Nigerians Groan Under Persistent Insecurity
•We Killed 78 not 43 Says Abu Shekau
•Gov. Zulum calls For Foreign Mercenaries To Help Vanquish Boko Haram
• Northern Nigeria is the most difficult Place To Live-Sultan
By Mike Odeh James
The scene was that of sorrow, tears and anguish as Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State led the people of Zabarmari farming community to bury 43 rice farmers and fishermen who were brutally hacked to death by Boko Haram penultimate Saturday.
According to Imam Idrees, the village community had buried some of the slain members of the community earlier on. “We can’t account for some farmers who were there during the attack,” Umar told Al Jazeera.
“We don’t know if they are still hiding inside the bush or if the attackers had kidnapped them,” he said, adding that “local members of government-backed vigilante groups were currently conducting search operations.
“We have buried the ones we can find and hopefully we will recover more when the vigilante men return from their search,” Umar said.
Another villager, Babagana Kolo, pointed directly at Book Haram as being responsible for the killings as, according to him, “The Boko Haram members would come to the village and take away group of persons in twos, threes and fives, saying that they want to go and preach to them.
“They do come to the village of Zabarmari at times like that and if they see you with food items, they would commandeer it with the owner serving as the courier.”
He further explained that “Since they have been coming like that, we did not suspect that they would embark on such heinous acts.”
“We got suspicious when we discovered that the sect members refused to release those they have taken to the bush. We have to flee to the neighboring bushes to avoid being kidnapped by the sect members.”
We remained in the bush for two days and yet we did not hear sounds of gunshots but we knew that all was not well.
When asked why the villagers did not alert the Army or other security agencies, Kolo said that they had notified the Army of the presence of Boko Haram in that community long ago, adding that the Army is aware of their presence.
The victims of this latest massacre were farmers from Sokoto, Kebbi and Kano who came to farm on the Zabarmari rice fields which covers over 1600 kilometres.
According to another eyewitness, the victims were tied with their hands behind their backs and then had their throats slit by sharp knives or daggers.
Boko Haram Admits Killing
While many including the Nigerian military were trying to find out which terrorist outfit was responsible for the gruesome massacre, the leader of Boko Haram, Abu Shekau, had released a video claiming responsibility for the massacre.
He said that the villagers had been giving the Army information about the sect which had led to the arrest of some of their members hence their actions.
Abu Shekau’s statement reads:
“We are the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna lid Da’awati Wal Jihad under the leadership of Abu Muhammad Abubakar bn Muhammad Ashshaqawi,” one of Shekau’s commanders said.
“We are sending this message to the people of Nigeria that we are responsible for what happened recently in the suburbs of Maiduguri. Especially the one that took place at Zabarmari, we undertook it. Likewise the one that took place at Gom, we are responsible as well.”
“This is to serve as deterrent for your assumption that you can arrest one of our people and hand him over to the soldiers. You will not see peace when you do that. Don’t ever assume that God Almighty is forgetful of what you did.”
“Our second message to you is that you should repent; you should repent. Your repentance is preferable to us than killing you; meaning that we are not after killing you. What we are after is for you to repent and come and submit to the religion of God.”
“That is why we are on the mission and this is what we want to achieve. It is only he that refuses to repent that we will fight. Whosoever repents is of us and we will embrace him warmly and live with him as our brother, just as we recently retrieved some of our brothers who declared their repentance”.
“The third message is to those who stand fast on what they are on, meaning, those who arrest our brothers and hand them over to soldiers or give the soldiers information about us and so on. You should know that what has happened to your people recently will happen to you if you persist.”
“If you think this will save you then keep to it and you will see. We will never stop what we are doing. This is our promise and we believe God Almighty will make us succeed.”
The killings so irked the governor of the State that he called for the Federal Government to allow for more recruitment of Borno indigenes into the Nigeria Army, more recruitment of local hunters and civilians into the Civilian Joint Task Force to combat the Boko Haram menace.
The ebullient governor also asked that Nigeria engage the services of foreign mercenaries to combat the sect.
The statement by the governor was seen by many as a way of telling the Federal Government that the Army and the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari have failed in protecting the lives and properties of the people of the state and ensuring the well-being of all Nigerians.
Spate Of Killings Across The Country
Few days before the Zabarmari massacre, gunmen in Dutsen Gari village in Maru District of Zamfara State was reported to have opened fire on a group of Muslim worshippers who were observing their Friday prayers.
In that attack, more than five worshippers were reportedly killed instantly; while about thirty others including the Imam were taken away by the bandits.
Still in the Northwest of the country, seven people were killed when suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked Ungwar Bido and Ungwar-Pa all in a remote areas of Southern Kaduna.
The attack which took place between November 28 and 29 was said to be a reprisal attack for the killing of a herder the previous day. These types of attacks have been rampant in Kaduna State throughout the year 2020.
And in Ose in Ondo State, South West Nigeria, a first-class Chief, the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Israel Adewusi, was abducted by armed bandits and brutally gunned down.
According to eyewitnesses, the traditional chief who was returning from the monthly meeting of the state council of Obas in Akure, was attacked by kidnappers who were hiding in the bush along the highway at the Elegbeka area.
The kidnappers, who initially tried to stop the convoy of the Chief, decided to open fire on it when it was obvious that the driver of the vehicle convoying the Oba was bent on not stopping.
As the convoy sped past the hail of bullets, he was injured and quickly rushed to the hospital but he died before the doctors could attend to him.
