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The ready availability of small arms will keep Nigerian security in ICU for a long time if not tackled head-on, reckons AUSTIN ISIKHUEMEN
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I drove from Benin to Yola, alone, in my first car in 1995. I left about 5 am and arrived FUTY campus in Jimeta at 10pm. There were no mobile phones then. So, neither my friend, who worked there, now a Professor of Chemistry, nor my rib-to-be, who motivated my visit, knew I was on the way. My arrival was a shock to both. They were aghast when I told them I had left Benin the same day! My friend always spent a night in Benue State any time he came to Edo by road.
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Do not ask me why I would drive, alone, from Edo to Adamawa State, starting before daybreak and driving from Numan to Yola at night? Today, that sounds like a death wish. To younger people who became adolescents and young men and women in the era from spanning 2009 to date, my story would sound like a fable. To them, they cannot relate with an era in Nigeria when a young man could drive alone from the South South to North Eastern Nigeria, or vice versa, no matter the motivation. But the truth is that Nigeria was not always this insecure.
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Security was taken for granted at some periods in Nigeria’s history. It was not a perfect situation but even armed robbers (called highway robbers then) who reared their heads after the civil war were said to operate mostly in secluded highways. They were said to attack mostly vehicles with a few people and avoided big luxury buses because of the crowd. Then they got bolder and began to operate in broad daylight and townships, culminating in the Anini saga that ended in 1986 in Benin City. Before then, Oyenusi had terrorized the South West till he was captured and executed.
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Kano had the Matatsine religious insurgency that lasted a few years till the military dealt the sect a fatal blow and it evaporated. The revolt in Kano in December 1980 led to the death of 4177 including Muhammadu Marwa, the sect leader himself. There was also another revolt in Bulumkutu, 15 km from Maiduguri and reports said 3,350 died. As bad as these insecurity episodes in Nigeria were, they were localized and sporadic and the rest of the country went on with their business. Even when a rogue police officer joined the fray like in the Anini case, it was still limited to Bendel State – now Edo and Delta States, and they mostly targeted banks and policemen. The gang fizzled out after CSP Uanreroro under the leadership of CP Osayande (as he then was) routed them and brought them to justice.
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Security “fell ill” in 2009 in Nigeria. That was when the Boko Haram sect, founded in 2002, sprang up and became a real regional menace in Kano, Bauchi, Yobe and Borno States. Skirmishes with security agencies especially the police, after four days of violence, led to the death of 700 members and their leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was said to have been extra-judicially executed. A new leader, more violent and malevolent took over and spread terror across the entire North East, parts of North West and the seat of government in Abuja. They kidnapped more than 276 Chibok school girls on the night of 14-15 April, 2014 and took them into captivity in Sambisa forest. The bombing of the UN headquarters internationalized the insurgency further in addition to the tentacles already spread to Cameroun, Niger and Chad.
That was when we began to see bollards and barriers around military installations as well as massive checkpoints on highways and township roads. Police headquarters was even bombed and police stations ransacked at will and armouries emptied of arms and munitions. With army barracks being attacked in spite of the gallant efforts of the armed forces, “bloody civilians” like us felt hopeless and defenseless. No young man could venture anymore to drive from Benin to the middle belt, let alone to the North East, like I once did, alone or with company, even in broad daylight. That was when Nigerian Security went into Intensive Care Unit.
It was said that when the situation got too threatening, with our sovereignty on the line, the government of the day engaged some mercenaries to join the Nigerian Army to face the insurgents. Some political opponents, even from the area more devastated by the war situation, opposed the presence of the hired guns and eventually got them to leave our shores after the insurgency had been successfully used for regime change. Some of the mercenaries have since told the stories of their experience and those stories are available on social media. Was it not even suspiciously baffling that the insurgents always allowed elections to take place?
