By Suleiman Umaru:
Worried by the repeated attacks on Communities in Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina, home state of former President Muhammadu Buhammau Buhari, that had resulted in the kidnap of pupils and secondary schools students, may have informed why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has urged the security agencies Chiefs to mobilize their men to take the battle to the doorsteps of the bandits, terrorists, kidnappers and other criminal elements that wreak havoc in different parts of the country.
Ibrahim Gaidam, minister of Police Affairs, may have spoken the mind of the Nigerian President on Friday, March 15, 2024, during his visit to Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police a, IGP, and his Management Team at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
Accompanied by Hajia Imaan Sulaiman, the minister of State, police Affairs, the minister who could not hide his feelings had said that taking the battle to doorsteps of the enemy camp will help in seeking out their hideouts, disrupting their operations and dismantling their networks.
An aggrieved Gaidam, the minister of Police Affairs, had said that the security agencies, particular, the the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, must no longer wait for the bandits, terrorist and kidnappers to strike before going out in search of them to bring them to justice.
Hear him: It is time for the Police and other security agencies to change the narrative to shape the balance of power in the country’’. The minister had said that ‘’once the country get he policing right, then we have solved over 50 % of the problem s in the country’’.
Senator Abdulaziz Yar’adua, Chairman, Northern Senators Forum, NSF, who had said that the country have a problem with the strength of the police and the military and other security agencies that we currently have , noting that the Tinubu’s Administration is working on recruiting more security agencies personnel to battle the rising banditry, terrorism and kidnapping cases in the country.
The Katsina state born politician, major worry was that ‘’Nigeria, which is fighting banditry, terrorism , kidnapping and a host of other crimes across the country , total number of security agencies personnel , put together was not up to one million. This may have informed why Senator Yar’adua, had said the strength of the NPF, military and intelligence agencies must be increased.
The Katsina state Senator, may have given the security and intelligence agencies Chiefs clue on how to go about their job when he disclosed that the criminal elements have enclaves in the country’s almost 100 forest reserves. Security experts had put the number of bandits and kidnappers in these forest rest reserves about 30,000.
Determined to dismantle the networks of the bandits, terrorists and kidnappers, in northern part of Nigeria, may have encouraged, Nuhu Ribadu, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, rtd , who incidentally was a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and now, President Tinubu’s National Security Adviser, NSA, to convene a meeting with the Northern Governors Forum, NGF, and service Chiefs including the IGP and the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
Inuwa Yahaya, governor of north eastern state of Gombe, had said that the governors of the 19 northern states had agreed to support the military in their non-kinetic approach to curtail the activities of the criminal elements in the region. He averred that the recent the recent issues of kidnapping in the north western geopolitical region had made it possible for them to gather together to to discuss, review and take alternative option to achieve better result in dealing decisively with the bandits, terrorist and kidnappers. He had alluded to the over 287 students abducted by bandits from a school in Kuriga Community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna state.
As a prelude to cutting he wings of the bandits and kidnappers , that had abducted the over 287 students in a secondary school in Kuriga Community, in Kaduna state, Bulama Bukarti, a security expert, would want President Tinubu, who is the Commander-In Chief, C-In-C, of the Nigerian Armed Forces to deploy all the service Chiefs and all the Army General at the country’s military Barracks to Kaduna state to direct operations until the over 287 school children abducted by the bandits in Kuriga Community in Kaduna state are released.
Bukarti, who had appeared on Channels Television, Politics Today, programme, on Thursday, March 14, 2024, had said that to combat the attacks of the bandits, top military officers should be mandated by the Commander-In-Chief, to lead the operations against the insurgents.
The aggrieved Nigerian born security expert had said that ‘it is time for the Nigerian government to let the United Kingdom, UK, the North American country of the United States, US, and its other Western allies know that if they fail to supply the nation with arms and ammunitions to face the bandits, terrorist and kidnappers, squarely ‘’ they would classified as enemies of Nigeria’’.
He noted that Nigeria cannot be in this security mess and its Western allies would keep citing flimsy excuses ‘’to deny the country military hardware needed to fight banditry, terrorism and clip the wings of the kidnappers’’.Bukarti, a UK, based security expert, has made it clear to those that cares to listen that Nigerian Army and the Force has the capacity and means to bring back the Kuriga Community abducted school children, by deploying troops and combat ready Mobile Policemen to the Kidnappers hideout.
