With Poverty, Lack Of Education In N'East, Wiping Out Terrorism A Tall Dream — Sanusi

 

The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi (II), wednesday cautioned that it would be pretty difficult to totally stamp out terrorism in the country where poverty, ignorance, lack of education, corruption and injustice which fuel terrorism are pervasive.

 

The emir, who was represented by a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) and the Katakan of Kano and District Head of Albasu, Alhaji Bashir Albasu, made the remark at an international security workshop in Abuja.

 

According to him, deploying the military in Sambisa forest to completely wipe out the terrorists was a good idea, but not the final panacea. He asked: “What do you do after wiping out Boko Haram today?”

 

“Look at what happened about 30 years ago when Alhaji Shehu Shagari was in power. We had the Maitasine sect in Kano which claimed over 10,000 lives. The military was used to quell the sect, no sooner than that, another sect emerged and today we are battling Boko Haram.

 

“This means that we just allow the tree to grow and we go and cut the branches without uprooting the roots, which also means that the tree will still grow again.

 

“Terrorism does not start from the air as there must be a breeding ground which is ignorance, poverty, corruption and injustice.

 

“If government is fighting on the field like in Sambisa forest, it also must fight these root causes from the background and there must be a purposeful programme to tackle corruption which I know the present administration is doing, but it must also tackle ignorance, injustice and poverty.

 

“And if this is done when a child is growing, he is sure of his future, his job, and that he can get anywhere within his rights; and I still maintain that unless this is done we will take time to stamp our insurgency completely,” he said.

 

However, the emir commended the Muhammadu Buhari administration for its political will in the fight against Boko Haram, but reiterated that the government must make sure that it addressed corruption, injustice and poverty that fuel terrorism and as much as possible rehabilitate the devastated towns so that displaced persons could live a meaningful life and peacefully again.

 

He said: “If these people are not properly rehabilitated, you are also breeding another terrorist organisation in the future.”

 

He expressed concern that government was also not making progress at enhancing collaboration between the security agencies, adding that the police are the security agency seen and known by everybody, but the Department of State Service (DSS) is the undercover security agency, and so both must complement the job of the military.

 

He added that the recent conflicting news on the arrest of suspects involved in the kidnapping of Chief Olu Falae and the murder of Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s aide showed that the security agencies were working at cross-purposes and without synergy.

 

In his remarks, an Israeli security expert, Mr. Shay Steinberg, said there was need for Nigeria to adopt a holistic approach towards intelligence and investigative gathering of information, and for all the security agencies to share and collaborate using appropriate technology.

 

He said: “Wining terrorism has to do with sharing information and in Nigeria, the security bodies like the police, customs, the military and DSS must all work together based on information and intelligence reports available in one data base.”

 

Also, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, who was represented by the Director, New Media and Information, Mr. Haru Alhassan, said the agency created the new media department dedicated to facilitating collaboration among government agencies, industry players and cyber-security experts to enhance capacity to prevent, defend and respond to threats.

 

He added: “There is ongoing collaboration between ITU (International Telecommunications Union) and the NCC to establish an Africa regional cyber security centre in the country to address all forms of security challenges. There is also collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and ICT regulatory agencies within and outside Nigeria aimed at confronting the menace of cyber terrorism.”

 

The security conference took place just as the Nigerian military announced yesterday that it had rescued 338 abductees and cleared more Boko Haram camps in parts of Borno State.

 

The Director of Army Relations, Col. Sani Usman, who confirmed this in a statement yesterday, said that the troops were also able to kill 30 Boko Haram terrorists.

 

Usman said: “Troops of 28 Task Force Brigade Nigerian Army deployed in Bitta and Pridang carried out a successful raid on suspected Boko Haram terrorist camps at Bulajilin and Manawashe villages along Bita and Damboa Road at the fringes of Sambisa forest on Tuesday.

 

“The unit also rescued 338 persons who were held captive by the terrorists in the enclaves. The rescued persons comprising eight males, 138 females and 192 children, have since been evacuated to Mubi.

