When President Mohammodu Buhari took over power from former President Goodluck Jonathan, many Nigerians were full of high hopes that the retired General will tackle terrorism head on and bring peace to the country. However, the reverse has been the case since he took over. The President has failed to bring the desired peace, instead Nigerian security has totally broken down.
Boko Haram has gone on rampage. The President Amnesty programme has failed to bring about the desired results.
Only recently, Residents of Giedam Town in Yobe state reported that Boko Haram insurgents are still engaging the Nigerian troops in a gun battle in Geidam.
The residents made the disclosure after military sources claimed that the troops had foiled the attack, which began on Friday. Some of the residents who spoke to newsmen on Saturday morning said they were still in hiding because the gun battle was still raging.
Another resident, who corroborated the report, said, “We gathered that one of their vehicles developed a fault at the Hausari area yesterday so it is possible they have taken over the primary school for their operational base,” the source said.
Another source also said another group of the attackers have moved to the Fulatari area of Geidam town. A local vigilante said that dozens of Boko Haram fighters had been killed but added that innocent civilians too could be among the casualties.
He said a military artillery fired in the direction of the insurgents hit a residential building, causing an unspecified number of casualty.
Meanwhile, the US government travel advisory identifies high-risk zones in Nigeria, where kidnapping for ransom, terrorism and other security threats are a recurring incidents. The United States government issued a travel advisory, warning to its citizens, against travelling to Nigeria over the worsening security situation in the country.
This was posted on Tuesday, via MyTravelGinov, a travel advisory platform managed by the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. The advisory also identified some high-risk zones in the country, where kidnapping for ransom, terrorism and other security threats are recurrent.
“Reconsider travel to Nigeria due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and maritime crime. Some areas have increased risk.
“Do Not Travel to: Borno, Yobe, and northern Adamawa states due to terrorism and kidnapping Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Zamfara states due to kidnapping, Coastal areas of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, and Rivers states (with the exception of Port Harcourt) due to crime, kidnapping, and maritime crime,” the American government advised.
It further stated that violent crime – such as armed robbery, assault, carjacking, kidnapping, hostage-taking, banditry, and rape – is common throughout the country.
“Kidnappings for ransom occur frequently, often targeting dual national citizens who have returned to Nigeria for a visit, as well as U.S. citizens with perceived wealth. Kidnapping gangs have also stopped victims on interstate roads.
“Terrorists continue plotting and carrying out attacks in Nigeria, especially in the Northeast. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting shopping centers, malls, markets, hotels, places of worship, restaurants, bars, schools, government installations, transportation hubs, and other places where crowds gather. Terrorists are known to work with local gangs to expand their reach.”
“There is civil unrest and low-level armed militancy in parts of Southern Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta region. Armed criminality, including kidnapping and maritime crime, is also pervasive in this region.”
In another development, President Muhammadu Buhari vowed that his administration will commit all available resources towards fighting banditry, kidnapping and murders being perpetrated by evil minded people across the country.
The president, in a reaction on Saturday by his Media Assistant, Garba Shehu, to the killing of three Kaduna students, declared that: “Banditry, kidnapping and the politics of murders will be fought with all the resources available to our country.”
He gave strong assurances that those who think that profits can be made, either from money paid as ransom or in politics, “will realise sooner than later that they are bound by the same fate as their victims”.
President Buhari strongly condemned the killing of three of the students kidnapped at Greenfield University, Kaduna State and described the students as bright youngsters who were cut down by evil people in their prime.
“My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief. May their souls rest in peace,” said the president.
On the recurring incidents of kidnappings and killings in Kaduna State in particular, the president condemned them as “barbaric terror attacks” and described as “unfortunate the tenor of some political and religious leaders that seem to further incite and stoke the pain and anguish of mourning families who are forced to confront these atrocities.
“Addressing this scourge requires a great show of empathy and coming together as a society to squarely confront these elements and the danger it poses to our democracy and peaceful life in the country,” he said.
Nigeria News Abroad had a chat with Mrs Roseline Abimbola, an educationist who spoke on the subject, she said,
‘‘The attacks on school children is totally barbaric. Nigeria has never had it so bad. What I think we need to do is to change our security system. We need to go for state policing as soon as possible. The military and Federal Police are overwhelmed by the insecurity in the country. They, National Assembly should immediately make a law that will empower state and local governments to operate their policing system. The way things are going these bandits are out to destroy our educational system and urgent steps must be taken.The old security set up is not longer working.’’