El-Rufai’s Tragic Excuse for Security Failings

Ring True BY Yemi Adebowale

Email: yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com  Phone 08054699539

It was so depressing watching Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State last Tuesday bragging about “killing bandits” in his state. “The goal of the Kaduna State Government is to kill bandits wherever they are found. There is nothing like repentant terrorists. The only repentant bandit is the one that is dead. Our intention in the state is to kill them (terrorists), let them go and see God,” he bluffed after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari. So, how many terrorists has el-Rufai’s government killed in all his almost seven years reign as governor? How many terrorists have the Special Forces and Armada of security agents in Kaduna State sincerely killed in almost seven years?

By el-Rufai’s government’s aggregate, 888 people were killed by terrorists in the state between January and September 2021. The figures could be as high as 2000. Many are unreported. So, let el-Rufai give us the genuine statistics of terrorists killed in almost seven years in his state; not the fake one persistently released by security agencies.

In el-Rufai’s Kaduna, terrorists enjoy a free rein. That was why few days back, they killed 40 people in Kauran Fawa, Marke and Ruhiya in Giwa Local Government Area of the state, unhindered. The terrorists were not in a hurry to leave the three locations after the killings. They were so confident that there would be no repercussions. Truly too, as at press time, not a single one of the killers had been apprehended.

El-Rufai added an irrational dimension to his scamming, saying the locations of the terrorists are not mystery but that the military is only toeing the line of caution because of potential collateral damage an all-out raid could pose to innocent civilians. Haba, Nasir! You are only justifying your ineptitude and that of the Armada of security agents on ground in Kaduna State. A well-trained, properly-equipped and properly-motivated security team will take out the terrorists with ease. In the alternative, Nigeria can seek the help of military contractors to get the job done. Nasir enjoys showboating so much while scores of people are killed daily by terrorists in his state. Ten days ago, in this same notorious Giwa LG, a member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Rilwanu Aminu Gadagau, representing Giwa West, was killed by terrorists on his way to Kaduna. While Nasir was grandstanding at the Villa last Tuesday, terrorists struck in Angwan Gwari, a suburb of Sabon Tasha area in Kaduna metropolis, killing a retired soldier. No fewer than 20 people were abducted in the raid.

Last Tuesday, the terrorists killed seven people and injured 11 others in Kajuru and Chikun LGs. Again, last Wednesday, the terrorists came out in hundreds along the infamous Birnin Gwari highway in Kaduna and abducted 70 traders who were traveling to Kano. The abductees were taken into a neighbouring forest.
I meticulously recounted some of these recent killings to show that nothing has changed in Kaduna State.

Honestly, el-rufai has been a big disappointment in this political era. In Kaduna State, terrorists persistently kill and kidnap people on the roads, highways, homes, farms, offices, schools, churches and mosques. Governor el-rufai’s response to attacks by terrorists is always predictable. He visits the community, laments the incessant killings and vows to tame the killers. The story ends there until there is another attack and he would repeat the same swagger. The killers are hardly apprehended. Back in March 2020, he told a bewildered nation that the bandits had been wiped out by security agents. It was a subterfuge. It never happened. This governor has to go beyond swaggering to end the killings in his state. Above all, he has to be impartial, if he truly wants result.

El-rufai should put real pressure on the federal government to do the needful and also proactively use his security vote, to achieve the objective of total elimination of terrorists in the state. It is also pertinent to note that Kaduna is a garrison state, with huge number of military formations. El-rufai has to seek for wisdom, coupled with his security vote, to mobilise the huge military formations here, for real assault on the terrorists. Besides, Governor El-rufai must show greater commitment to ending the killings and kidnappings by running the state dispassionately. The pounded communities see this governor and security agents as having compromised. El-rufai has to show leadership, amend his ways and learn to govern without favour.

Further, if el-rufai is genuinely interested in ending killings, he should sit down quietly and take another look at the message of the President, Christian Association of Nigeria, Olasupo Ayokunle to him in 2020 on how to end butcheries in Kaduna State. Ayokunle remarked: “Everybody is looking at the governor as a father of the state and this is the understanding with which he should handle every accusing finger pointed at him. No bandit, gunman or cattle rustler should be allowed to strike and disappear into thin air any longer without being pursued to his or her base for arrest and prosecution.

“The guns in the hands of criminals should be recovered. Bushes should be combed with surveillance. Technology should be deployed extensively by the security agents to apprehend the criminals in their hideouts, including the mercenaries. All sources of ammunition the bandits and killers are using should be investigated and blocked. Community healing, forgiveness and reconciliatory meetings should be held, bringing different ethnic groups in communities together to chart the way forward for peace.”