The UK based Nigerian born security expert appears to have thrown a big challenge to the Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, led Nigerian Army, that the Army Chief had said that they are committed to rescuing all the kidnapped victims unhurt.
The Army Chief may have known that the President would not take any excuse for an answer if the they fail in their duty to rescue the Kuriga school children as he was said to have mandated the security agencies to fish out the Kidnappers, insisting that his government would not negotiate with the Kidnappers, let alone pay ransom to them to facilitate the release of the Kuriga Community, school children.
Edward Buba, a Major General, and Director of Defence Media Operations had said that the kidnap cases of the Kuriga Community ,school Children in Kaduna and some Internally Displaced persons in Gamboru-Ngala , in Borno state are two different ball games. The Army Major General , had blamed the recent Kidnapping in the Gamboru-Ngala, IDP, Camp, in Borno state to the IDPs disobedience instructions as they were said to have left the camp in search of firewood to cook without informing Camp officials to provide them military escorts.
Notwithstanding the mistakes that had been made by some residents of the Gamboru Ngala , IDP, Camp in Borno state that was said to have landed them into trouble as the trigger hungry terrorists whisked them away to an unknown Location to use them as a tool to ask for ransom from the government, Mohammed Idris, minister of Information had made it clear to those that cares to listen that under the Tinubu’s Administration , ‘’mass abductions will not be tolerated’’, meaning that the security agencies personnel must have to go after the Kidnappers in their hideout in both Kaduna and Borno state to rescue the victims, without payment of any ransom.
While the dust over mass abduction of students in Kuriga Community in Kaduna state and some IDPs, Gamboru Ngala, Camp in Borno is yet to settle, the trigger – hungry bandits on Saturday, March 17, 2024, invaded Dogon-noma Community in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kauna state and abducted 15 women and one man, with little or no resistance as there were no security agencies personnel on sight. The invasion of the Community was said to have come three days after the bandits turned kidnappers had attacked the Community, killed one person and abducted eight women in neighbouring Banono Angwaku Community.
Given the Presidential directive to the military , Force and other security agencies to take the battle to the Bandits, terroristts and Kidnappers hideouts may have encouraged the security operatives, particular, the Army to move into the bushes around Kaduna state in search of and rescue operations to extricate the victims still in the custody of the Kidnappers and balk the nefarious activities of the Bandits.
Troops of Division One, Kaduna, deployed for the operations on arriving one of their hideouts, were said to have tenaciously pursued them in a ferocious exchange of bullets leading to the rescue of 16 kidnapped victims of Kuduna stae, in Tantatu Community of Kajuru LGA, described as a flashpoint area in Kaduna state, late on Sunday, March 17, 2024.
The Division One roops, Kaduna, may have succeeded in rescuing the Kidnapped victims from tantatu Community as they had responded to intelligence that Sunday night when they tracked the Bandits who had abducted the 16 persons from the Tantatu Community.
Recall that that prior to the Saturday and Sunday attacks on Dogon –noma and Tantatu Communities where 16 people were kidnapped from each of the Communities, the kidnappers, who appear s to be everywhere in the country had operated in Benin city, Capital of Edo state, on Friday , March 16, 2024, leading to the abduction of one Tony Aziegbemi, the Chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the state.
The Edo PDP Chairman was said to have been abducted shortly after a meeting with Godwin Obaseki, the state governor, fueling speculations making the rounds that his abduction may have been politically motivated.
Although the Edo state police Command are yet to confirm the alleged kidnap of the PDP Chairman but the state government confirmed the incident on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Chris Nehikhare, the state Commissioner for Communication and Orientation had said that the government is making frantic efforts to secure the release of the PDP Chairman, ahead of the September 21, 2024, governorship in the state, noting that the Authorities are working closely with the security agencies on the issue.
The Commissioner further stated that the government with the support of the security agencies have also increased surveillance and beeed-up security measures across the state to ensure that these criminal activities are quelled and culprits arrested and brought to justice as a deterrence to others who might want to engage in such high profile kidnap .
