Terrorism: Who is winning and losing?

TerrorismPRESIDENT Muhamadu Buhari  has remained consistent about his stance that Nigerian military and by extension his govt is winning the war on terrorism by chasing the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram, BH out of all the local govt areas hitherto under their control except the mysterious Sambisa forest. He reiterated that position during his recent trip to the United Kingdom, where he spent his first official vacation since taking over the reins of government on May 29, last year.

Contradicting the president, the Senator representing Borno Central District, Baba Kaka Gabai, whose constituency covers the location of a recent BH suicide attack in Dalore Internally Displaced People, IDP camp, says government forces are only in full control of only three local govt areas with both the terrorists and Nigerian military sharing the rest of the territories in north eastern states of Nigeria fifty percent, 50% apiece.

Although the state governor, Kashim Shettima and  Ali Ndume, another Borno state senator have denounced the senator’s exposition, a the spate of terrorism-related killings are still ongoing with 65 in Dalore, another 50 victims in Dikwa, and 30 in Damboa since February 8th. Considering the recent grumbling by soldiers in the war theatre that their emoluments are not being paid as at when due, there is no doubt who the Nigerian public believe because, as the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire.

The intriguing thing about the continued goofs and gaffes of the current regime which rode into power on the back of change is that this administration need not have pissed off the electorate so soon, but unfortunately the litany of missteps are so much that they are generating too much negativity which is now casting a dark cloud over the regime too soon.

Take for instance the setting of a target date to end BH insurgency in the north eastern part of Nigeria by the end of last December 2015.

Each time the military and by extension govt boasts about deadline to wipe out BH, the terrorist group get more vicious in its bid to put a lie to govt’s boast. Unfortunately, every time BH asserts itself, to counter the notion that it had been decapitated, scores of innocent Nigerians pay the ultimate price of losing their lives simply because government is engaging in, for lack of a better nomenclature, loose talk.

Most Nigerians consider such actions on the part of government, reckless especially since it is a sort of death sentence for innocent victims and therefore a wrong-headed policy which is reprehensible and attracting public odium to government.

For instance, the last claim by government that all the local govt areas hitherto under BH control have been recovered, inspired the recent suicide bomb attack in Internally Displaced Persons, IDP camp in Borno State, resulting in the avoidable loss of scores of souls.

Clearly a battle of supremacy between government and terrorists is going on and frankly, govt forces are not winning in the manner they would want Nigerians to believe because one successful suicide bombing activity casts a dark spell of despondency over the inhabitants of the territory under siege and that overshadows all the recovery of territories being claimed by government forces.

This need not be so. Can we do less of boasting and do more fighting to avoid needless human carnage? Some of us would remember the popular movie titled ‘The Good, The Bad, The Ugly”. The main character in the movie in one scene had his attacker caught him in a compromised position, but instead of shooting him, he decided to first of all, give a ‘ valedictory’ speech. In the course of the rambling, the main character shot his opponent dead and thereafter admonished him with the famous words: “lf you want to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk”. Nigerian army and authorities should please shoot BH out of our life and talk less until they are absolutely sure they have done so.

Onyibe, a development strategist, futurologist, and former commissioner in Delta State govt is an alumnus of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Massachusetts, USA.

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