While Nigeria was heaving a sigh of relief and insurgent activities were beginning to ebb, especially with a change in the top leadership of the armed forces, kidnapping and banditry began to replace it. Professor Zulum’s courageous and exemplary leadership was beginning to make a difference in Borno and some IDPs were returning home when Nigeria’s uhuru song was cut short yet again by the new insecurity scourge. Unlike Boko Haram that had a regional localization mainly in the North East, the reach of banditry and kidnapping knows no bounds today. This time, the raison d’etre is pecuniary rather than religious.
Those now classified as bandits inhabit and operate mainly in the North West though they make serious forays into parts of the middle belt like Niger, Benue, Taraba and sometimes, other parts of the north. It is said that banditry is now a multi-billion naira business and the beneficiaries are not merely those turbaned, AK47-wielding, camouflage-wearing, violent, forest-dwelling drug addicts alone. Some fingers even get pointed to some in the high echelons of the society. In some areas, highly valued natural resources, especially solid minerals, are said to drive the territorial banditry and the siphoning of what should be the Federation’s resources now going into private pockets. Proceeds of such blood money sometimes get packed as private jets in hangars across the nation.
The level of insecurity is grossly under-reported. Check Esan Youth Awareness on social media, for example, and you would find videos and discussions of frequent kidnappings that you will never read about in the orthodox media. Their remit covers a small part of Edo State alone. My gut feeling is that this may be how it is across many parts of the country. The negative impact on productivity, both in animal husbandry and arable farming has been enormous. The current high cost of foodstuffs is not driven by the inflation arising from the recent monetary policy changes alone. The effect of reduced farming acreages due to the impact of Boko Haram, banditry and kidnapping plays a huge role.
The ready availability of small arms across West Africa, most of which end up in Nigeria, will keep Nigerian Security in ICU for a long time if not tackled head-on. Did we not see guns being wielded near the Election Petition Tribunal premises in Edo State recently? What of the spectacle at Airport road even in the presence of armed security agents who the non-state actors freely intermingled with? What happens of the owners of those guns are hungry?
The most unsettling news of recent is the revelation by a US Congressman, no less, that his own country funded the Boko Haram insurgents! Yes. We heard it from the horse’s mouth! Scott Perry has alleged emphatically that USAID was used over time to funnel aid to Boko Haram. Meaning, while Michelle was modeling Bring Back Our Girls, hubby Barack was busy funding the kidnappers of the unfortunate girls. Could it be the predicted breakup of Nigeria by 2015 by America’s National Security Agency was to be actualized through the instrumentality of Boko Haram with USAID covert funding and other logistics? What of our troops who lost their lives? I wait for someone to convince me they did this behind Obama’s back. Please!
Could those sophisticated guns that made our army’s inventory look like toys have been channeled to BH by those who played a role in influencing our 2014 elections? Could the man who we celebrated in the White House as our own have been so enamoured of his national interest that he pushed us under the bus? How do you convince me now that the banditry in Northern Nigeria is not a fully funded operation where the local beneficiaries naively think they are on the driving seat! In this game, not even elected state governors, appointed ministers or some brass hats may be immune, especially in a country where wealth is gradually replacing God in some people’s reckoning. Some will do it for the money even if they know. Others could do it out of pure ignorance. A house in a choice part of a foreign country can make some sell Nigeria.
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This may yet shake our belief that Western Democracy is the best. Those of us who have always made that case and showcased America as the shining light on a hill are having our convictions shaken. We are not naïve not to know that countries and their leaders are expected to pursue their national interest. That applies to America. Even Trump has just said “he who saves his country does not violate any law”. It applies to Nigeria too. But to run with the hare and hunt with the hound the way Congressman Scott Perry has revealed emphatically re-enforces the suspicion that General Murtala Mohammed was killed because of his “Africa has come of age” speech. Dimka may have pulled the trigger, but the gun was somebody else’s.
Nigeria Security’s stay in ICU may yet be long. Unless heroes rise up and take the challenge and run the gauntlet. No one can save Nigeria for us except Nigerians with good hearts, intellect, courage and love of country. Otherwise, driving from Benin to Yola will remain a pipe dream at best or at worst, a hazardous undertaking. That is not the Nigeria of our dream.
