Terrorists Still Roaming Unhindered

RingTrue By Yemi Adebowale

Phone 08054699539

Terrorists control almost the entire Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State. They run a government of their own and this has been on for almost seven years. Communities in this area are in shambles because of the activities of these criminals. Many can no longer go to their farms. Some frustrated residents have relocated. Efforts by the military to recover the Nigerian territory last Sunday ended in a heartbreak. The terrorists, obviously with better intelligence, ambushed Nigerian soldiers, killing no fewer than 25 of them.

Sadly, a military helicopter that went to evacuate dead and injured soldiers crashed, killing another 11 soldiers. It is shocking that the military, in this modern era, embarked on the mission without air coverage. What about the military armoured attack helicopters that would have been useful for this kind of mission? Well, I will return to this later.

The truth that must be told is that nothing has changed regarding carnages nationwide, almost three months after Bola Tinubu assumed office as President. Terrorists are still roaming unhindered across beloved Nigeria, killing and maiming innocent countrymen. In this same Niger State, terrorists dominate three other local government areas – Shiroro, Munya and Wushishi. Tinubu’s promise to tackle deteriorating insecurity inherited from calamity Muhammadu Buhari and reform Nigeria’s “security doctrine and its architecture” is fast turning into a ruse. He said security shall top the priority of his administration “because neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence.” Honestly, I have not seen any reform in this country’s security doctrine and architecture in the last eighty days.

The only thing we have seen is the sack of service chiefs and appointment of new ones. Yes, Tinubu was quick to mourn the soldiers killed in the catastrophic Rafi operation, but he has to go beyond this in line with the leadership expected of him as Commander-in-Chief. This is not what he promised Nigerians in terms of security. The era of issuing rubbish condolence messages after killings by terrorists as exemplified by former president Buhari must end. Tinubu has to provide a leadership that will swiftly end the slaughtering (daily) of innocent Nigerians across our cities, towns and villages. This is the meaning of effective leadership. It is what it means to be Commander-in-Chief.

Is Tinubu even aware that he has spent 81 days as President? In the last 81 days, terrorists have slayed no fewer than 1000 innocent Nigerians. These are just the reported cases. A comprehensive count will reveal higher figures. Plateau, Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Niger and Kaduna states are the biggest killing fields. Three weeks back, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, was in Plateau State with a promise that things will change. Nothing changed. Eight local government areas are under the servitude of terrorists in Plateau State. Nine days back, the terrorists struck in Heipang, Barakin-Ladi LGA, killing no fewer than 21 people, mostly women and children. A man identified as Dung Mark, his wife, and three children were among those killed.

The terrorists controlling Mangu LGA of Plateau State struck in Nchya village on August 7. No fewer than 10 people were killed during the attack and many injured. They also burnt scores of houses. Men of Operation Safe Haven were nowhere to be found while the killings lasted. Last May the terrorists attacked residents of 22 villages in Mangu and Riyom LGAs, killing no fewer than 140 people.

In Zamfara State, majority of the local government areas are dominated by terrorists. They unleashed pain in Bungudu LGA last week, killing one person and kidnapping six others.

As I pen this piece, Abadam LGA, on the western coast of Lake Chad, remains a stronghold of terrorists. ISWAP has its headquarters at nearby Kamuya village, which is its largest camp in Lake Chad, about eight kilometres from Malam Fatori. All the previous attacks on Malam Fatori were launched from Kamuya, a village ISWAP has fortified with mines and heavy weapons. The Nigerian military knows this. To destroy ISWAP, Kamuya must be taken.

Guzamala and Kukawa LGAs in Borno State are also dominated by Boko Haram and ISWAP. Gwoza and Chibok LGAs experience intermittent attacks.

Borno State, the epicenter of Boko Haram is clearly still bleeding. The blood stains across Borno represent the crux of the matter. Nine days ago, five persons were killed by Boko Haram during an attack on a convoy of vehicles carrying goods and passengers very close to the Nigeria-Cameroon border town of Banki. Seven women were abducted in that attack.

In the South-east, IPOB and ESN are still a menace. This nonsense must not continue.

A country that wants to increase production in the agricultural sector must efficiently tackle this raging insecurity. Unfortunately, I’m yet to see any seriousness in this direction as highlighted in the long list of killings above. I Just laughed when Tinubu in his July 31 address to the nation, talked about ensuring that staple foods are available and affordable to Nigerians, without addressing raging insecurity. He also said he was providing 225,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer, seedlings and other inputs to farmers who are committed to the food security agenda of his government. Where are the farmers Mr President is talking about? It seems he has forgotten that many farming communities in Zamfara, Borno, Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna and Niger states are deserted because of unending killings by terrorists. Security agents that should be inhibiting the terrorists are not doing too well.

