THE SCOURGE OF BANDITRY

 Kola Oyerinde argues the need to unravel the  network that has made banditry a national malaise

At a time that Nigeria continues to experience unprecedented insecurity caused by banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and various forms of insurgency, the admission by Senator Shehu Buba, representing Bauchi South Senatorial District of Bauchi State, that he had sponsored Abubakar Idris, a suspected bandit leader and another pilgrim, Zainab Aliyu Gado to the 2024 Hajj is a worrisome development.

It will be recalled that the lid over the matter was blown by the Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, in a letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu mid September. In the letter, Governor Mohammed disclosed that Abubakar Idris and Zainab Aliyu Gado, were registered as intending pilgrims through one of Senator Shehu Buba’s aides.

In the letter, Governor Mohammed had disclosed that operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS), had stormed the offices of the Bauchi State Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board during the 2024 pilgrims operations. While Zainab was cleared and travelled, Idris was said to have been arrested and detained by the DSS.

Expectedly, Senator Buba has come out to defend himself. In a statement by Hassan Gajin Duguri, his legislative assistant, Shehu Buba who is chairman of the Senate committee on National Security and Intelligence, denied any links with the alleged suspects who, he said, were among those nominated by elders, community and religious leaders in the state.

It might be tempting to swallow Senator Buba’s defence hook, line, and sinker. After all, someone of the senator’s status should be believed, particularly when such a person is indeed the chairman of the powerful Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence.

But here, we are dealing with a national scourge that continues to fester for two major reasons. First, the duplicity of top personalities and second, the fact that it has become a multi-billion, if not trillion naira enterprise with tentacles traversing virtually every segment of the society.

It is too soon to forget how, not long ago, some traditional rulers and top personalities in Zamfara State were indicted for their relationship with bandits and other criminals in the state. Thus, despite Shehu Buba’s strident denial, many fundamental questions beg for answers. In addition, Nigerians will be interested not just in the answers but in the procedure for arriving at answers to those posers.

Let us proceed. One such poser is why Shehu Buba, who hails from Bauchi State, would sponsor an intending pilgrim from Zamfara State? Agreed that philanthropy knows no borders, nonetheless, the public would like to know if the banditry suspect, Idris, had no benefactors from Zamfara State who could have sponsored him to the hajj. Or was it the case of evading scrutiny since he was already well known to the security formations in the state?

Besides, agreed that the beneficiary of a patronage could be unknown to the benefactor, it sounds unbelievable that the office of the chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, lacked the capacity to flag a name widely associated with promoting insecurity in Zamfara State, a place that has acquired the notorious distinction of being the most unsafe in the entire North West zone of the country.

It sounds incredible that the office of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence did not become suspicious when it noticed that the intended pilgrim was avoiding his state. If that office would not know, who else should? Two assumptions can be made here: either someone is cleverly hiding something, or the office is palpably inefficient as to be entrusted with such a serious responsibility as national security and intelligence.

Furthermore, it is not enough to claim, as Senator Buba has done, that the banditry suspect was sponsored by an elder or community leader. It is incumbent on the senator to disclose the identity of the elder, community or and religious leader(s) of Bauchi extraction who sponsored a banditry suspect from Zamfara State to attend the hajj on the platform of Bauchi State.

To that extent, the onus would now be on the security to establish the relationship between the banditry suspect and his Bauchi benefactors, on the one hand, and between Senator Buba and Idris’s benefactors on the other hand. Perhaps, by applying the dictum: show me your friends and I will tell you who you are, the security may begin to unravel the sinister network that has made banditry a national malaise and by extension, find a solution to the scourge.

At a time that Nigerians now sleep with one eye permanently open; at a time that humungous resources that would have been freed for infrastructure and social services are being expended heavily on security; at a time that families and whole communities are regularly thrown into anguish and despair due to the nefarious activities of these bandits, it will be a gross disservice to the Nigerian state not to follow the lead patriotically laid on the table by Governor Bala Mohammed, to unearth the network of banditry in Bauchi State.

However, what requires no debate whatsoever is that to the extent that the allegation against a public officer of Senator Buba’s standing is in the public space and of public concern, the logical follow-up should be for the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio to promptly launch a Senate investigation into this matter of urgent public concern. Such a step would reassure members of the public that the country’s apex legislative body is not paying lip service to the fight against banditry and other forms of criminality presently ravaging the country.

In addition, without prejudice to the established practice that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, it is proper to demand that Shehu Buba step aside from the Senate, pending the conclusion of the investigation into his matter. More importantly, his continued headship of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence has become compromised and untenable by his sponsorship of a banditry suspect. Come to think of it: unquestionably, the position where he now finds himself makes him more vulnerable than the charges that led to the suspension of some other senators in the not too distant past.

On a more serious note, it should be emphasized that any delay with the investigations would only continue to expose our security operatives and the overstretched armed forces to avoidable risks, danger and attrition on account of the activities of bandits, terrorists and kidnappers who have made life unbearable for many Nigerians, disrupted economic and social life in many communities and zones and generally given Nigeria an unenviable reputation as one of the bastions of criminality in the world.

Therefore, given the grave allegation contained in Governor Bala Mohammed’s letter against Senator Shehu Buba, it is expected that President Tinubu would take immediate steps to allay the fears that though  Buba is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) the matter would not be swept under the carpet. That is why the President must act NOW, not minding who ox is gored.

Prince  Oyerinde is of the Iresa-Adu royal house in Ogbomosho, Oyo State