Still on Nigerian Military’s ‘Unfinished Business’ with Fleeing Bandits

Still on Nigerian Military’s ‘Unfinished Business’ with Fleeing Bandits

By MUKHTAR Ya’u Madobi

The last of insecurity has not been heard in Nigeria. The country is still dealing with existential security challenges, occasioned by the activities of terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers, just to mention but few.

Yet, being the Giant of Africa, Nigeria is also very active in helping to foster regional stability within the African continent, through its Armed Forces, with the help of the Nigerian Police and other sister security institutions in the country.

The military has been relentless in its counter-terrorism war against the Boko Haram terrorists and ISWAP fighters in the Northeastern region, while at the same time being ruthless to bandits and kidnappers wrecking havoc in the Northwest and North-central part of the country. This is in addition to other miscreants disturbing public peace across other regions.

In recent years, the military onslaught in Northwest has led to the elimination of several bandit kingpins alongside their foot soldiers. In addition, their enclaves were equally destroyed, forcing them to either flee or meet the superior power of the military.

As I am writing now, thousands of bandits are on the run with bloody noses trying to find another safe haven, which is practically not easy.

This situation has led to the return of peace and security to many communities under the grip of these marauders and enemies of the Nigerian state.

Recently there were reports that, as a result of sustained military operations in Zamfara axes, hundreds of terrorists led by a notorious bandit, Ɗan-ƙarami, have reportedly relocated from Zamfara to areas between Safana and Batsari Local Government Areas of Katsina State.

According to villagers, the fleeing bandits in their large number, who moved with herds of cattle, have already teamed up with another notorious bandit, Usman Moɗi-Moɗi, who has been terrorizing them.

“About a thousand of them who came on about 300 motorcycles spent Saturday night in Labo village,” a reliable source told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

A local source narrated that the terrorists were spread in at least five villages on the fringes of Rugu forest between Safana and Batsari as well as part of Zamfara.

Similarly, a resident of Runka said: “From last week, these bandits were seen clearing bushes to make shelters, which means they want to be here permanently.”

Similarly, some residents of Kaduna villages have also raised alarms about an influx of fleeing bandits to their areas from Zamfara state. The terrorists are also escaping military operations to seek refuge in nearby forests.

In fact, a resident who identified himself as Saeed Damari revealed that the bandits had been specifically arriving at the nearby ‘Kuduru Forest’.

“When the bandits were seen entering the main town, villagers started running, but the bandits rode through in haste,” he said.

Another resident who simply identified himself as Shagari said the bandits operating around the town have threatened to abduct any farmer found working in the farm.

Meanwhile, it is good to note that farming activities have being the major source of livelihoods of the residents in those areas, thus, stopping them from participating in this job is a recipe for a dangerous famine, leading to another food crises with debilitating impacts on socio-economic developments nationwide.

This should not be allowed to happen, especially now that the country is still battling with economic hardship occasioned by rising inflation and cash crunch, among others.

Therefore, the Nigerian military should deploy its land and air assets to decimate the terrorists before they wreak more havoc on law-abiding citizens who contribute towards ensuring the productivity of the society.

Meanwhile, the adoption of the non-kinetic approach of tackling security threats in addition to other measures has greatly and positively impacted the successes achieved in ongoing operations

As noted by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Leo Irabor, the Non Kinetic Military Operation is used to achieve strategic objectives without causing unnecessary damage or loss of life which is especially important in conflicts where civilian casualties must be minimized.

In this regards, the Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA should intensify its efforts in ensuring kinetic and non-kinetic measures are harmoniously deployed in the military operation more successes in the on-going counterterrorism campaigns across the country.

However, members of the society must complement the efforts of our security agencies by assisting them with intelligence on the movements of these terrorists since they roam about within the civilian population.

MUKHTAR is the author of a book on “National Security Strategies” and is a staff writer with the Emergency Digest.