to Kidnapping Innocent Citizens including school children to force the government to negotiate with them. This is evident going by the recent attack in a government girls secondary school, Moriki , Zuru local government area of Zamfara state, where four students and two teachers were allkidnapped by unidenfied gunmen.
The security situation in the country had never been too bad as Adamu Chika, a member of House of Representatives from Niger state, north central geo-political region fears that the kidnap of the Monarch of Daura has exposed the level of insecurity in the north west, a one -time peaceful region in the country. An aggrieve Niger state born lawmaker said , ” I cannot go to my village, spend a night and sleep as I am talking to you now as I feel very insecure”. The government has to do something about it, he added.
Appealing to the President to mobilise his security Chiefs to find a lasting solution to the crisis situation in different parts of the country including Kastina, The increased rate of killings in the north east and north west, armed robbery and kidnapping in different parts of the country including Katsina, the Presiden home state may have given the Yakubu Dogara led House to invite him to address the Chamber on what the government is going to curb the rising crime rate in the country.
The Lawmakers had stopped short of calling Nigeria under Buhari watch a ”failed state”. Their major worry was that nothing concrete had come out from the closed door meetings the President has been holding with the Heads of the security agencies since 2015 on the security challenges of the country. Note that this is the second invitation to the President in three weeks to appar before the House over the insecurity in the country.
The People’S Democratic Party , PDP, may have taken advantage of the House displeasure over the sluggish response to the security situation of the country to call on the President to quickly end his private visit to the United Kingdom, UK, and return home to ”face the deteriorated security situation in the country”. The party described as unacceptable Buhari’s visit to UK, to pursue unexplained private matters , while Bandits, maruders, kidnappers and Boko Haram Insurgents wreck havoc in the country with reckless abandon.
The PDP, which is the leading Opposition party to the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, lamented that the President’s frequent visits abroad may have emboldened the Bandits in the nort west and the Insurgents in the north east to step up their attack in Borno, Zamfara, Yobe, Taraba, Benue, Kaduna, and Katsina, ostensibly to create fear in the mind of the people. The President may have told the Opposition PDP, that he need not be in the country for the security agencies personnel to do their work as they have all the powers to take on the Bandits and the Insurgents without waiting for him to give orders as their Comander-In-Chief. Tukur Buratai, a Lt. General and Chief of Army Staff, may have read the lips of the President as he reorganises Exercise Harbin Kunama III, to take on the Bandits headlong across the country., particular north west.
Buuratai may have broken a cheery news to Nigerians when he revealed that the Bandits are fleeing as they could no longer confront the superior fire power of the soldiers . This may have forced them to launch occasional attacks in Ktsina and Sokoto states to further drw the soldiers.
Given the success recorded by the Operation Harbin Kunama, fighting troops in Zamfara state, he disclosed that some of the Bandits were forced to flee to Kaduna, Kano, and Nigeria states, as well, where they are unleashing mayhem. The Army Chief has given his words that that soldiers would be conducting a special exercise in the affected Communities been attacked by these Bandits in these states to finally crush them .He is optimistic that Exercise Harbin Kunama III would never fail the nation .
The Army
