Bandits’ Attacks in Kaduna State: Before El’rufai calls in ‘New Batch’ of mercenaries

By Ifeanyi Izeze

Give it to him; the Kaduna State Governor Nasir el’Rufai is a man well-gifted for witty inventions and this peculiar anointing no doubt stands him out as a seeming ‘very intelligent’ person. But whether he is positively intelligent or negatively skewed is an issue that most Nigerians especially from other parts of the country would opt for the second attribute as most of them would say the man is clever but by half.

On the surface, the expression of frustration and threats by Kaduna State governor to invite foreign mercenaries to fight terrorists in Kaduna state and across Nigeria’s northwest may look like a genuine and patriotic concern, however, sieving the message from the real intent of the messenger is entirely a matter that only the Almighty creator who truly knows the heart of man can judge rightly.

“Where are our soldiers? Why have they not gone to kill these people in the bush? That is why I have come to see Mr President. And also I have said that if these actions are not taken, it becomes a must for us as governors to take measures to protect our citizens, even if it means we will import mercenaries from outside the country to do it. If our soldiers fail, I swear to God, we will do that. This issue has gotten to an alarming state,” the governor was quoted as haven said.

Is it not curious that the el-Rufai we well know is now trying to distance himself from those responsible for fuelling and aiding banditry and other Islamic extremists misdemeanour, which has now degenerated to acts of terrorism ravaging Kaduna state and the entire Northwest today?

It is important that conscious citizens take seriously the business of holding public personalities to scrutiny. This is an important duty.

Nigerians can still recall how in July 2021, Governor el-Rufai, when asked why the Federal Government was lethargic in going after bandits (terrorists) stated that the bandits (terrorists) are collections of independent criminals for whom banditry is a business.

Nigerians can also recall how ahead of the 2019 general elections, Governor el-Rufai threatened that ‘those that are calling for anyone to come and intervene in Nigeria, we are waiting for the persons that will come and intervene, they will go back in body bags.’

The media was also awash with reports of how governors in the Northwest region of the country publicly romanced and empowered terrorists by paying them billions of naira of public funds in various hurried, uncoordinated and hazy negotiations.

Governor el-Rufai should know that he and his likes in their part of northern Nigeria cannot under any circumstance distance themselves from blame in the worsening insecurity, pain, horror, social dislocation of families and life-discounting experiences being encountered daily by Nigerians under the present administration.

On the identity of the assailants, el-Rufai authouritatively said “the train attack was not done by the terrorists known as bandits who have been roaming the Northwest for a few years now, but by Boko Haram members. So he knows who does what in the mix of  miscreants meting out misfortunes to his people? is that not interesting?

If any other Nigerian had made or muted such an idea in public space, such a person would have been accused or arrested by this same government for undermining the security agencies and the Commander –in- Chief of the Armed Forces.

As said by Innih Akpan, a broad-spectrum experienced military intelligence officer (rtd) “Asking for mercenaries to fight bandits is a request too extreme to make at this time. It is a request that is laden with emotions rather than commonsense. I am not sure the governor gave any thoughts to the consequences of such action on the military institution and the image of the country in general.

First, there is no section of the Nigerian Constitution that allows any officeholder, apart from the Commander- in- Chief, to invite a foreign combatant into the country.

Moreover, it was a similar strategy that el-Rufai employed years back when he claimed to have compensated some killer herdsmen (bandits), which led to the escalation of the security situation in the entire northwest particularly in Kaduna state.

“It is understandable that the bandits have seriously impeded the wellbeing of Kaduna state and its development strides. Asking for mercenaries is dangerous and totally unacceptable.

Does el-Rufai not know that his suggestion or threat to import foreign mercenaries is counter-productive and capable of compounding the already dire security situation in our country? Passing a vote of no confidence on our military is a wrong path to tow even if the military is suspected of complicity in the entire quagmire.

Truth be told, our military are obviously being weighed down by manifest complicity, conspiracy, incompetence and failure of the Security Command and Control Coordination structure of the present administration. This is glaring from the top echelon of our military where officers who have strategic combat expertise and field experience are relegated to mundane assignment while non- combat personnel are made to head strategic units and battalions.

Since el’ Rufai knows the groups (Boko Haram and/or bandits) carrying out attacks on our people in Kaduna state and elsewhere in the Northwest, can he kindly answer the following questions which should marvellously help the nation solve this spate of insecurity and terrorist activities.

The bandits terrorizing the country, where do they come from and who imported them into the country because it has been overwhelmingly agreed that they are not our Nigerian Fulani?

What were they brought into the country to do in the first instance? Who paid them as at the time they were usefully engaged and why did the paymasters stopped sustaining them as originally agreed? You see, until we are ready to actually tell ourselves the naked truth and restitute the wrongs done to the people of this country, we may just be dancing around the problem.

No doubt, what Nigeria needs now is a sincerity of purpose from all stakeholders and the citizenry towards finding lasting solutions, not subjective statements that could further heighten the dastard acts of these mindless bandits. God bless Nigeria!

(IFEANYI IZEZE is a Columnist with National Daily Newspaper and can be reached on: [email protected]; 234-8033043009)