NIGERIA IN SECURITY LIMBO

Nigerians woke up last New Year's day to horrific stories of killings in Benue and Rivers State. Those killings were preceded, in that short space of time, by the Christmas Day killings in Southern Kaduna (just days after the state hosted dignitaries from home and abroad, in celebration of the centenary of its founding), followed by the killing in quick succession of two district chiefs/heads, one with his pregnant wife, while his son escaped with injuries meted on him by suspected Fulani militia, before they set their abode on fire. Adamawa, Benue and other states in Nigeria's North-Central region were also not left out. The blood letting continued after the New Year was ushered in, with killings in Benue, Adamawa and Taraba States, with the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast, especially in Borno State remaining the ever present denominator of our times in terms of security challenges.


In the New Year Day massacre in which twenty three people returning from a Crossover Night service in Omoku, Rivers State, fingers were quickly and easily pointed to a (former) militant, Johnson Igwedibia, also known as, Don Wani,  known to have submitted himself to the AMNESTY PROGRAM more than once, only to return to his trenches thereafter and continued with his nefarious activities. Within a week, his new location in Enugu (where he was said to be living amongst neighbours, just like any law abiding citizen) was discovered, with the military spokesman stating that Don Wani and two of his lieutenants were shot and killed

when they made to escape through another exit, after they'd been cornered in their rented apartment.

While this is a plus on the side of the security agents, what shouldn't be lost on us, is the origins of the security challenge in Rivers State in particular, and the Niger Delta in general. The unhealthy mix of Resource Control (in this case, crude oil), the Agitation for same between host communities and the oil exploration companies, Cultism (more like gangsterism, that's almost taken in some of the communities to mean a "coming of age" for men), Politics amongst others, makes "Rivers of Blood" an appropriate cognomen for Rivers State, for which unless a holistic view is taken in tackling the issues headlong, the dream of peace in the Niger Delta region will remain but a fleeting illusion. With general elections afoot, the diatribes and counter accusations between the political gladiators (Governor Nyesom Wike and his predecessor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi) in Rivers State, is currently setting a stage for the escalation of violence in the coming days, as both camps strategize to retain or grab power "by all means possible", at state level in 2019.


The other killings besides that in Rivers, is coloured by one factor only and that is the menace that the activities of Fulani Herdsmen have continued to be, to their

hosts, especially in the North-Central part of Nigeria. Sadly enough, it is officially referred to as "Farmers vs Herders Clashes", even when the attackers, have attacked their victims, including women (of which pregnant ones, even had their babies ripped out and killed) and children while they slept, in the night and wee hours of the morning, with subsequent razing of homesteads in the villages attacked. Most Unfortunate was the statement credited to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris that "Communal Crisis" between the different ethnic groups in the area, was responsible for the killings, on New Years' day of over thirty persons in Guma and Logo Local Government areas of Benue State. No mention was made of Fulani Herdsmen, just like the statement from the presidency commiserating with the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, despite a statement credited to the Miyetti Allah cattle breeders association, that the attacks on some villages in Benue State  was revenge for the killings of their cattle by the host communities. Interestingly, the killings continued in Benue State, even after the Inspector General of Police, set up a "high powered" team to beef up security in the "affected areas", with police helicopters overhead to spot movement of armed groups, and act to nip their evil intentions in the bud.


The visibly frustrated Benue State governor, who declared days of mourning prior to giving the victims of Fulani Militia (said to be fourth on the list of terrorist groups in the world) a mass burial, appeared forlorn when he stated his intention to involve stakeholders regardless of political affiliations, to figure out a way forward, seeing that the security agencies have performed miserably in stemming the tide of constant killings in Benue State. To add salt upon their injuries, Benue state indigenes who'd stormed major roads in a peaceful protest, which later turned violent (as it was reported that the governor was pelted with stones), were rewarded with

tear gas and gunshots, that claimed the lives of two protesters (refuted, expectedly by the police), while several others were injured. Many have blamed Governor Ortom (whose convoy was obstructed on his way back to Makurdi after the last Christmas holidays from his village by a herd of cattle, crossing the road he was passing), for trusting security agents he lacked control over even as Chief Security Officer of his state (in one of the warped interpretation of Nigeria's farce of a federation), to execute the "Anti-Open Grazing Law", when in Ekiti State, Governor Fayose set up a task force for the same purpose to some success.


