Of Military Chiefs, Traducers and the Rest of us
By MUKHTAR Ya’u Madobi
In its 2023 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) released recently, the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) said terrorist activities in Nigeria had dropped to their lowest levels since 2011.
The 2023 GTI showed that Nigeria dropped to the eighth most terrorised country globally in 2022, from the sixth position it held in 2021.
According to the report, the decline reflects a general decline in global terrorist activities as deaths from terrorism fell by nine per cent to 6,701 deaths.
In spite of this cheering report, there are traducers who never see anything positive from the service of our military and security operatives.
Someone asked me recently if the critics would ever allow the Military Chiefs to rest, I responded with a capital NO because such critics derive joy and satisfaction from bad news and other negativities.
The service chiefs have been victims of several malicious and mischievous attacks from deliberately sponsored campaigns of calumny. While most of the attacks are largely restricted to the social media platforms where anything and everything go, the recent unwholesome campaigns are now gaining ground in the respected traditional media.
The recent cover story of The Guardian Newspaper, titled; “Insecurity: Generals who failed Nigeria,” and adorned with pictures of President Muhammadu Buhari and that of the Service Chiefs was a one-sided report that rattled some of its ardent readers like me.
In the report, the administration of President Buhari was accused of allowing the security situation going from bad to worse.
Since the appointment of current service chiefs in January 2021 by President Buhari, they have surmounted many security challenges and recorded lots of achievements through synergy and inter-agency collaboration with other sister security services.
Meanwhile, the current insecurity is a global phenomenon which is not restricted to one country.
Recall that, barely six months after the service chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General LEO Irabor assumed office, the dreaded leader of Boko Haram terrorists group Abubakar Shekau was forced to commit a suicide in mysterious circumstances. The death was attributed to infiltration of the terrorists’ ranks and enclaves by robust military intelligence operations.
Many lieutenants, commanders and foot fighters of Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists were later neutralized by the superior power of the military. Some of the notable figures in the terror group eliminated by the military included Abu Musa Albarnawy, the leader of ISWAP and the eldest son of Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf.
Since then, the insurgents’ groups that took up arms against the state have been continuously degraded through sustained military onslaught in their various hideouts. The successes forced many terrorists to lay down their arms and surrender themselves to the troops for amnesty.
For the records, no fewer than 90,000 Boko Haram terrorists and their family members have surrendered to the Federal Government of Nigeria. In addition, other repentant terrorists have graduated from the Mallam Sidi camp in Gombe.
This programme, which is known as Operation Safe Corridor offers numerous opportunities to the surrendered insurgents as participants are scheduled for vocational trainings to facilitate and ease their reintegration into society.
This masterstroke of combining both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to security challenges has led to many successes in counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism in various theatres of war across the nation.
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While looking at war against banditry and kidnapping especially in the Northwest and some parts of North-central, significant progress has been made as the military continued to take the fight to the doorsteps of the vicious bandits. As a result, countless kidnap kingpins have been sent to their graves.
It is also on the record that many abducted citizens have gained freedom from the hands of their captors through intelligence driven military operation. It would also be recalled how the Chief of Defence Staff, General Irabor inaugurated a Special Action Committee (CDSAC) that secured the release of remaining Kaduna train captives.
On the other hand, military interventions and proactive measures have gone a long way in managing and reducing the incidents of farmer-herders clashes in some parts of the country. These efforts ensure return of peace and tranquillity to some of the previously affected communities under the spells of insecurity.
As part of the whole-of-society approach to containing insecurity, the military on countless occasions engaged leaders and stakeholders of various communities where there is tension in order to find a lasting solution without confrontation except when necessary. Evidence can be seen from oil rich Niger Delta communities, Southern Kaduna and Borno in the northeast.
Even the blind can see that he has rid the military of almost all the bag eggs that have aided and abetted insecurity while also restoring staff discipline through synergy and promotion of inter-agency cooperation among the armed forces and the Nigeria Police Force. Indeed, he deserves more credit than he is getting from the media and other stakeholders.
With oil production is undoubtedly the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, the military and security services have brought sanity to the Nigerian space and drastically reduced oil theft in the Niger delta region. What becomes of the nation’s economy if oil theft is on the increase? This is another aspect where the security and safety are evident.
Similarly, in the south-east, IPOB’s separatist movement’s activities have been curtailed with effective monitoring and timely confrontations against the enemies of the state. It is necessary to point out that prior to the 2023 elections, nobody could believe that polls could take place peacefully across the southeast region due to a series of threats issued by the IPOB/ESN militants. No part of the country was disenfranchised due to tight and effective security network mounted by the military in collaboration with police as the lead agency.
Meanwhile in the southwest, the separatists’ agitations for Oduduwa nation led by self-proclaimed leader, Sunday Igboho, has become a thing of the past, courtesy of military operations in synergy with other intelligence institutions.
For the records, the service chiefs from the CDS himself, Gen Irabor to Army Chief Lt. Gen. Faruq Yahaya; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amao; Naval Chief, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo; and even the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Gen Samuel Adebayo deserved commendations for demonstrating competence, capacity and other leadership qualities that led to the decimation of major terror and banditry kingpins.
The efforts of other services under the Inspector General of Police Usman Alkali-Baba and the Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, could not be ignored in view of the notable accomplishments in the domestic and internal security infrastructure.
In our efforts to ensure safety and security of our society and the nation, we should collectively encourage our security personnel and constructively engage them to do more rather than give them blind criticisms that are often instigated by external forces.
MUKHTAR is the author of a book on “National Security Strategies” and is a staff writer with the Emergency Digest. He wrote from Kano.
