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Considering the latest report of the United Nations (UN) on the capacity and operations of terrorists in Nigeria and the rest of West Africa, it seems terror groups, instead of being annihilated, are today piling up more sophisticated weapons unchallenged.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and Sahel and head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Leonardo Samào, who represented the Secretary-General of the UN, while briefing the United Nations Security Council, did not mince words. The diplomat warned that terrorist groups operating in northern Nigeria and across the West African and Sahel region are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
As the he put it: “The armed groups are increasingly using drones, sophisticated communications and cryptocurrency while coordinating operations across borders.”
This UN’s explicit warning, coming merely weeks after the United States described it’s seizures in Nigeria as “the largest seizure of terrorist equipment since the September 11, 2001, attacks,” should send red signals to all of us, especially to our leaders and our security operatives whose responsibility is it to counter this threatening move.
Dr. Sebastian Gorka, United States Deputy Assistant and Senior Director for Counterterrorism, revealed that the recent “joint counterterrorism operation the US carried out in collaboration with Nigerian forces led to the recovery of a vast cache of electronic devices and other operational materials from the “jihadists.”
Recalling the sheer size of the seized weapons, the diplomat said: “It was so extensive that an additional aircraft was required to transport the confiscated equipment for forensic analysis by American intelligence agencies.”
He added that “the operation also resulted in the killing of 199 jihadists during a single raid.”
To us common citizens, this is both frightening and disheartening news.
It is frightening to learn from highly respected sources like the UN and the US that the groups that have made most of Nigeria unsafe, the groups that have been killing us at will and behaving as if they now have more powers than our soldiers and all our security operatives put together, are preparing to become even stronger and more established.
As a concerned civilian citizen, may I raise the alarm here today that it would be suicidal for Nigeria to continue to pretend that it does not understand the meaning of more sophisticated arms in communication gadgets in the hand of the terrorists that have already turned the country to a danger zone.
Believing our leaders are not so daft that they will not understand the danger of such development, I am wondering why they have to wait for United Nations and the United States officials to raise the alarm before they rise up to block the leaking or open routes through which these equipment of death are being smuggled into the country.
Or are the Nigerian military and other security operatives telling Nigerians the US forces, with whom they planned and executed the recent joint force operation against the terrorists, hid from them the results of the findings on the actual strength of the terrorists and how they acquired the sophisticated equipment they currently employ in their terrorist operations?
As I read over again the report of Samào, so many questions have continued to agitate my mind: The first is the responses of our military and security high commands and that of the majority of powerful officials in Aso Rock and, to some extent, the National Assembly. I am yet to answer the question I asked myself on whether it was okay for Nigerian military and security agencies seeming belief that it is correct strategy to keep the ugly truth from the people.
Someone argued that this type of strategy is usually born out of a desire by a patriotic leader to protect the civilian population from knowing how bad the situation is.
If this is the case, my question, for how long are we going to play this game?
I would have thought that, if this kind of strategy would ever be considered, it would only serve as a smokescreen while a practical solution is being sought out discreetly.
I pray this is the case, for it would be terrible if our government folds its arms, playing politics and watching terrorists and bandits take over our land.
This is why I call for urgent action on the part of our government to change the narrative.
We cannot afford to wait until the terrorist groups finally satisfy themselves that they have acquired the kind of armoury and power they desire, before we, as a nation, would boldly seek workable solutions to current Nigeria’s security challenges.
While voting for ‘home-made’ solutions to the terrorism challenges in Nigeria, I am not, in good conscience, opposed to United Nations Security Council’s decision to extend the mandate of UNOWAS until January 2029.
The aim of this resolve, I believe, is to appreciate and firmly ensure “continued international support for preventive diplomacy in the region.”
I believe it is a fact that in a critical situation a man will do himself well to explore new ways of facing and resolving stubborn challenges.
This is another way of saying that, if the conventional approaches of resolving the problem fail continuously, it would seem right to explore other means.
In the instant case, preventive diplomacy has been suggested by foreign sympathisers.
Our reaction, if you ask me, would be to take it more seriously, while not forgetting to tell ourselves the truth.
To what extent is our leaders ready to address the root causes of hatred and anger in the land?
Why would a citizen resolve to kidnap, punish and kill innocent fellow citizens, including little school children and women?
Also, in spite of the endless number of security operatives we parade in Nigeria, arms and ammunition are being shipped into the country as if we are fighting a full blown war.
The question that needs an immediate answer is why can’t our security operatives do their jobs and stop illegal entry of weapons? Why?
• Samuel Hezekiah Egburonu Esq, lawyer, veteran journalist and literary scholar, is a current affairs analyst
