It’s regrettable that institutions have succeeded in making banditry one of the most lucrative business in the country, the current medium of handling banditry can only attract more criminals into the system than having the existing one’s leaving the enterprise.
The continues negotiations with criminals have brought us to a situation where we must either dance to the tune of Boko haram and close schools or live with unending extortion from bandits that seems to have been above the law Since there is no indication of any action to crush them.
We seem to be drifting away from the reality of the destination that banditry is taken us as a country, Bandits are ruining this country to the ground faster than any calamity we have seeing. we have managed to stand still and survive the terrorism of Boko haram for over a decade now, but with all sense of sincerity and avoidance delusions, we would never survive this rampant kidnapping for another decade.
Banditry has held our education system and the entire northwest hostage, it is time for the stakeholders to know that with every negotiation carried out with bandits, they are making them stronger and giving the resources to recruit more people and time to train them.
The current strategies of fighting banditry are not only showing weakness but also adding fuel to an existing fire, it’s more of given your enemies more bullets to target you again after missing the first shots.
We live in a constant fear where no one, nowhere is safe anymore, the most frightening headlines in Nigeria today is not even the daily casualties or release of kidnapped victims but about who or where is the next kidnapping happening or has happened.
It’s shameful that with all the efforts of the Zamfara state government of using amnesty and soft hands in handling this very serious issue we still have this case of kidnapping more than 300 girls in the state.
The current rampage of kidnapping in the country is occasioned by the criminals friendly and lucrative negotiations of whatever kind.
The current situation is totally unacceptable and these guys need to be declared for who they are” terrorist “and be properly dealt with, the time for table negotiations with bandits who are fighting our education system and inducing fear to parent should not be tolerated.
Releasing Kagara boys with the right hand and kidnaping many others with the left, means they are not ready for settlement, and it’s a shame that states are even stating they are negotiating with bandits in such circumstances, the fact that these guys never seem to have any intentions of holding to their on part of the regular back door deals calls for another strategy.
Temporary solutions like the one taken in kano and other states of closing schools including some higher institutions is never a solution if they are things that must be protected with everything that Nigeria ever had, is the education sector, it must be made by action that any attempt to temper or sabotage education would not be treated lightly.
The presidency was quoted over the weekend saying the rules of engagement are the only thing between bandits and Nigerian security, but what rules of engagement could be better than saving innocent lives? thus the life of bandits and terrorist is not any more valuable than that of law-abiding citizens of this country. Bandits do not seem to possess respect for any rules of engagement in their nefarious activities without consideration.
The rules of engagement have been defined in the dictionary as the formal orders issued by a competent military authority that delineate when, where, how, and against whom military force may be used. The definition of those not in any way contradict the need for authorities to stumble the Negotiation table and start showing criminals the respect they deserve before they take the entire country to its knees.
Calling state governments to stop rewarding criminals is never enough, they must be compelled to desist from empowering mindless greedy killers that always come back for more, this are people who kill security forces and vigilantes upon any slide opportunity.
Of course, Nigerians are not fools, therefore there is no need to mention that hostages are been released free of ransoms, if mouth negotiations is all it took to get victim’s out of there dens, we wouldn’t have it by now. The negligence to understand the reality that bandit would never hold to their own part of the deals is why we have another attack amidst negotiations of Kagara student.
Offering amnesty for people who do not even have leadership that speaks for all of them is a waste of time and attempt to switch negligence with peaceful approaches, when Gumi stormed the Bush to search for the kidnapped niger boys he confirmed that they are different groups in the forests, and the ones he meets do not have the student in custody, which means they will always be a faction that would continue to terrorise citizens even after negotiating with others.
We didn’t learn in Chibok girl’s kidnapping so Dapchi girls become victims, but we have also not comprehended the weakness that leads to that as well which lead to kankara kidnapping in Katsina state, but schools were still left unprotected which provided the loopholes for the Kagara boys incidence, yet not too far we meet our current monumental disgrace of Zamfara girls kidnapping which made Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of nations.
The bandit has already ransacked all the villagers of their hard-earned money and valuables to the extent that they no longer have anything else to give or pay ransom for their loved one’s, hence they change there strategy to mass kidnapping in a way that institutions would be the ones paying the ransoms,
Unfortunately, instead of doing the needful, we are dancing to their music which leads to the current rampant attacks in schools to get lions share of ransoms. Bandits have bite this country and seen blood and it would certainly require their blood to bring there increasingly unbearable rampage across communities and schools that are making villages unbearable and roads a special kind of hell.
The Nigerian airforce has claimed to have purchased more advanced technological surveillance equipment to help convert the ongoing terrorism in the northeast, but this is also the right time to apply those surveillance apparatus to save Nigeria from disgrace and its citizens from dying like chickens, the personal stories of survivors of kidnapping are horror stories that no human should ever be subjected to that nature of experience.
The huge sums spent by state governments in paddling criminals and making them stronger should be channelled to acquiring more sophisticated surveillance equipment for security personnel, purchasing weapons for vigilantes and paying compensations for the families of those who died in the lines of duties, villagers who lost their properties and bonus disbursement for the officers serving in the forests, of course not pay them for risking there lives, because no amount of money can do that, and their loyalty was never for sale and was only pledged to defend the sovereignty of Nigeria but right now that very sovereignty is under siege by undesirable elements who must be taught a lesson and shown their place on the history of Nigeria to serve as deterrent example for future intending criminals.
Our current education system has already suffered enough sate back from years of strikes to dilapidated infrastructure and outdated curriculum with poorly motivated instructors across all levels occasioned by misery funding of budgetary allocations and untimely releases.
“The current situation of fuel scarcity, Boko haram attacks, rise in communities and headlines of daily abductions is certainly capable of inducing Mental distress to people” may God save our country Nigeria.
JCI Nigeria Amb. Musa Gambo writes from Maiduguri, Nigeria and can be reached via Twitter @Musagambo143
