The Defence Headquarters in Abuja was quick to announce that there were no terrorist cells in the South-West following the May 15 kidnap incident in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. I contested that claim, even though, as an ordinary citizen, I am not endowed with the kind of third and fourth eyes our Defence Headquarters is supposed to possess.

With the victims now spending more than 40 days in their captors’ den, it has become obvious that the bandits have operational bases and a well-established network inside the Old Oyo National Park. Though the incident remains an ongoing concern, its underbelly has revealed to a bewildered public the extent of the merchandise that sustains banditry and terrorism, the fast-paced and unfazed nature of official explanations, and how lackadaisical our systems can be when confronting human tragedies. The development has raised several troubling questions.

The first set of questions is directed at the Defence Headquarters. If the terrorists have no cells in the South-West, especially around the Old Oyo National Park, where have they been housed all these days since the abduction of the innocent teachers, students, and toddlers from Oriire Local Government Area? Who has been providing the equipment they use for their nefarious activities? Who supplies the food and hard drugs that keep them going? And who is the source of their guns and ammunition?

The official position has been that “we know where the bandits are, but we don’t want to engage them so as not to endanger the lives of the captives.” This sounds reasonable on the surface. However, we all know, with the common sense God has given us, that no human being can survive on an empty stomach for more than 21 days — infants cannot even get close to that. Bandits who live largely on hard drugs also need substantial food to sustain their lifestyle. Starvation for 40 or 50 days cannot, therefore, be a realistic option. Are we saying the bandits have a magical route by which they receive supplies, especially when reports have indicated that they have been hemmed in inside the forest? Are we to believe they have a huge stockpile of foodstuffs hidden somewhere in the forest that allows them to remain comfortable for such a long period?

Not long ago, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered the deployment of 1,000 forest guards in Oyo State, principally around the National Park. It Is believed that the guards have taken positions in the forest, and it should be possible for them to traverse the length and breadth of the park in three weeks. So, have they not sighted the bandits or located their hideouts? What kind of negotiation is ongoing that cannot end the agony of the victims and their families all these weeks? We, the people, should not be blackmailed with the constant refrain tha” “we don’t want to endanger the victims”. A responsible government must be decisive when necessary. Treating insecurity with kid gloves is not a mark of good governance.

Yes, those knowledgeable in security operations will argue that confronting an armed gang using adults and toddlers as human shields is extremely dangerous. But as our elders say, we cannot go to heaven in search of wisdom because we lack ideas here on earth. We have all watched films about the Israeli rescue operation at Entebbe. We witnessed the feats of our military in Liberia and Sierra Leone, where it confronted armed factions that had carved up entire countries. More recently, we saw how the United States deployed its Navy SEALs to rescue an American hostage inside the forests of Niger State. If these examples cannot provide our security agencies with workable scenarios to resolve the Oriire tragedy, one wonders what else will.

Politics and Politicisation

Is politics and politicisation playing any role in this saga that is already stretching everyone’s patience thin? That is the question that naturally arises. The Inspector General of Police visited the location. Days after, the National Security Adviser and other security chiefs also visited Ogbomoso and Ahoro Esinele. Notably, none of these high-ranking officials deemed it necessary to touch base with Ibadan, the state capital.

Similarly, the Oyo State government under Governor Seyi Makinde has not been seen visiting Abuja to brief the president on the unfolding security situation. This is unlike the governor’s swift response when a blast occurred at Bodija Estate in Ibadan, where he immediately submitted an interim report to the Presidential Villa. This time, he has remained in Ibadan — perhaps more as the leader of an opposition party seeking to unseat the incumbent than as the Chief Security Officer of the state, as envisaged by the 1999 Constitution. The lives of the Oriire kidnap victims should not become a political football, and no one should seek to gain political capital from this blood-soaked tragedy.

What is the Bandits’ Communication Channel?

We were told that in January this year, some herders imported bandits from the Kaiama axis of Kwara State to attack forest guards in the Old Oyo National Park. The guards had allegedly been seizing their cows and “taxing” them for allowing cattle to graze in restricted areas. Though the matter is still under police investigation, the incident exposed the rot and danger the park had become.

During his visit to the park, the governor discovered that there was virtually no communication network in the area, as none of the Nigerian telecom operators were providing service there. He promised to facilitate the entry of one of the telecom companies. Five months later, the area remains a communication black spot. Yet the bandits who struck in May have been communicating freely with their handlers—releasing video clips and sending messages at will. What form of communication are they using that our government cannot match? What kind of intelligence capacity do these people, who claim to reject Western education, possess that enables them to outwit our trained security forces consistently?

Who is pounding the yams and ensuring that soup is never a problem for these insurgents? It is unimaginable that the combined strength of our security forces would shine torchlights into the Old Oyo National Park for weeks on end and still be waiting for results. What exactly are the federal agencies doing? What is Amotekun doing? What about the local vigilantes? And what is the state government achieving with its repeated curfews? We need tangible results, not mere slogans.

So, What is Happening Now?

While I salute the courage of our security personnel on the front lines who are risking their lives to resolve a crisis they did not create, greater attention must be paid to the government at both the state and federal levels. The late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, once observed that if an insurgency lasts more than 24 hours in any territory, the government (one way or the other) has a hand in it. No one has successfully provided a credible counter to that thesis to date.

Even if the theory is not absolute, comparing Nigeria’s experience with that of more developed nations makes it difficult to ignore. Why is it almost impossible for bandits or insurgents to challenge the system so brazenly in those countries the way they do here? Why does our government insist on deradicalising killers and murderers? If it is a crime to bear arms against the state — let alone kill innocent citizens in cold blood — why do public officials certify such people as “repentant” simply because they swear on a holy book? One only needs to ask why politicians who also swear on holy books at their inauguration often end up mismanaging public resources so shamelessly.

In more than forty days, we have witnessed a cacophony of sound and fury signifying nothing — to borrow from Shakespeare. At one point, we were fed propaganda about the kidnapping. But no amount of war-like propaganda can substitute for the practical action needed to rescue lives hidden away in forests and jungles.

In the next few days, we hope to receive good news from Oriire. We want to see governments at all levels doing what is required of them. It is saddening to watch heads of families throw their hands up in despair at such critical moments. The local government tier can perhaps be excused in this instance, as it is in the state that doctors describe as “Brought In Dead” (BID). However, if the state and federal governments wake up to the true essence of governance, good news will not be far from Oriire, Borno, and other areas where bandits have continued to treat citizens as daily meals. (Sunday Tribune)

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