June 07 (THEWILL) — The intensity of terror-related violence that has taken place across the country in the past weeks has once again exposed attendant systemic challenges in the fight against insecurity in the country. In Oyo and Borno states, school children and teachers are the current hostages, while in Katsina State a retired Major-General Rabe Abubakar, a former Director of Defence Information, and his wife were taken into captivity by the dreaded Kachallah bandit.
Notably, it took 16 days for the Katsina State and Federal Governments to publicly show empathy for the families and communities in Oyo, shortly after a frontal rescue mission almost turned fatal for the combined security team.
Admirably, the police, in particular, appeared to have seized the initiative in the renewed wave of rescue missions that had hitherto been borne by the military. The new police tactical team set up by the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu has turned the heat on the terrorists as shown by the dislodging of hideouts and rescue of victims in Ovia forest in Edo State and in parts of Kwara, where villagers have started returning to their homes from which many fled after a series of unabated attacks. Moreover, the trial and sentencing of convicted terrorists by the courts have added some vigour to the ongoing war against terrorists. The statement by the Presidency that significant constitutional progress has been made towards establishing state police with a constitutional amendment coming soon, is indeed good news.
However, it is troubling to note that the terrorists are still acting audaciously. Following the standoff in Oyo, Borno and Kebbi states, the daredevils have made demands that seem to make them look invincible. In Oyo, in particular where they had by-passed families and relatives of captives for negotiation, they have shown boldness in demanding for direct talks with the Governor Seyi Makinde!
Indeed, Speaker of the Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin, disclosed last week that terrorists holding abducted schoolchildren and teachers from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State since May 15, 2026 are demanding weapons, money and concessions on future Nigerian laws as conditions for their release. They want their detained colleagues in crime. The Kachallah bandits in Kebbi made their same demands. This twist in the demands by terrorists is a challenge to constituted authority.
Doubtless, this audacity has its origin in the muddled way the fight against terror has gone on for years. From the rehabilitation programme for so-called repentant terrorists to ransom payment at the slightest impulse and negotiations with bandits and insurgents by some states in the North, particularly, Katsina and Sokoto and Zamfara, the government had painted the image of itself not so much as a weakling than as a desperate negotiator. Official panic also shows in the public disclosure of every move against terrorists by the authorities.
Now the die is cast and the situation is dire. The ‘failed’ approach of the past must stop: Paying ransom to secure lives is not the problem; the problem is in resorting to it at the slightest opportunity as a solution. It can assist the security operatives in identifying not only the culprits but also in understanding their operational ways and means with a view to identifying the trigger factor and eventually eliminating them with dispatch. After all, some so-called go-between like Tukur Mohammed Mamu lead negotiator for the hostages of the March 2022 Abuja-Kaduna train attack who is currently undergoing trial, was caught in this way.
Moreover, with the arrests and prosecution of suspects of terror-related attacks, it is also reasonable that their sponsors and financiers should be exposed and brought to trial. Like former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Tukur Buratai once said in a national television interview, many of the sponsors and financiers are officially known and are still walking the streets. It is time for the government to muster the required political will and the security agencies to coordinate and cooperate and end this menace that has almost sundered communities in Nigeria, instilled fear in the citizenry and kept the country’s heart beat under their vice grip.
