By Hannatu Musawa
Co-habit, blend in and recruit more members from within that community.
To be fair, when the insurgency started getting out of hand, the army did what they could to try and quell the insurgency by destroying some of their hideouts and weapons caches. But often, the army seemed to fall short of complete victory and the actual human network, which was the real threat, was never completely disabled. But the real catch that, perhaps, would really explain how the group became so large and strong could be that, every time the army launched an attack on the group and gained ground, the group would retreat and the army would relax the pressure exerted on the insurgents. These lax periods would very likely have given the insurgents an opportunity to regroup and the result would be the resurgence of surprise attacks by the insurgents on the army who, once overwhelmed, would themselves retreat. There is just no escaping it, the growth of this group has got everything to do with the failure of the authorities to launch a military offensive in the areas affected initially, penetrate, exert and maintain pressure, crack down on the network and free the area from the control of the insurgent militants in one fell swoop.
Up until now, the army has done an abysmal job by letting a small group of ignorant, insignificant douchebags grow into the Goliath that we see overtake town after town in the North-east. While I am not a conspiracy theorist and don’t lend myself to what some see as valid claims of master plans to eliminate and cripple the north by the Jonathan government and the people of the South-South or theories of the Northern oligarchy carefully orchestrating insurgent attacks to make the President Jonathan’s tenure ungovernable, because to me they sound more like the next chapter in the Harry Potter series, even I have queries as to the incessant, random attacks, arms smuggling, insurgent sponsorship and so on. I mean, why do we still not know who is sponsoring these people? How difficult can it be to find a chain of transaction, even if the transactions were done manually?And if, most of the equipment the insurgents have acquired over time has been what they have confiscated and stolen from the army, then there may be a need for the government to admit that.
Then there are those inter-net released clips! “Oh my Giddy Aunt.., those darn, annoyingly crazy, idiotic rants posted on YouTube where the insurgent leader stands in front of a mainly yellow-Lego-looking tank, with a few robotic minions dressed as Darth Vader next to him yapping and flapping like a junkie in the most extreme stage of withdrawal.” By the very science of the inter-net, every clip posted by these insurgents automatically leaves a digital footprint. Why don’t we know who is posting these clips and why has there not been surveillance on the inter-net cell of the group who would obviously have a chain of contact with the person taking the original footage?And if there has been surveillance and identification of the inter-net cell of the group, why are they still able to post videos; why have they not been caught? I am no inter-net buff myself, but I am sure, even with my little knowledge of the world-wide-web, one could come up with at least a link to those posting the clips given a well-programmed MacBook Pro, 2 packets of Pringles and five cups of decaffeinated coffee.
I do not envy anyone in the position of authority at this very present time ‘genuinely’ trying to end this conflict, but my sympathy and support as a Nigerian citizen goes to them 100% in as far as this insurgency issue goes. Whether it is true that the insurgent leader is dead or not, with the recent declaration of a Caliphate, the government still has many major challenges to face.
My biggest fear now is, with unconfirmed reports and pictures that the insurgent leader has been killed and the surrender of some of their members, the authorities cannot take for granted that this war has been won and relax the way it did in 2009 when Mohammed Yusuf was killed. For years we have been privy to images of hundreds of these insurgents, so while some may have been apprehended we must keep in mind that there are probably a couple more hundred out there, who must be very angered by this present defeat. And from the past images of some of the insurgents, it would be safe to say that a lot of them appeared to be young men. Therefore, as crazy and irrational as their leader whom we have seen in the past couple of years appears, by virtue of his advanced age, the likelihood is that he maybe a lot more level headed than the other insurgents that may still be out there. And one thing each and every one of us can be sure of is that those young men must now be pretty ticked off.
So, while some of us may celebrate this present victory, I implore the authorities to treat this war as if it has only just began and forge forth with all its might until every single one of the people who pose a threat or who could begin to raise a subsequent group is apprehended; until Sambisa Forest is no longer a terrorist hideout but a cleared mass of land ready for future development. And Nigerians must give the army the full backing and support they need to offset this heavy yet necessary burden.
After victory is hopefully achieved, government must come up with a long promised national security plan that goes far and beyond crushing this particular group of insurgents, so that nothing like this can rise again.
Every hand must be on deck to tackle this menace of insurgency and their declaration of a Caliphate, otherwise, this blasted nuisance group of thugs that were once just a group of persecuted and impoverished young men taught by an exuberant yet extremist Caliph named Mohammed Yusuf, can engulf us all in a cataclysmic war.
A Caliph is supposed to be an Islamic ruler who is considered a politico-religious leader of an Islamic community or territorial jurisdiction ruled in accordance with Islamic law. From the proscription of peaceful coexistence most Muslims know to be recognized by Islam, we unequivocally reject the declaration of a Caliphate by the dead or alive insurgent leader or anyone else possibly in line ready to take his place. Because unlike a real Caliph, who would abide by rules of peace and coexistence, from the rants and actions of these murderous raving lunatics, their leader wouldn’t be interested in a real Caliphate, he would just be a Caliph-of HATE!
Concluded