Tinubu must fix insecurity. He must fulfill the commitment he made to Nigerians in his May 29, 2023 inaugural address to frontally and courageously tackle insecurity. Mr President must lead in coming up with a comprehensive and well-planned strategy to end the killings across the country. In this modern era, a good government should be talking about protecting its people with drones from a preemptive and properly staffed control centre. Use of drones for intelligence gathering and attacks is vital.

Technology, intelligence, quality equipment and quality manpower are modern necessities for taming terrorists. Our security agencies lack these. They obviously lack the capacity to effectively monitor the movement of terrorists. This is why these guerrillas move around in hundreds undetected. Our gallant soldiers are doing their best but they need to be assisted to tame terrorism. So, this country needs help from climes that can provide these military necessities and manpower. Nigeria needs to seek help from abroad. A people-oriented government will seek help from anywhere to protect the people against terrorists. We should look towards Israel and Canada for this. A Canadian firm helping Ukraine in its war against Russian aggressors is doing a wonderful job. This is why Russia cannot infiltrate Ukraine.

Prickly Tales about Nigeria’s Petrol Price

The Presidency was back this week to again lecture Nigerians that our petrol is still the cheapest in West Africa. The focus of the sermon is that Nigerians should be happy paying between “just” N568 and N630 for a litre of petrol. President Tinubu approved that the chart containing prices of PMS in other countries be transmitted to Nigerians to show that ours is the cheapest among the West African countries.

The Presidency lectured: “In the graphic, what you will find is the present cost of refined Premium Motor Spirit at the pump in each of the West African nations that border us and I’ll just name some for example…Senegal at pump price today is N1,273 per litre; Guinea at N1,075 per litre, Côte d’ Ivore at N1,048 per litre, Mali N1,113 per litre, Central African Republic N1,414 per litre, Nigeria is presently averaging between N568 and N630 per litre.”

First, the Presidency needs to be reminded that petrol selling between N568 and N630 per litre in Nigeria is not “cheap” in relation to the incomes of many of us. Minimum wage is still a paltry N30,000. Nigerians are at present challenged by the cost of transportation or fueling vehicles to places of work that is higher than their incomes. When a man’s salary cannot cover his cost of transportation to work, that man is finished. This is why some state governments and agencies asked their workers to reduce coming to work to three days in a week. So, how can the Tinubu government say that petrol is cheap at N630 per litre? This is preposterous.

The effect of the massive rise in petrol price has also led to huge increases in the prices of goods and services across beloved Nigeria. Inflation is now over 24 percent. So, the incomes of majority of workers in this country have been eroded. Many can no longer breathe. A bag of local rice is now between N45,000 and N50,000. Prices of other staple foods like maize, millet, beans, sorghum have quadrupled. This is the effect of the “cheap petrol” we are buying in Nigeria.

Nigeria does not belong to the club of the West African countries listed in this sermon on cheap petrol in Nigeria. All these countries are not producers of crude oil. This is one fact those behind “Nigeria’s petrol is cheapest” campaign are running away from. Nigerians ought to be enjoying the dividends of producing crude oil in terms of lower price of petroleum products. Research by TheCable on the price of petrol in other countries published on July 24, revealed that petrol is selling at a price lower than that of Nigeria in many crude oil producing countries. TheCable used statistics from Globalpetrolprices, a global market leader known for tracking the retail prices of motor fuel, electricity, and natural gas in over 150 countries.

For this report, the exchange rate used by TheCable was $1/ N781.85, based on the closing rate of the I & E forex window of the Central Bank of Nigeria as of July 24, 2023. It revealed the price of petrol in the following oil producing countries as follows: Algeria N265; Kuwait N267; Angola N284; Iraq N448; Qatar N451; Russia N460; and Saudi Arabia N485. All these oil producing countries sell petrol at a price lower than that of Nigeria. Those pushing out “Nigeria’s petrol is cheapest” narratives pretend to be unaware.

Another thing revealed by TheCable’s research is that as at July 24, 19 countries sell petrol below the N568 pump price in Lagos. Some of the countries are Algeria N265, Egypt N290, Turkmenistan N335, Malaysia N350, Kazakhstan N381, Bahrain N415, Bolivia N423, Iraq N448, Azerbaijan N459, Oman N485, Ecuador N495.

The “Nigeria petrol is cheapest” propagandist have also failed to admit that there is so much pain, so much suffering in all the West African countries where petrol is selling at a very high price. The high cost of petrol is largely responsible for the poverty in these West African countries. I guess this is the club Tinubu wants Nigerians to be members.