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When the news broke that retired Major-General Rabe Abubakar, former Director of Defence Information, was kidnapped with his wife in Katsina and his driver shot dead by Fulani bandits, many were shocked and wondered who else is safe in Nigeria if a General could be easily picked up like a fowl by armed non- state actors. Evidently, Fulani terrorists alias bandits have constituted themselves into what many security observers describe as “national nuisance”. They are embarrassing the Nigerian military and the government of Nigeria with their audacious attacks on military formations and kidnap of retired military officers.
Indeed, the kidnap of General Rabe alongside his wife and his subsequent death in the terrorists’ captivity is enough embarrassment to both his constituency, the military and the Tinubu government. One thought that as an Army General, though retired, the military authorities ought to have provided General Abubakar with adequate security, especially when embarking on trips within his terrorists infested home state, Kastina.Our retired senior Military personnel are our prized reserved security assets, it is therefore, my candid opinion that the government should always ensure their protection just as senior political leaders are tightly protected round the clock. The inability or failure to rescue General Rabe Abubakar alive is a huge tar on our image, credibility and prestige as a nation. We were in this country when the American military stormed one of the Northern states to rescue a kidnapped 27-year-old American, Philip Walton. Walton was kidnapped in the presence of his family in his home in Massalata, in the neighbouring Niger Republic and hidden in Nigeria by gunmen who intended to sell him to armed terrorist groups in the area. The rescue mission carried out by the Americans was very successful. This is why security experts asked pertinent questions as to why General Rabe Abubakar was not rescued by the Nigerian military. It is saddening that the Nigerian military do not have a special unit or squad trained for such complex rescue operations. This appears to be the reason the military is often handicapped in rescuing abducted citizens from bandits’ den leaving them, including school children, languishing in the various terrorists’ hideouts.
It took just a few hours of operation for America’s special military unit to enter Nigeria and rescue one of their own. I think the Nigerian military has a lot to learn from its Amerian counterpart in the area of special, dangerous and highly intricate rescue operations.
The war on insurgents and terrorists should not have lasted this long if we had allowed the specially trained mobile unit of the Nigeria police known as MOPOL to exist. The insecurity we are grappling with today wouldn’t have reared its ugly head or would have been quickly curtailed if the Mobile Police unit was still in existence because by establishing the Mobile Police Unit, the police was ready to crush any form of insurgency whenever it surfaced.This was also the purpose when it established the anti- terrorist squad under the visionary leadership of former Inspector- General of Police, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro. The squad consisted primarily of the Mobile police unit.
Painfully, retired General Rabe Abubakar is not the only Army General that have been kidnapped by terrorists in the recent past. Major General Idris Alkali(rtd) and Brigadier-General Maharazu Tsiga (rtd) had suffered the same fate . Scores of military officers have equally been slained on the battlefield by terrorists.These indeed are sad commentaries on Nigeria as a country. The security architecture of the country has been seriously shaken due to the inability of those who pull the levers of power and authority to fully come to terms with the true security situation in the country. Worrisome too, is the inability of security chiefs to tap from the vast experiences and resources of retired security personnel. Allowing terrorists to have a breathing space either before or after an attack is unprofessional and the present security chiefs should be blamed for every kidnapping attack.
Nigeria cannot progress in its war against insecurity if we don’t change the pattern of the fight. No country fights a war and wins when it is battling with shortage of agricultural products, high cost of petroleum products, high cost of living, octane corruption, hunger, inflation, massive unemployment, youth restiveness and food insecurity.
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Congratulations!!
Security File congratulates Chief Supriedent of Police, Anietie Okokon Edem Iniedu on his recent appointment as Force Public Relations Oficer. Ineidu turns out to be the second appointed FPRO in four months under the leadership of the Inspector- General of police, Tunji Disu . We hope the banana peel that slipped Anthony Okon Placid away from office will be avoided this time around.
Congratulations once more, CSP Okon!