In Taraba State, the local response to the Fulani herdsmen issue, is the Bachama Militia, a reaction to government's reluctance to protect the indigenes, leading to unending cycle of reprisal attacks from both sides, while the security agencies stood aloof and watched, as the situation spilled over, extending even to Numan,

Adamawa State late last year, where some policemen drafted to quell the violence in some parts of the states, were butchered by suspected Fulani herdsmen. The introduction of the Nigerian Airforce into the melee, resulted into accusations by the indigenes, that victim communities were targeted by bombings while the Fulani militant locations were relatively free from bombardments. When reports made the rounds that an airforce jet was shot at by Fulani militia, it was clear to the discerning that the continued treatment of the Fulani militia, with kid gloves by the federal government and security agencies have strengthened the hands of the marauders (who seem to have notched up their horrendous activities since their kinsman became president), and unless something drastic is done to stem the tide, like Boko Haram, this will soon blow up in our faces, as it is becoming clear that there just might be more to what is happening than just "violent agitation" for grazing land and space for cattle. Already, in some sections of the Nigerian society, the word "Genocide" and "Ethnic Cleansing" have been used, and a meeting by some Benue indigenes delivered a communique, where they called upon Continental and International bodies and agencies, like the African Union, AU, European Union, EU, as well as the United Nations, UN amongst others, to come to the aid of the people of Benue. This is not without reason, as unlike the case in Rivers State, where the suspect was killed, not one Fulani herdsman has been brought to justice for any act of marauding and destruction of lives and property across Nigeria, yet when cattle rustling became rampant, President Buhari (dressed in full military fatigues)

went to Zamfara State to personally launch a military task force to tackle those making life hard for the Fulani and their cattle last year.


When the government of President Muhammadu Buhari lists security as one of the achievements of his government since coming to power in 2015, they mention the fact that no piece of Nigeria's territory remains under the control of the Islamic Fundamentalist group, Boko Haram. Reality on the ground suggests otherwise, as attacks by the group have continued unabated, so much so that the the same government which said it had "Technically Defeated" the insurgents (even handing over the flag of the group, recovered by the military from Boko Haram's operational base in "Sambisa Forest" to the Commander-in-Chief as evidence), got governors to approve the withdrawal of a billion dollars from the Excess Crude Account, to continue the war against the extremist group, to the chagrin of Nigerians, before the government changed tact by claiming that the funds will be used to stem security challenges allover Nigeria. Add to all the above, Kidnappings, Armed Robberies, Ritual Killings like the Badoo situation in Ikorodu in Lagos, and it will be quite obvious that security-wise, things have largely deteriorated, a reason why it came as a shock to many, when the President extended the tenures of Military Chiefs, when what is needed is the injection of fresh blood, of different faces at the helm of the security and intelligence agencies, with the view to combating the challenges we're currently facing differently, as apparently the current path we are towing seem not to be heading to that place we wish to be in terms of security, anytime soon.


'kovich


PICTURE CREDIT:
- https://www.informationng.com
- http://scannewsnigeria.com
- http://oliviasgist.com

AS TERRORISM VISITS ORLANDO

After it became public that it was a Muslim that shot, killed fifty and wounded fifty-three at a gay club in Orlando in the United States, in what's now known to be the worst terrorist act in the States since 9/11, coupled with the fact that the suspect, American born Omar Saddiqui Mateen had called 911 pledging allegiance to the Islamic State, the narrative has once again turned to Islamic Fundamentalism, as it is wont to, save for the fact that in recent times the frequency has become a source of concern for many watchers of world events. I decided not to let this pass without dropping a word or two, when something gnawed at my innards as I read the chat shared between a victim (of the gay club shooting incident) and his mother, as the event unfolded.

PULSE NITECLUB WHERE THE LATEST SHOOTING HAPPENED IN ORLANDO

President Barack Obama aptly put it when he said the act involved "terrorism" as well as "hate", and if I might add "intolerance", a recurring decimal as we've found in Nigeria in recent days in the killing of a septuagenarian in Kano for blasphemy, a man in Niger State for same, another man in Kaduna who barely escaped with his life, for eating during Islam's holy month of Ramadan, even though he is Christian, amongst many others. Then you think of the killing of bloggers in Bangladesh, with extremists there looking to outdo Pakistan in extent of terror they can unleash on those with whom they disagree on religious basis mainly. At a time a state, an ally of the United States from where Wahabism was born, detains a blogger, which it routinely flogs in public, besides doing everything terrorist groups and Islamic religious extremists and fanatics do to people in areas under their control legitimately, it is hard to see how international terrorism will abate without a change in how things are done in Saudi Arabia.


