IN what amounts to dangerous escalation of insecurity in the country, Boko Haram terrorists reportedly launched a ferocious attack on a Borno State Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp. The suspected Boko Haram terrorists carried out the devastating attack in Dikwa Local Government Area of the state, setting ablaze at least 25 newly constructed buildings intended for returning residents. The attack occurred amid the ongoing terrorism, forcing residents of Dikwa to flee their homes and seek refuge as IDPs. According to reports, after abducting the IDPs who ventured into the forest to gather firewood, the terrorists launched a violent assault on a remote village in Gajibo. They reportedly fired shots indiscriminately and torched over 25 newly completed buildings. This wicked and dastardly act poses a threat to the resettlement efforts of the Borno State government and its quest to cater to the housing need of the returning residents. It was also revealed that the terrorists had planted numerous improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at the construction site, posing additional threats to the community.
A resident claims that the soldiers informed the people that the insurgents planted many IEDs at the construction site and that the military had discovered some bombs already. Gajibo town, where the attack took place, is located approximately 110 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the state capital, which is rather too close for comfort. The destruction of vital infrastructure highlights the ongoing challenges faced by communities in conflict-affected regions and underscores the urgent need for enhanced security measures to protect civilians and facilitate their safe return and resettlement. Indeed, this situation presents a double tragedy. The fact that the people are IDPs is itself an indictment on the state. And for them to now be attacked in those temporary shelters is beyond distressing! If the people cannot live in their own homes and yet cannot live in the camps, are they supposed to leave this world or what? The IDP camps ordinarily ought to be impregnable since the occupants were moved from the “unsafe environment” of their homes to supposedly safe haven provided for them by the state. But now they have become vulnerable to vicious attacks. It is unfortunate.
Since the Federal Government is evidently not pulling its weight to curtail terrorist activities, it is hoped that the recent attack will not dampen the spirit of the governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Zulum, who is known to be exceptional and exemplary in his vigorous pursuit of rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced victims of Boko Haram terrorists in the state. It is the duty of the Federal Government to make the communities safe and secure so as to encourage and complement the state government’s efforts in ensuring comfortable resettlement of returning residents.
It is difficult to fathom what is responsible for the sudden heightening of insecurity in the land because immediately after the assumption of office of President Bola Tinubu, the security situation in the country appeared to have improved. And many of the citizens were actually beginning to heave a sigh of relief, only for the terrorists to resume attacks on innocent citizens. It would appear as if the criminals orchestrated a lull in their activities to size up the new government and determine its preparedness or otherwise to tackle them head-on. And perhaps now that they seem to have discovered that the new government is not bringing anything they cannot withstand to the table, they have started to run riot again. This is really distressing. This saddening development is bound to instill fresh fear in the IDPs; they may also lose hope in the country as the terrorists have literally taken the battle to them in the place where they are just managing to survive. It is a matter of serious concern that citizens who are under the protective custody of the state, as it were, are not insular to mindless attacks by criminals. This is evidence of serious security lapse.
Indeed, there is no other way to construe this sordid state of affairs than to see it from the viewpoint of the collapse of government and governance. The whole structure of government and governance has become ineffective and ineffectual, and it is as if nobody is in charge of anything. In a way, everything is left to chance. The government has to be revamped in a comprehensive sense to restore effectiveness and the capacity to address issues as they arise while working to prevent security lapses as a matter of proactive capability. Truth be told, the brazen attacks on the IDPs shows the level of disdain and contempt in which they hold the state security apparatchik. If the criminals had seriously reckoned with the possibility of paying for their heinous crimes, they would have thought twice before embarking on the callous and clearly provocative attack. But apparently, they came to attack innocent persons under the nose of state officials, as it were, and they were not resisted. They had a facile victory. It is really disturbing.
It is disturbing that after two decades, the Nigerian state has yet to end the threats and challenges posed to national security by a pack of misguided young people seeking to overthrow the current order with a view to establishing an Islamic state in the country. The group started as a rag-tag army but it has been confronting the supposedly awesome state forces with relative success despite the huge annual budgetary allocations to security and defence. The current dastardly attack must be properly reviewed to determine whether it would have succeeded if everyone in charge of security had done what they ought to do. Otherwise, heavy sanction should be applied on those who wittingly or unwittingly ‘permitted’ the callous and embarrassing but preventable attack on the Borno IDP camp.
