Insecurity: Rising Terrorists Groups

By  Suleiman  Umaru

 While the National Assembly had tasked President  Muhammadu Buhari , a retired army General,  to tackle  the  terrorist  activities in  the North eastern states of Admawa, Borno and Yobe as well  as  the bandits in  the  north western  states of Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina, the President’s  home state bandits,  another group , another group, the Ansaru  Terrorists, appear  to be making life uncomfortable  for the people of Kaduna state.

This may have forced the National Assembly  to  give a  marching order   to Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police, IGP,   to do everything within his powers to bring the  insecurity situation in the country under control. Femi Gbaja biamila, the Speaker of the House of Represntatives , particular, was said to have told the country’s No.0ne  Corp. to take the battle to the  terrorists  and bandits hideout  .

The mounting pressure from the Lawmakers   may have forced  the police boss to read the riot act to the Deputy Inspector Generals , DIGs  to take the battle to the Criminal hideouts.  This may have informed why   Umar Muri, the Kaduna  state Commissioner of Police, with the support of   Abdulmajid Ali, the DIG, Operations,  to  mobilise his men to take on the Ansaru  terrorist  group  which had been terrorising the people   on Wednesday, February, 6, 2020.

The terrorists may have prepared  for  the security Operatives attack going by the Confirmation of Ali, the DIG, that two officers were killed in the process . The police DIG, also disclosed that  12 other officers  were  critically injured  and  currently  being treated  at different Hospitals  in Kaduna, the state Capital.

Ahmad Lawan: Senate President

An Aggrieved Ali,  had said   that  no matter  the number of casualties  suffered by the Force, it will never  deter them   from doing  their work  f forcing them out   from the hideouts in the state .

 Perhaps, what should worry   the police Authorities   is the sophisticated weapons  used by the bandits such as  the  anti-aircraft rifles and GPMG, which  are capable of  bringing  down Police bell  Helicopters on aerial surveillance .  The Kaduna based  terrorists were  said to have made several  attempts  in the recent time  to shoot down  a Police bell Helicopter  which  provides aerial  and  intelligence  cover  for the ground  troops but   were frustrated by the group Forces.

Security experts believe that it could have been a disaster if the Kaduna based  terrorists  had succeeded in bringing down any of the  police bell  Helicopters  with  their anti-aircraft or GPMG  missiles.  They noted this may have strengthened their resolve to  face the Country security operatives  head long in the battle field.

  Although the Police  suffered casualties in the battle  against the Ansaru  terrorist group, in Kaduna state , Frank Mba,  a Deputy Commissioner of Police  and the  Force spokesperson  said  they  however, succeeded in  neutralizing  the 250 armed group  forcing them to flee.

The Police spokesperson  noted that the attack on the Kaduna based  terrorist group was carried out  following credible intelligence   linking the group with  some   other  criminal  elements   in the Camp to the series  of  terror related  violence, kidnappings  , gun-running , cattle –rustling  and other heinous crimes in the state. 

Note that the  anti-terrorist  war, in Kaduna, may not  be the only  one currently being fought by  the Force in the country. They were said  involved   in executing  50 other  anti-terrorists operations in differents parts of the north  east and north  west geo-political regions .   That much was confirmed by Ali, the DIG , Operations.  One of the states  most  affected  by the activities  of the  bandits  is Niger, one of  the  states  in the north central, and   the home state of  retired Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, who were incidentally  former military Heads of State. The activities of the bandits   in the state  may have  forced Abubakar Sani  Bello, the state governor to  take a Save-Our –Soul , SOS,message, to the President  to intervene  . The  governo’s  worry was that the bandits have succeeded in  driving the farmers  out of their  farmlands and several others displaced from their homes. The governor’s  SOS  and what is happening in his home state  and other states in the  north west and north east may have forced the President  to  re-equip the military   to face the anti-terrorists war squarely.

Only recently, the  retired Army General  Nigerian President , launched  three  fighter Helicopters, two  Augusta 109P  and  one Mi-17IE  in Abuja, the Federal  Capital Territory , FCT, in order  to help Air Marshall Abubakar  Sadiq, led Air Force personnel , in tackling  insecurity in different parts of  the country . 

There are insinuations that  the  President ought to have   assigned  the three anti-terrorists Combat Helicopters to the Police   which needed it  most   to tackle the country’s contemporary security Challenges.  Analysts  noted that  if the Force could be well equipped with such modern  Combat Helicopters ,  the bandits  operating in the north central states of Niger, Benue and the north western states of   Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina  would  be crushed  with ease.

Recall that  the poor handling of the  security situation of the country  had  given  Enyinnanya Abaribe , the Opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, minority leader  the  opportunity to call for the resignation of  Buhari, of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC,  from government.

 The call may  have  encouraged the  Senators  and the House of Representative members   to give  a matching order to  the President to  sack the service Chiefs: Gabriel Olonisakin, an Army  General and Chief of Defense Staff, CDS, Tukur Buratai, a Lt. General and Chief of Army  Staff, CAS, Sadiq, an Air Marshall , overseeing the Air Force and  Ibok-Ete Ekwe  Ibas,  Vice Admiral and Chief of Naval Staff, CNS, including Adamu, the  IGP.

Many  knew  the National Assembly  call may not yield the desired  result because  the  retired Army General, is not someone that could be pushed around  by the Lawmakers  on matters relating to security.   As  a retired Army General, who fought the  country’s 30- month old war to keep the country together,  he was said  to have resorted to dialogue  with  the Lawmakers instead of  engaging them  in open confrontation. w.  The Presidential  parley  with the National  Assembly  leadership may have informed why Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President , inaugurated  an adhoc  Senate  security Committee to work with the Presidency to bring the situation under control.

Abaribe may have  been  included in the Committee   because of his criticisms of the President’s  inability to solve the security  Challenges of the  country over the last four years. Many believe that  the President  may have  influenced the Senate President decision  to appoint  the PDP minority leader into the Committee in order to bring him closer  and benefit from his ideas on how  to the deal with the security  situation in order to restore  enduring peace in the country.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *