By Ibrahim M. Baba
The recent video clip released by men of Nigerian police force, showing faces of three women supplying petrol to bandits in the bush is a clear evidence to prove the caption of this article.
In recent past, Governments of the north western part of the country, especially Zanfara and Katsina have device means to support the security agencies in the fight against arm bandits just after President Buhari’s charge to security agencies to conceive new strategies, realising that the countermeasures being used have failed.
Positive actions that were taken recently, such as cutting off telecom services in Zamfara and Katsina, enforcing a ‘no-fly zone’ and closing schools, markets and petrol stations are emergency measures that helped the military’s continuous onslaught on the bandits.
But unfortunately and to our greatest dismay, some Nigerians including those born and brought up in those affected states, trooped to their social media handles and begin to kick against these strategies. They connived with those runaway cohorts who took advantage of gaining scholarships to fly abroad and now decided to turn their mouth barking against the governments’ newest strategy.
As if this was not enough, some of our youth in the area begins to engage in the business of supplying foods, drinks, water and other goods to this people, thereby disdainfully halting the efforts of the governments towards ending the menace.
Today, we wake up with a shocking Video going viral on several platforms, showing some women hiding petrol inside luggages to be taken to the bandits inside bush. Now you can see how stupid our people could be, to be allowed to be used by our enemies to destroy and kill our own selves.
These are people who killed about 3,000 innocent people and made over 1,000 children orphans, kidnapped and raped young and married women in the North-Western states of Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina Kebbi and in Niger in the North-Central. Yet, some people still sympathize and even support them by supplying them with food and fuel, just because of little money they perhaps get from them. How much will they give you? How long would it take you spending the money you collected? Aren’t souls of your fellow humans valued more than the little token?
You can imagine, women being the most sympathetic and fragile hearted creature among humans, can now choose to involve themselves in doing this. Don’t tell me it’s because of poverty or hardship, can’t we people have a self contentment? Of what importance then our religions to us if we cannot model our ways of living to the teachings of those scriptures?
You would be surprised that a greater percentage of Nigerians, and Northerners in particular does not for once, raise their hands to pray for God to bring an end to this insecurity. One can sit down and pray for many hours, only mentioning his own personal needs to God, without bringing Nigeria’s single problem into it. For such kind of people, Nigeria’s problem should be tackled only by the government or in their thinking, President Buhari since he is on the throne.
Yes, governments have the sole responsibility of protecting lives and property of the people, but how could the government do it without our support? The security forces cannot win this war without being supported with information and prayers. But instead, we decide to jeopardize their efforts by empowering the bandits.
While appreciating the tireless efforts of our arm forces in the current fight against the enemies of our motherland, Let them also re-strategise and bring in new more tactics in order to finish them off. The current aerial bombardment and assaults by the Nigerian Air Force and Army units on bandit camps in Zamfara and Katsina states should be sustained simultaneously in all the North-Western states to trap the terrorists as they flee through the interconnecting forests.
More intelligence should be concentrated on monitoring potential terrorists, promptly identifying individuals who may be helping them in any form and severely deal with them.
The federal government must also take the issue of bandit-terrorist financing very serious. Let’s try and identify the sponsors of these evils and equally made them face the wrath of the law no matter how highly placed they are.
Together, we shall build a peaceful and united Nigeria!
Ibrahim M. Baba writes from the Faculty of Arts, Management and Social Sciences,
Nigerian Army University Biu, Borno State.
babamibrahim@gmail.com