Last Friday’s gruesome murder of 29 students of Government Secondary School, Mamudo, Yobe State, is still the major stuff of the news. Expectedly, the usual vicious circle of mourning, condemnation and lamentation has continued to greet the tragic incident. This is one killing too many. And sadly, the nation appears to be at the crossroads over the security challenges facing the affected states. Just last month, precisely, June 16, 48 other students and seven teachers were killed in similar circumstance in four separate attacks in the northeast.
The latest incident brings back to memory several other carnages that had rendered the security operatives prostrate. Least among these are: bombing of Abuja Police headquarters, attack on UN building also in Abuja, Christmas Day bombing of catholic church at Madala, and much more recently, the killing of several security operatives in Nasarawa State by a cult group.
In these gory details, what the relations of the victims got from the government was not more than an unfulfilled assurance to fish out the killers. The question now resonating in most quarters is: Will the culprits be apprehended this time around? This is one of the posers many stakeholders are throwing to the government as the nation continues to mourn the mindless killing of innocent children.
UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Manuel Fontaine, in a released statement condemning the act, insisted that perpetrators of the dastardly act must be brought to book. It reads, “As we extend our sympathy to the families of the victims, we would say in strongest terms that there can be no justification for the deliberate targeting of children and those looking after them. UNICEF is calling for those responsible to be justice and for the communities to demand that schools should be considered as places of safety.”
Jama’at Nasril Islam (JNI), the highest Islamic body in the north, in a similar reaction, raised several unresolved questions. “A statement signed by its Secretary-General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, reads, “With the spate of emergency currently in place in Yobe and visible security checkpoints at every nook and cranny of the state, it is hardly believable that such a dastardly act could still occur. The questions, therefore, are these: how did the perpetrators gain access to the school? Who were they? Why were they not prevented or arrested? What was the motive behind such heinous act? Indeed, there is much more than meets the eyes.”
Exactly two months ago when President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency is Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, hopes were high that military intervention would restore normalcy to the affected states and give the people a new lease of life. President Goodluck Jonathan, talking tough in his address to the nation, said, “I want to reassure you all that those who are directly or indirectly encouraging any form of rebellion against the Nigerian state, and their collaborators; those insurgents and terrorists who take delight in killing our security operatives, whoever they may be, wherever they may go, we will hunt them down, we will fish them out, and we will bring them to justice. No matter what it takes, we will win this war against terror.”
The military action, according Jonathan, was adopted as a last resort after all other peace efforts had failed. “Previously, we adopted a multi-track approach to the resolution of this problem through actions which included persuasion, dialogue and widespread consultation with the political, religious and community leaders in the affected states. Following recent developments in the affected states, it has become necessary for Government to take extraordinary measures to restore normalcy. After wide consultations, and in exercise of the powers conferred on me by the provisions of Section 305, sub-section 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, I hereby declare a State of Emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states,” the speech read.
Part of the arrangement is to encourage members of the insurgent group to surrender their arms in exchange for amnesty. However, the latest update on emergency rule does not show that the government is winning the war, as incessant carnages have continued unabated. And in most cases, the ordinary citizens are caught in the crossfire between the terror group and the Joint Military Task. The Chairman, Northern Reawakening Forum, Hon Kumalia Muhammed, lamenting the plights of the ordinary people in the ensuing melee in an interview with Sunday Sun, said, “Everyone in the northeast has been thoroughly traumatized by the raging violence in the region. In fact, the ordinary citizens in Borno are caught in a cross fire between insurgency and the security forces. Our people are completely devastated. There is no respite from any of the sides. So, anything that will give hope that this thing will end very soon, people will embrace it.”
On the offer of amnesty, he added, “Surrendering of arms by the insurgency can only take place if there is a kind of resolution of the issues at hand. There must be a meeting of minds from both side of the government and the insurgency. Government must be willing to discuss, government must be willing to offer respite and forgiveness for all that has happened. The insurgency also must be willing to catch in on the spirit of the government and be ready to lay down their arms.”
The question now is: Is government doing it the right way? On one hand, there are those who blame the inability of the government to arrest the security challenges facing the country on lack of enough capacity for intelligence gathering. Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, in an interactive session with journalist, said, “We have not paid attention to intelligence as much as we should. Up till now, Police Intelligence Unit is still virtually zero, while military Intelligence is not as impressive as it should be.”
On the other hand, some have questioned the rationale behind the decision of the Federal Government to leave the financial burden of the emergency rule with the affected states. In view of this, Governor of Borno State has called on President Jonathan to assist the state with special intervention fund to tackle Boko Haram insurgency. At present, the state of emergency is being paid for the affected states. The decision of the Federal Government to use funds belonging to the three states and local government areas to fight the insurgency followed the joint resolution of the two chambers of the National Assembly to give legitimacy to the power of the president to do so. But later, the House of Representatives made a U-turn from the conference report it reached with the senate, insisting that only federal funds should be deployed to administer the emergency rule in the three states.
While insisting that administrative powers, which require financing, be retained by the state governors and the council heads, it passed a resolution that gave Jonathan strictly security powers. “The house resolves to delete and revoke completely section 3(2)(e) of the harmonized, adopted and approved Emergency Powers(general) regulations, 2013 by both houses of the National Assembly,” a motion passed said. The Lawmakers said their decision was due to “public outcry and outright opposition by majority of Nigerians” especially indigenes of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. They also cited the “near consensus of opinion of senior advocates of Nigeria and constitutional lawyers on the constitutionality of the said section” as well as Supreme Court’s repeated rulings on the autonomy of the finances of states and local government areas. “I will never allow the institution to be an institution of arrogance. We should avoid any position that is against the constitution,” Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal said.
The good news coming from the Minister for Special Duties and Chairman, Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, Alhaji Taminu Turaki, is the readiness of the insurgency to sign a cease fire agreement with the Federal Government. On a number of occasions in the past, similar overtures had been turned down by the terror group. But this time around, the minister said that government had reached an understanding with the leadership of the sect to sign a cease fire agreement. He said, “We have reached an understanding with the leadership of Boko Haram arising from weeks of discussion and interface that we have been having with them. A declaration has been made and a formal agreement will be signed.”
However, many concerned Nigerians have reacted to the news with cautious optimism. A prominent Yoruba leader of thought, Senator Olabiyi Durojaye, in an interview with Sunday Sun, described the dialogue process as a welcome development. He, however, warned the government not to shy away from using higher force, if the option of dialogue fails. “The government is failing in its duty to protect the citizens. It is a tragedy to hear that 29 young people (students) were eliminated not in a war. We don’t know what is behind all these things. Government should not just sit idle about these things. I wish them luck if they can reach cease fire agreement with the group. I believe these people are not faceless as the media make us believe. If the group is ready to lay down their arms, I wish them luck. If they can by dialogue or any other means bring about peace and orderliness to this country, so be it. But based on what we have been reading in the newspapers, I do not think talking to these people is that answer. If they resist, government should not be tired of using greater force to counter them,” he insisted.
While still awaiting the outcome of the discussion, Nigerians are eager to see the return of peace in the country.
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