 

“Troops also recovered arms and ammunitions during the raid. These included a general purpose machine gun and 2 Dane guns, 150 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO), 6 boxes of 7.62mm (NATO) and 3 cutlasses.”

 

Usman added that troops, based on a tip off, ambushed and killed four suspected Boko Haram terrorists on a suicide mission to Gubula in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

 

“Apart from two AK-47 rifles recovered, the troops also recovered some unexploded ordinances (UXOs), mortar bombs and the cash sum of N153,385,” he added.

 

The army spokesman stated that the raid on the Boko Haram enclave coincided with the Chief of Army Staff’s operational visit to the brigade headquarters in Mubi, Adamawa State.

 

According to him, the successful clearance operation and ambush of the terrorists further degraded them and saved the lives of so many innocent victims from their suicide bombings.

 

“Having appealed and given the terrorists a final warning,” he said the military would from now on, and within bounds of respect for human rights and rules of engagement, “deal decisively with Boko Haram terrorists until they are defeated”.

 

Usman appealed for continued vigilance, security consciousness and above all cooperation with the military and security agencies to enable them successfully defeat the terrorists.

 

Also, the Nigerian Army yesterday declared 100 members of the terrorist Boko Haram sect wanted.

 

On the availability face on the poster was that of the notorious leader of the terror sect, Abubakar Shekau, whom the military claimed on three previous occasions had been killed and at one point had placed a N50 million bounty for his capture. Also among those declared wanted were teenagers.

 

The poster was made available alongside other counter terrorism materials packaged by the Directorate of Army Public Relations.

Buratai presented the poster shortly after delivering a paper titled, 'Contemporary Warfare, War Reporting and Dilemma of Military Leadership'.

 

He said the presidential deadline of December was not for the military alone but for all Nigerians, calling on all citizens to brace up by contributing his or her quota to ending the Boko Haram scourge.

 

Despite Tuesday’s raid by the military on the fringes of Sambisa forest and increased bombardment by air force fighter jets of the forest, members of a vigilante group revealed yesterday that the insurgents were still hiding in caves inside the forest.

 

The vigilantes, who were screened last year and drafted to aid the military in the fight against insurgency in the North-east, disclosed this to THISDAY in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, after returning from the forest.

 

The chairman of the Vigilante Group in Adamawa, Alhaji Muhammadu Usman, said some of the insurgents still hide in caves in Sambisa forest around Gwoza, Madagali and Krichinga border towns between Adamawa and Borno States.

 

He said to the best of his knowledge, nobody had entered into the core of the forest, adding nonetheless that his group was making efforts to enter and ransack every nook and cranny of the forest.

 

The chairman said they noticed that anytime the air force bombarded the forest, the insurgents usually hid in caves and that the bombardment was not completely having the desired impact.

 

Due to the mountainous nature and thickness of Sambisa forest, he suggested that the best way to smoke out the terrorists was to send ground troops into the forest to clear out the insurgents.

 

Usman said his members were ready to invade the forest but require the collaboration of the military to storm the forest, adding that the bombardment by the air force had done a great job at reducing the strength of the insurgents encamped in the forest, but more still needed to be done to flush out the remnants.

 

“Nobody should say that we have completely wiped out the insurgents from Sambisa forest,” he said.

 

He however expressed optimism in the fight against the insurgency, saying the military was making frantic efforts “and very soon peace would return to the region”.

 

A female vigilante, Mrs. Adisa Tola, also told THISDAY that the reason she joined the fight against insurgency was because she is passionate about peace returning to the region.

 

Tola said she took to hunting as a profession after her late father who was a great hunter in Tola town of Adamawa State.

 

She said she is as bold as a lion and had played a great role in the fight against insurgency, adding that the men in her group cannot do the job alone without the assistance of women.

 

She maintained that she was no different from her male counterparts, adding that the only distinction were the genitals.

 

Tola said the security situation was getting better, noting that the major task ahead was to storm the dreaded Sambisa forest, from which the insurgents still coordinate their bombings in cities and towns in the North-east.

 

Credits: thisdaylive.com