After the Nigerian civil war 1967-70, that later ushered in the democratic dispensation, the country had been bedeviled by various kinds of human engineered and activated insecurity. Each of these human orchestrated insecurity had continuously changed the psyche of Nigerians in many ways. It is a well known fact, that after the Nigerian civil war, there were both Security reports and public outcry concerning the massive proliferation of firearms and ammunition in the hands of civilians and retired soldiers. Sequel to this ugly development.
The southern and eastern parts of the country started experiencing menacing activities of daredevil armed robbers on both our homes and on the highways, killings and maiming of innocent Nigerians and dispossessing them of their belongings. This unfortunate ugly trend continued unabated until the introduction of the democratic dispensation when the special Anti robbery squad(SARS) of the police with casual collaborative intervention efforts of the military with the police to curb armed robbery activities.
Even at that, the robbery incidents persisted after the leadership of president Olusegun Obasanjo and as if the country had a respite, unfortunately, a new group known as the Niger Delta militants surfaces from Rivers State sequel to the death of some of their leaders, amongst whom were Ken Saro Wawa(founder of MOSOP), Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine, the Ogonis were killed by the government.
There death sparked off a mini revolt among the youths who took to arms with the resolve to control the God given natural oil deposit in their region which geographically is the Niger Delta region, specifically comprising Rivers and Bayelsa states. Militants like Askari Dokubo,Tompolo, and others started arming themselves and embarking on the kidnapping of foreign oil workers for huge ransom including the seizing of foreign oil vessels. These criminal conscripted hundreds of ljaw youths as militants, offered them military training and equipped them with sophisticated arms including explosives.
They were rag-tag with disciplined leaders whose aims and objectives were to completely take over the drilling of the oil exploration and make money out of it, with the belief of setting up their government in the region. They were serious and determined, despite the warnings of the Federal government under President Musa Yar’Ardua, these militants were defiant and were not deterred from blowing up oil installations, kidnapping foreign workers for hard currency and seizing oil vessels on the high sea.
Meanwhile, a concerned son of the land, who was then the inspector General of police, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro met the president with a bright idea on how to disarm the militants. The president bought into the idea and gave his approval and blessing. The idea was that of a carrot and stick approach. It was to offer their leaders an amnesty and send them abroad for training and education for many of them and provide them with a reasonable source of livelihood. This sank down with their leaders and Okiro secretly invited few of their leaders to the federal capital territory, Abuja . This writer was the media adviser to the lnspector General of police and when the time was ripe for the disarming of the militants over five hundred of them, the president had released one of the presidential jets to Sir Okiro who was nicknamed “ Great planner” by his colleagues . On the day scheduled for the disarmament of these militants, we Sir Okiro, his orderly; ASP.Sikiru Olugbenga, and this writer boarded thße presidential jet for the national assignment to supervise the disarmament operation of the Niger Delta militants. We flew into Port Harcourt in search of the father of the Ijaw nation Dr. Edwin Clarke,to brief him of the operation.
At the venue near a forest, the area was cordoned off by senior security personnel. As Asari Dokubo and Henry Okar and Tompolo approached Sir Okiro saluted him and other military commanders and the militants filed out in their rag-tagged uniforms looking like unkempt animals. According to the security leaders, many of the weapons are rare and not known to them. After the activities, we flew back to Abuja to enable the lGP brief the President. While the country was still recovering from the scars of the Niger delta militants assault on its nationhood, and while the country was yet to fully appreciate the effect of militancy on the economy and as it retrogresses Nigeria’s development and progress.
The death of president Yar’Ardua came like a whirlwind that swept the country off its feet, and the Insecurity that was gaining ground in the Niger delta region started losing its grip on the country. A man with vision saw another dark cloud about to start hovering over the land and he started planning to nib it in the bud. So, IGP Okiro reasoned that with insecurity in the new form of terrorism, if not checkmated, it may eventually consume the country, so he arranged and dispatched a team of mobile police officers to a foreign country for specialized training in anti terrorism. Unfortunately, before they could conclude their training and return back to the country, the visionary police lGP had retired from the force.
Like Nostradamus the man who saw tomorrow, Okiro saw the evil that was about enveloping the country like a cumulus dark cloud . While his successor was drunk for attaining the office of the lnspector General of police and completely forgot to think out positive ideas on how to move the police forward, he was busying himself cancelling and changing reforms already instituted to move the police forward. At this time, President Goodluck Jonathan had been sworn in and his kinsmen had promised him a peaceful reign, but in the northern part of the country insecurity was already brewing and even security community were not aware that one radical and unassuming Muslim scholar was already cooking up a new type of insecurity that would eventually consume the country.
The Muslim cleric Mohammed Yusuf had quietly enticed young Muslims into his mosque and was indoctrinating them and freely feeding and providing means of livelihood for them in the form of free motorcycles. Both the president and security community were shocked when the attacks started like wildfire before our very eyes. Boko Haram had been born with the killing of its founder which turned out like a wildfire that no one could handle, not even the police and its mobile force , so the army was brought in to fight well trained terrorists. There were killings everywhere in Maiduguri city ,Borno state . Many young boys and girls were kidnapped, this time, not for ransom but to be initiated into the terrorist cult known as Boko Haram. It was very obvious that President Jonathan was no match for the fearless and destructive terrorist group, which was expanding its fang like that of a dangerous python, killing , maiming, emasculating and destroying properties. They looked unstoppable like the California wildfire. Infact, the country, especially the north, was on fire. (To be continued)
Congratulations!
Security File wishes to congratulate. former Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of state CID, Panti, Lagos. Who has been appointed as the principal staff officer(PSO) to the Inpector General of Police; Mr Ahmed Lateef, and the newly promoted commissioner of Police; Mr Olubunmi Ogedengbe.
Both are avid readers of Security File.