The sad thing for me however is unlike an Obama who rallied Americans against the terrorists, warning that an attack against one American is an attack against all Americans, Nigeria's president couldn't care less about people killed by Fulani herdsmen, his kinsmen, and would be quick to urge people to respect the religion of others after an old woman was killed on trumped up charges of blasphemy in Nigeria's north, by people who share the same religious beliefs as his, probably acting up vigorously now that he's in power, which he rode onto on the premise (not necessarily by the president, but his campaign team mainly in the north) of elevating Islam to state religion. Interestingly, some so called "moderate" Muslims think it was wrong for the mob to have killed the woman, when she could've been charged to court, and I ask which court? Could she have been taken to a Shari'a court as a non-Muslim? Is blasphemy a crime under Nigeria's constitution? When I hear so called moderates talk like this I find it hard to fault Mosab Hassan Yousef's assertion in his "SON OF HAMAS" where he said "A moderate Muslim is actually more dangerous than a fundamentalist, however, because he appears to be harmless and you can never tell when he has taken that next step toward the top."


It was after the incident in Kaduna, that a friend wrote on Facebook, that he decided not to eat groceries he bought at the market while there, to avoid unnecessary brouhaha from fasting Muslims, though not necessarily because if push comes to shove he couldn't defend himself, but then it brings me to the question of what Muslims actually want. You can't have a church or synagogue in Saudi Arabia or in Muslim majority regions the world over, yet Saudis and Muslims in the west will fight the state hands down for a mosque to pray, spill over into the streets and block traffic like they do in Nigeria, shutting down  economic activity on the affected road even in places where they are the minority. I feel now, that there's nothing that can be done from the outside to change the growing radicalism in Islam. The target for change definitely can't even be ISIS and those aligned to them in thought, word and deed. Even the opportunity with moderates may also have been lost, but they remain the only hope over Muslims who are just so in name only. It is their voice of condemnation of these acts of intolerance that we must constantly hear over the din of the fanatics, in updates on Facebook, in tweets on Twitter, on social media and several other media at their disposal, rather than the disappearing act we observe with them after incidents like that in Orlando, or elsewhere in the world. The narrative about Islam has gotta stop being about, and associated with terror and terrorism, or else they shouldn't blame passengers when they ask a bus conductor to return their fares just because a bearded man, with trousers defying gravity joined them on the bus.


'kovich


PICTURE CREDIT:
- http://www.CNN.com

A SECTIONAL BUHARI AND A DIVIDED NIGERIA

I have been saddened since President  Muhammadu Buhari made his Democracy Day speech last Sunday, the 29th of May. I had felt that I was the only one who noticed that he made no mention of Fulani Herdsmen amongst groups he declared security threats to the nation, despite the fact that the group, his kinsmen may have killed more people, who hadn't the opportunity to fight back, than the official enemy of the state with whom his government now seem set to dialogue, the fundamentalist Islamic group, Boko Haram.


Interestingly, the next day security forces clashed with unarmed pro-Biafra activists during a peaceful protest in Asaba, Onitsha and Nkpor, amongst several locations in the southeast, where according to the latest report forty of the protesters are said to have died, while two policemen lost their lives, in what seems to have become a recurring decimal each time protests like this takes place in the East of Nigeria. In fact, during an interview,  which President Buhari granted Al-Jazeera months back, he refused to watch footage of security operatives swooping in on unarmed pro-Biafra activists during a prayer session, in an open field and shooting some of them in cold blood.

UNARMED PRO-BIAFRA ACTIVISTS HOLDING A PEACEFUL PROTEST BEFORE THINGS WENT AWRY 

It pained me to note that a President of a multiethnic nation like Nigeria could be so sectional to ignore in that speech, the genocidal activity of his Fulani kinsmen,  to focus on groups especially in the South by whose hands no life has yet been lost, and who after much criticisms for his silence over the continued menace of his kinsmen on the lives and livelihood of other Nigerians, simply claimed that the marauding Fulani were none other than strangers from Libya, despite mounting evidence in text and video that these were armed Fulani militia from Nigeria, ranked fourth on the global index of terrorist groups, whose activities aren't even covert but carried out with impunity, sometimes with the security agencies conveniently staying out of their way when and while they strike.


It is therefore with much sadness that I heard the Inspector General of Police, instructing his men to disarm unarmed pro-Biafra activists and protesters while he has never said anything close to that concerning Fulani Herdsmen who have replaced bows and arrows and sticks with AK-47's. The only group besides security forces, armed robbers and terrorists who travel with such light weapons, discharging bullets with reckless abandon, when simple citizens could spend the night or more (to be bailed only after parting with huge sums of money, and physical and mental torture) in the police cell for having a pen knife in their person during the usual illegal police "stop and search".


To compound my sadness, is the deafening silence amongst so called Igbo  leaders, political or not, who haven't deemed it fit to confront the government for the wanton killings of their own for engaging in what is seen to be very legal in democracies worldwide, even going to the extent of calling their own hoodlums, at a time accused terrorists are been released in droves on the instance or prodding of the northern political, traditional and religious oligarchy. Even a former governor and now senator Kwankwaso from Kano came to Lagos to bail out Hausa youths arrested for complicity in the recent clashes between the Yoruba and Hausa in the Mile 12 Area of Lagos. It had to take an Ekiti governor,  Ayo Fayose from the Southwest to stand with the Igbo youth for daring to mark the anniversary of the day in 1967 when the Late Dim Odumegwu Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, then a colonel, declared the Sovereign State of Biafra, separate from Nigeria, to which Nigeria responded with a war of attrition for three years, after the Igbo safety couldn't be guaranteed any longer within the geographical space called Nigeria, a situation that seems not to have changed much,  not just in the North where many of them reside, but now even in their own land.


Nigeria may have survived the prophecy that it was doomed for disintegration in 2015, but it doesn't mean that it can't still happen in the immediate or remote future, especially with a sectional president who feels that the so called oneness of Nigeria is non-negotiable, and would die rather than see the day, than submit like former Vice President Abubakar Atiku did at a book launch recently on the subject of Biafra, that Nigeria needs to be restructured such that the constituent parts can have a sense of belonging. Unfortunately, President Buhari has chosen to waste this golden opportunity to become a statesman, even stating that the document from what is viewed by some, as a flawed National Conference held while former President Goodluck Jonathan was in power isn't worth even as much as a skimming through for some of its merits. Of course, with that attitude, it isn't surprising that vistas of hotspots are opening up in different places all over Nigeria with each passing day, chief of which is the Niger Delta Avengers who have managed to half Nigeria's crude oil production capacity with their precision attacks on oil drilling platforms and pipelines, while the economy seems to be trying to drill into the earth's core at the rate at which it's falling, just months after he came into power, and Nigeria's economy was adjudged the biggest and fastest growing in Africa, and third in the world. He forgets easily, that the trouble we brew today, we drink tomorrow!


'kovich


PICTURE CREDIT:
- http://www.nigerianeye.com

SINAI PENINSULA CRASH: TERRORISM OR MECHANICAL FAULT?

The SINAI peninsula is filled with insurgents, mainly targeting Egyptian security forces, especially since the military toppled Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood from power, and conducted elections which brought one of theirs, (former General) Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi into power as president.

Some of these terrorist groups are allied with the ISLAMIC STATE, IS (ISIS) which is in control of large swathes of land in Iraq, while battling the governments in Iraq and Syria. A few weeks back, Russia waded in on the side of President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria in a bid to rid the country of elements of the Islamic State, to the anger of the terrorist groups operating in Syria, as well as the opposition groups and to the chagrin of the Americans and her western allies.

So, when a Russian airliner ferrying more than two hundred tourists back home to Russia, disappeared over the Sinai peninsula this morning, only one thing came to my mind, considering recent threats issued by ISIS to their cells to target Americans and Russians, as well as their interests worldwide, which was followed by recent arrests claimed by Russia's security agencies, even in Moscow of people alleged to be planning attacks on the homeland, that maybe this was the outcome of a terrorist attack, probably by ISIS.

WRECKAGE OF THE RUSSIAN AIRLINER, FLIGHT KGL9268 WITH 224 PASSENGERS AND CREW ON BOARD, AT THE SITE OF THE CRASH IN SINAI, EGYPT.

When it came over the wire later today, that a group loyal to ISIS had claimed responsibility for downing the plane, I wasn't surprised especially considering the region in which the plane disappeared from the radar. What surprised me however, was how Russia swallowed its pride to claim that the crash could likely be due to the age of the aircraft (something it may not do under different circumstances), citing examples of other planes of its kind which had also experienced unfortunate endings and near-unfortunate situations to buttress its point, rather than agree that the plane was downed by terrorists, which would be sure to draw discontent at home amongst the Russian people, who may begin to question the Kremlin's position on Syria.

I really would like to believe the Russian narrative that there could be no way the terrorists' portable surface-to-air, anti-aircraft missile launchers could reach the airliner at the height it was flying when it went off the radar, but you know how with these terrorists one couldn't be too certain about their capabilities, till one finds them exceeding long held limited expectations of them, and compared with a Kremlin that needs a supportive populace for the kind of news they will find convenient to put out as cause of the crash. For now what is most politically correct to do (while awaiting the result of investigations into the likely cause of the crash), is to pray for the repose of the dead, and wish their families the fortitude to bear the huge losses and void this crash would have brought them. Hmmmmmn!

'kovich

PICTURE CREDIT:
- http://www.cbc.ca