President Buhari is also in this showboating club. He returned to Abuja from Turkey to the news of the killings in Kaduna, saying the last vestiges of terrorists were the ones soft-targeting innocent citizens, “looting their assets and burning houses, because they were already frustrated as a result of the heat turned on them by the nation’s troop.” This is preposterous. In beloved Nigeria, terrorists regularly attack military formations. This is the truth that can’t be hidden.

No wonder the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) called on the President to show more empathy towards victims of terror attacks in the region. This is appropriate. The group urged Buhari, governors, and northern leaders to do better and show the people they care by paying them sympathy visit. “The President and Northern governors are by their actions creating the impression that only their lives and those of their family members matter,” remarked ACF.

Meanwhile, I’m urging Nasarawa State governor, Abdullahi Sule, to act swiftly in order to prevent his state from joining the inglorious club of areas ravaged by terrorists. The recent killing of 45 people by Fulani militias in some communities in his state is appalling. The terrorists carried out the killings in Chabo, Daa, Wuchi, Tse-Udugh, Hagher and Shankodi in largely Tiv communities of Obi, Awe and Lafia local governments of Nasarawa State. The attackers had a field day moving from one village to another, killing over 45 people and unchallenged by security forces. Sule must be proactive in building peace between the herders and Tiv natives. He must also put pressure on the military to apprehend the killers among the herders. This is the only way peace can genuinely return to Obi, Awe and Lafia LGs.

The Blood Sucker Called Bello Turji
Terrorist Bello Turji, leader of the group responsible for the recent attack that claimed 23 lives in Sokoto State and other killings in the North-west, is giving conditions to be met by government before he would end his attacks. It can only happen in Nigeria. The blood sucker called Turji wrote an open letter to President Buhari; Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle and the Emir of Shinkafi, listing five conditions.
These include dissolution of vigilante groups in the North-west, a meeting with traditional rulers and religious leaders, and a stop to the “marginalization” of Fulanis.

Turji wrote: “We’re being killed unnecessarily. We’re being relegated to the background. We should be allowed to return to our houses and live normal lives. We also want to have a meeting with our traditional rulers and religious leaders to iron out issues…We’re just tired of the marginalisation of the Fulanis especially in the markets.”

This is the same bloody Turji who had just burnt 23 people alive talking about peace, Allah and his Prophet. This useless man is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of others in the North-west while moving around freely and giving conditions for peace. Security agents know his whereabouts. Matawalle knows his whereabouts. They can take this killer out but have failed to do so. This shows that Turji is enjoying official protection. I stand to be corrected.
Turji wants Islamic cleric, Ahmed Gumi as intermediary. I was not surprised about that. Gumi has always been a friend of the terrorists.

Turji must be crazy to claim marginalization of Fulanis. It is a bizarre justification for his life of crime. The Fulanis are today dominating everybody and everywhere in Nigeria. Also, I have not heard our President specifically directing security agents to apprehend Turji. This is food for thought for everybody today.

A Word for Governor Inuwa Yahaya
My dear Governor Inuwa Yahaya, I’m not sorry to say that you have not shown maturity and finesse in your needless war against your erstwhile mentor in Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje. I still can’t understand what you are trying to achieve by hounding Goje, his aides and his supporters. Few weeks back, you sent thugs after him, with an instruction that he should not be allowed into Gombe. Your thugs delivered. They even killed somebody in the entourage of Goje. Yahaya, you have clearly been using the police and the judiciary against Goje. Your Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice, Zubairu Mohammed Umar and the state’s Acting Chief Judge, Justice Mu’azu Pindiga, are the arrow heads for your agenda against Goje.

Goje’s aide on new media, Muhammad Adamu Yayari, was detained for weeks, for no just cause. A frustrated Goje had to file a motion exparte before a Federal High Court in Gombe, where he sought an interim injunction restraining the police and the Gombe State Government from further invitation, continued reporting or interrogating him and his associates, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction against the state’s government. You have since violated the court’s order directing both parties to maintain status quo pending the ruling on the matter. Your harassment of Goje and his people continues.

Dear Governor Inuwa, your attacks on Goje is an obvious abuse of power. Power should always be used for the good of the people and the society. We are only here in this world for the moment. I hope you realise this. Inuwa, you have to amend you ways and treat people with respect. Roaming with thugs and using state instrument against your opponent has no place in decent societies.