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.
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.