What exactly is going on?

In the last few days I have sat back to reflect on the perplexing matter of the so called herdsmen attacks nationwide. As an opposition politician it is a veritable political tool that if craftily manipulated and orchestrated in a sustained manner, is enough to send this government packing in 2019; just like Lai Mohammed and his team of propagandists hanged the Jonathan administration employing the Boko Haram insurgency and the dubious Chibok girls affairs.
I am not a fan of President Buhari and I certainly do not wish the APC well. So it is not in my interest to assist to get out of an insolvable and potentially dangerous political quagmire. But this is our country. It must not always be an irresponsible and desperate struggle for power all the time at the expense of national cohesion and survival.
Something, to my mind just does not add up on these herdsmen attacks. Classically it has become ubiquitous. It comes up randomly anywhere and everywhere – Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Zamfara, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ogun, Ekiti, Kwara, etc. The questions are: if the struggle is about feeding cattle, why burn farms and houses thereafter? How come this pattern is consistent everywhere; is there a script or operational guideline? How do the herdsmen benefit from this mayhem?
The government itself initially believed these acts were committed by the herdsmen in their attempt to secure the lives of their herds. Obviously the government sympathised wrongly with the herdsmen and this was responsible for the initial poor official response to the attacks.
However, the DSS, in their early brief to government, included vital information ignored by virtually all of us due to the overwhelming emotion brought about by the numbers of people butchered and the dastard nature of the attacks. The preconceived notion of the bias of the administration in favour of the herdsmen did not help matters.
The DSS had suggested the infiltration of the country by agents and converts of the terrorist group ISIS.
In my opinion the operative signature and character profile of the terrorists, we had named fulani herdsmen, fit no other group in the world but the ISIS.
Typically, the attacks are mindless, brutally vicious with no clear cut defined or obvious benefit to the attackers.
Towards the twilight of the operative effectiveness of the Boko Haram insurgents, this new group ISIS, had emerged as a separate entity within the Boko Haram Camp. As the number and strength of the Boko Haram became severely degraded, the ISIS components have crystalised and adopted a more diffuse operational strategy, which is what the nation is currently witnessing.
I also believe government has finally come to terms with this unfortunate reality, but in order not to create national panic have kept this to themselves, hence the various military operations announced by the army covering the entire nation.
While I appreciate the efforts of government not wanting to create panic, in this type of situation citizens watch and vigilance is extremely important.
It is better we are well informed and multiple local based channels of communications be quickly established to assist the security agencies. By the Grace of the omnipotent God, any group or groups that rises against Nigeria and its citizens shall fail and be destroyed in the mighty name of JESUS.

Dr.Doyin Okupe,
Lagos

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