Speaking in Abuja penultimate week, after submitting his form to contest the 2019 Presidential primaries on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Tanimu Turaki regretted that up to now not a soul or anyone has been identified and arrested as sponsor of the Boko Haram sect.
He explained bringing peace to the land and ending this insurgency as one of the motivating factors prompting him into the presidential race. Alhaji Tanimu Turaki was the Minister for Special Duties in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, as well the chairman of the ‘Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Conflicts in Northern Nigerian’ in the same administration.
Happily enough, President Buhari has promised repeatedly to expose and deal decisively with the sponsors of violence and insurgency. The nation waits for evidence, as the people believe in him
The question as to the sponsorship or sponsors of this deadly sect is as old as the insurgency itself. The old, the young, the concerned and men of conscience want to know the masterminds of these demons of destruction and extremists that have held the nation hostage for the past eight years, with no end in sight. Yet this is the question that must be answered and addressed for the enduring peace of the nation. So long as the natives of the Northeast remain living corpses at the mercy of the onslaught of the savage group, Nigeria will have no peace, just as the human race will keep vigil. This highest said of President Jonathan in this regard is to admit that there were members of Boko Haram in his administration with no names mentioned, besides the slip-shod approach with which his administration handled the insurgency, and the abducted Chibok school girls saga.
With the advent of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration the question, ‘Who are the sponsors of Boko of Haram’, is still pricking, probing and prodding with no answer. Yet, these culprits are not that invisible, as they “live among us; friends today, enemies tomorrow”. It sounds like the ‘seven wonders of the world’ story, or borrowings from the ‘Arabian Nights’ that the sponsors of the war of terror on the nation for almost a decade are still elusive to the biggest black race, inspite of its security apparatus or machinery.
The nation waits for the answer, moreso with the re-insurgence of the sect’s attacks.
Speaking recently to journalists in Maiduguri, Senator Muhammed Ali Ndume from Borno State, decried the sudden upsurge of the insurgency. In his words: “I am worried about the resurgence and escalation of attacks on military formations and communities by Boko Haram, especially within the span of two months, and this should worry the entire country,” the erstwhile Senate leader said.
“The military, I think, should concentrate their heavy operations on the black spots of Sambisa, Mandara mountains and the Dikwa/Gamboru axis, where the insurgents still seem to be heavily concentrated.” he suggested.
“Military formations should be on permanent alert about any attack. I am not a military man, but I want to believe that if somebody attacks you in your own house, it means that you are not ready,” he assumed.
It would be recalled some years back that the military had, in statements, accused some elite and politicians of trying to frustrate the insurgency war for their selfish ends. For example, in September, 2015, the Nigerian Army issued a statement in Abuja that it has uncovered plans by some highly placed individuals and political groups to undermine and scuttle the fight against terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria. The statement, signed by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Kushasheka, said, among others, “the Nigerian Army wishes to inform the public and send a very strong final warning to some prominent individuals and political groups, who hail from Borno in particular and North-East, generally, that there is information on plans by some highly placed individuals and political groups to undermine and scuttle the fight against insurgency in this country. We are aware of their clandestine meetings and other diabolical efforts to achieve their nefarious aims. This will not be tolerated.”
Reacting to the Statement, the Chairman of the Borno Elders Forum (BEF), Ambassador Gaji Galtimari, charged the military to unmask the culprits, with a view to bringing them to book, as they posed serious threat to the nation’s security. Similarly, Ambassador Gaji indicted those implicated in the arms deals investigation as sponsors of Boko Haram. According to him: “With the horrifying revelations about the arms deal, it is no longer necessary to look elsewhere in search of the real sponsors of Boko Haram. Those who collected such huge sums of money from the treasury and converted same to their unending greed and avarice should be regarded as part and parcel of the sponsors of Boko Haram. Get them and you will get the rest.”
Let it be made unequivocal here and then not to get at the sponsors of this heinous crime against humanity, especially in a situation where the authority or authorities concerned have the capacity and the capability to do so, that this could be misinterpreted. There might be the assumption, rightly or wrongly, that there is a tacit approval for the continuity of this atrocity for known reason or reasons by the concerned group, but certainly not in the interest of the nation.
When al-Shaba attacked the Kenyan Mall in Nairobi and the nation’s university, President Friday Uhuru Kenyatta replied instantly, spitting fire. In the speed of a meteor, he ordered the arrest of over eighty people of varied interests, ranging from commerce down to politics, and the accounts of the suspected frozen. Alas in the investigation that followed, it was discovered, among others, that a student lawyer, the son of a cabinet minister, led the insurgents attack on the university. Ever since the prompt and ruthless efficiency proned measures of President Kenyatta, Kenya has become almost a no-go area for the al-Shaba.
Happily enough, President Buhari has promised repeatedly to expose and deal decisively with the sponsors of violence and insurgency. The nation waits for evidence, as the people believe in him.
The Global Terrorism Index report, released on November 15, 2015 by the Institute for Economics and Peace, ranked Nigeria third, out of the 162 countries of the world that have been worst hit by terrorist attacks. Nigeria ranked fourth in 2014.
By this latest ranking, Nigeria is only better than the two Middle Eastern countries of Iraq and Afghanistan, who were ranked first and second, respectively.
According to the report, the terror group in Nigeria, Boko Haram, overtook ISIL in 2014 to become the most deadly terrorist group in the world. It went further to state that deaths attributed to Boko Haram increased by 317 per cent in 2014 to 6,644, compared to 6,073 blamed on the Islamic State. Boko Haram pledged allegiance to IS in March 2015.
The GTI report further stated that the two bodies, Boko Haram and the IS, are responsible for 51 per cent of deaths by terror worldwide.
Victor Izekor is a journalist and Public Affairs Analyst, and member, Board of Advisers of The Point Newspaper.
