..Figures not enough to declare victory – Adamu
…Declaration of bandits as terrorists cannot tackle insecurity – Experts
Abimbola Abatta, Uthman Salami, and Seth Akande
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said over 1487 terrorists and bandits, including high profile commandants and emirs, were killed within seven months.
Noting that 950 terrorists were neutralised between May 20, 2021 and January 6, 2022. The DHQ also said in the period under review, a total of 537 bandits and other criminal elements, including two key bandits’ leaders in Zamfara State, namely Alhaji Auta and Kachalla Ruga, were neutralised.
The Acting Director, Defence Media Operation, Major-General Benard Onyeuko disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja.
He said Nigerian troops also rescued about 1,000 kidnapped civilians and recovered assorted weapons from the criminal elements.
“Within the period under review, own troops operational activities resulted in the neutralisation of 950 terrorists including their high profile commanders and amirs. Also, a total of 79 terrorists were arrested, 113 kidnapped civilians were rescued by the troops of operation Hadin Kai within this period.
“In the Hadaran Daji, the operational Air Force of our troops yielded appreciable results between May 20, 2021 and January 6, 2022. The total of 537 armed bandits and other criminal elements were neutralised in action by own troops,” he said.
Figures not enough to declare victory – Adamu
Security Expert and CEO of Beacon Security Consult, Dr Kabiru Adamu, in his reaction to the DHQ’s report, said the number of neutralised bandits and terrorists is not enough to declare victory.
Adamu noted that except the DHQ juxtaposes the total number of bandits and terrorists in Nigeria with those who surrendered as well as those who have been neutralised, it would be difficult to ascertain if the military is winning the fight against bandits and terrorists.
In his words, “What I would expect is for not just the Defense Headquarters but the entire architecture to declare to Nigerians the number of Bandits, the number of terrorists that exists. And then the ones that have been killed and the numbers of those that have surrendered.
“Of course they have also told us the number of those that have surrendered. When you have these total figures and you place them side by side with those that have been killed as well as the ones that have surrendered. Then we would have an idea on whether we are winning the war or not.
“Mere numbers like these except if we can merge that number with other variable, it will be very difficult to say we are winning or not winning,” he added.
When asked if the declaration of bandits as terrorists will solve Nigeria’s security challenges, he replied in the negative.
He noted that the proscription is a mere legal requirement which will not serve any purpose if the government fails to identify, arrest, and prosecute both the bandits as well as their supporters and collaborators in society.
According to him, “Declaring these gunmen as terrorists is a legal requirement. These legal requirements will not serve any purpose if we do not follow through with the law enforcement components.
“We have a national counter terrorism strategy that provides for 5-frameworks for containing any terrorists’ threats in the country. I expect that the coordinators within the National Security Architecture, in particular the office of the National Security Adviser with responsibility for counter-terrorism to provide direction to all the security agencies on how to go about it and addressing the challenge.
“It will be a whole of government approach to identify, arrest, and prosecute both the members as well as their supporters and collaborators in society. It is not a done deal. It is just a legal platform. How we use it will depend on how we utilise the National Counter-terrorism strategy that we have in the country.”
Declaration of bandits as terrorists not enough to tackle insecurity – Expert
Also speaking, a Security Expert, Sodiq Shehu, has averred that the declaration of bandits as terrorists is not enough to tackle insecurity.
Shehu, who said the formation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) makes it an easily identifiable, noted that it is difficult to categorise bandits under an umbrella body, a problem which, according to him, may affect the efficacy of the proscription.
He said, “My experience has shown that proscription of a group could have positive impact, but at the same time, that positive impact is not assured.
“What proscription does is to tackle the crime at the lower level. What it does is to put an additional stigma to what these people are doing. What it does is to ensure that whoever aids or abets the actions of these people has also committed an act of terrorism. These are helpful. However, it also means informants and anyone who carries logistics to bandits are terrorists.
“In terms of kinetic operations, we have to manage expectations because it may not necessarily translate into our military or police crushing them.
“The beauty of democracy is that politicians have to know what the people want. There is no doubt the call for proscription of the bandits was a popular call for whatever reason, but there are differences in that of IPOB.
“When you talk of IPOB, there is no doubt you are talking about a group that is specialised, has members, and recognises itself as IPOB. But when it comes to this multi-group, it will take series of investigations to say the bandits in Zamfara are the same bandits in Sokoto, Kaduna or Niger state.
“While there is a link between the IPOB member in Nigeria or in the UK there is no clear-cut link between the bandits in Zaria, Kano. About the proscription, we have the problem of identifying the exact group we are dealing with.
“The problem with these bandits is that the government acted on the pressure if the general public to proscribe bandits, including the National Assembly. As practical people, we have to ask, what is the legal advantage that we have before this proscription?”