Will FG Crush the ‘New Terrorists’?

IN THE ARENA

Over a month after a Federal High Court in Abuja declared bandits as terrorists, the federal government last week gave life to the judgment by gazetting the order, sparking hope of a conclusive offensive and ending speculations of alleged hidden agenda, Louis Achi writes

Saint Augustine, the Algerian-Roman philosopher-theologian who lighted the candle of Christianity in pagan Roman Empire once questioned: “What are kingdoms without justice? They are just gangs of bandits.”

Banditry, an exasperating, criminal social malady, which has evolved from the old fashioned robbery, kidnap-for-ransom, among others, to vicious murder, demographic disruptions and swatting of fighter aircraft from the Nigerian skies like flies has finally forced a definitive, offensive stance from the federal government.

Ruling on an ex parte motion filed by the federal government, Justice Taiwo Taiwo a the Federal High Court in Abuja had on November 25, 2021, declared bandits anywhere in the country as terrorists stating that such groups as Yan Bindiga (Hausa word for gunmen) and Yan Ta’adda (Hausa word for terrorists) are nothing other than terrorists.

But the federal government curiously foot-dragged, in contrast to its swift reactions to previous similar court orders, for almost six weeks before it gave effect last week to the court directive by announcing it has gazetted the order.

A document released by spokesman of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), Dr. Umar Gwandu, last Wednesday, showed that the AGF’s office had gazetted the court order. The document titled: ‘Terrorism (Prevention) Proscription Order Notice, 2021’ is contained in Volume 108 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette.

It read in part: “Notice is hereby given that by the Order of the Federal High Court Abuja, in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1370/2021 dated 25th November, 2021 as per the schedule to this Notice, the Activities of Yan Bindiga Group, Yan Ta’adda Group and other similar group in Nigeria are declared to be terrorism and illegal in any part of Nigeria, especially in the North West and North-Central Regions of Nigeria and are proscribed, pursuant to sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011.

“Consequently the general public is hereby warned that any person or group of persons participating in any manner whatsoever in any form of activities involving or concerning the prosecution of the collective intentions or otherwise of the groups referred to in paragraph 1 of this Notice will be violating the provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 and liable to prosecution.”

Malami had in a statement following the November 25, 2021 court order promised but failed to comply until last week. The rather puzzling scenario pushed some critical stakeholders and even statesmen into making unflattering comparisons to the speed with which a similar order proscribing the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) was swiftly gazetted under 24 hours.

The AGF had speedily gazetted IPOB’s designation as terrorists on the same day that Justice Abdu Kafarati gave the order on September 20, 2017. Similarly, in the case of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, led by Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, the AGF swiftly gazetted the proscription order four days after the court gave the order on July 26, 2019.

Before last week’s compliance by the AGF in gazetting the court order which declared bandits as terrorists, human rights lawyer, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), warned that Malami should quickly do the needful before members of the public began to misread his intentions, observing that without the gazette, the court order would not be as effective as it should. The senior lawyer further held that delaying the proscription of bandits would continue to embolden them, noting they had become more vicious in their attacks in recent times.

His words: “He (AGF) should act so that the people would not begin to read meaning into the actions of the government. We need to treat everybody with universal and equal application of law so that we do not begin to accuse the government of having preference for one group against another.”

With the gazetting of the court declaration of bandits as terrorists, much of the feelings of uncertainty about the whether the central government nursed a hidden agenda have probably been put to rest. Now, Nigerians expect a total war against the ‘new terrorists’. At press time, states in the North-West geopolitical zone including Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna have been seared with bloody banditry.

Despicable marauding activities of the bandits have also penetrated the North-central Nigeria and other zones in the country. Hundreds of innocent persons have fallen to their blood-thirsty predation. They have kidnapped and injured hundreds including schoolchildren, with some still in their captivity.

In another significant development that should firm up the offensive against the new terrorists, the federal government said last week that it had obtained clearance to deploy the Super Tucano fighter aircraft purchased from the United States against the bandits (now terrorists) ravaging the country, particularly in the North-west and North-central states. The AGF Malami revealed this clarifying that the gazette of the clearance was ongoing.

It could be recalled that last year, the federal government took delivery of the fighter jets after many months of delay. However, the US at the time had not given a blank cheque to Nigeria on the use of the fighter jets. The US floated a monthly schedule to monitor the deployment of the jets, the battlegrounds and the purpose of the deployment. Some US officers have been coming to Nigeria to evaluate the use of the jets in line with the terms of sale.

However, Malami, in an interview on Good Morning Nigeria, a breakfast show on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) last week, said the federal government had secured the clearance after assuring America that it would be used according to international best practices, stating the gazette of the usage of the Super Tucano aircraft was in progress.

Against the background of gazetting the court-sanctioned order on bandits, the emerging consensus is that in the coming weeks and months, the searing and bitter narrative of marauding bandits would be fundamentally changed to give Nigerians hope.