Kidnappings and other forms of banditry are rife in the Ondo area as well.
As the spate of killings continues, a Police officer was beheaded in Cross River in the South South of the country; while a lecturer was murdered in Benue state, North central Nigeria.
A driver plying Kaduna-Abuja highway told Desert Herald that he and his colleague buried over 15 persons killed by bandits along Zamfara-Kaduna axis and Kaduna-Abuja highway.
He further said that he is considering quitting the driving profession and relocating to Niger Republic.
Nation Wide Killings, Signs of Leadership Failure
Despite all the claims by the President that Boko Haram has been technically defeated, insecurity in the North brought down to an appreciable level, the continuous and persist killing has actually exposed the realities of the average Nigeria.
According to Abubakar Madallah, “Not a single day passes in Nigeria that Boko Haram, bandits and other criminals don’t kill a Nigerian. If they don’t kill, they kidnap or steal.”
He further added that the President is very much guilty of not protecting Nigerians enough. It shows that he is weak and lacks the basic understanding of how to govern Nigeria.
As for Kola Ologbondiya, the spokesman for the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, he says Nigerians should hold Buhari and the APC responsible for the unending killings, as according to the PDP spokesman, “Nigerians can recall how in 2013, APC leaders, then as ACN leaders, declared the proscription of terrorist groups in Nigeria as unconstitutional and even demanded that terrorists be accorded VIP treatment and should be brought to Abuja for negotiation in private jets; a development that sparked public apprehensions of their suspected links with terrorist groups.
He further went down memory lane when the APC castigated everything that the PDP led administration did to vanquish the growing insecurity then including leaking to the world Nigeria’s attempt at procuring arms to fight the Islamist sect.
“The PDP recalls how the APC chieftain, as opposition leaders in the APC as well as the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) openly showed sympathy to terrorists and took steps that frustrated genuine efforts by the then PDP government to fight terrorism.”
“The role played by APC leaders to frustrate the purchase of weapons through South Africa connection is still fresh in the minds of Nigerians.”
Nigerians can also recall how the APC deployed negative propaganda to scuttle efforts by the Jonathan administration to bring in mercenaries that would have assisted in the anti-terrorism war.
“Nigerians would also recall how these APC leaders truncated the training of the elite troops in Belarus by claiming that they were being trained as snipers to kill opposition members before the 2015 general election.”
Even as political as Ologbondiya may sound, there is the general notion that the Government of President Muhammad Buhari has failed and should therefore resign.
Hakeem Baba Ahmed of Northern Elders’ Forum said this much when he appeared on Sunrise Daily, a Tv program and demanded that the President should resign.
Others have also called for the President to sack the service chiefs and rejig the nation’s armed forces, but the calls have all fell on deaf ears.
Nonetheless, the most indicting of all the calls condemning the President for his handling of the economic cum security situation in the North and the country at large came from the Sultan of Sokoto.
Few days before the killings, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, who is the spiritual head of over 100 million Muslims in Nigeria, posited that the North is probably the worst place to live in the country.
The Monarch highlighted the growing insecurity in Northern Nigeria, the destruction brought by terrorists groups in the region and the apparent failure of the Muhammadu Buhari-led government to checkmate their activities.
The Traditional ruler gave an insight into the dire economic situation in the country, stressing that government policies were responsible for the poor economic state in Nigeria.
He also lamented that the Federal Government has deliberately ignored advises and solutions proffered to solve the situation in the country.
The Sultan made his position penultimate Thursday at the 4th Quarterly meeting of the Nigeria Interreligious Council.
He said: “Now north is not secure at all. In fact, it is the worst place to be in this country because bandits go about in the villages with their AK-47 and nobody talks to them.”
“They stop at the markets and buy things and even collect change and with their weapons. We have security problems in the country; bandits now go into people’s houses to kidnap, not on the highway anymore.”
The religious leader further explained the deteriorating security situation in the North, saying: “Of recent in the last couple of days, they are going into institutions, in Zaria; ABU, the Polytechnic and taking away people,” the Sultan said.”
He said that in the North-West in particular, people don’t sleep with their eyes closed, adding that even on Wednesday, a village was razed down in Sokoto, but people did not hear about it.
“The insecurity in the north is so high that people are even afraid of travelling from Funtua to Zaria, a journey of about 48 or 50 miles; not to talk of Sokoto to Abuja or to Kano.”
“We know what we are going through. We are so insecure in the North that people are losing hope. People keep things in the house so that when the bandits come, they would let them be free.”
“A couple of weeks ago, 76 people were killed in Sokoto by bandits in a day. It is not a story because I went there with the governor in the eastern part of Sokoto, but you don’t hear these stories because it happened in the North.”
“And we don’t have media that is strong enough to bring out these atrocities about the bandits so people think that the North is secure.”
The religious leader also spoke about the food insecurity in the North and in the country in general. He said “Food prices are on the increase and we need to do something fast about it. The cost of onion is too high and beyond the reach of many people.
“A hungry man is an angry man. The rising cost of foodstuff in the markets is an issue. The amount an onion costs in Nigeria today is an insight into the current economic hardship in the country.”
“I think we really need to sit down and look at these issues because a hungry man is an angry man. We do not lack recommendations and solutions to our problems.”
“What we lack is implementation and that sense of purpose to do the right thing, but we don’t like doing the right thing, as we always want to cut corners.”
As condemnations trailed the President’s handling of the security and economic situation in the country, many have predicted that hard times await the country as Nigeria’s President is not the listening type.
