Nigeria And Spectre of Insecurity

It is no longer news that the world in the year 2020 was ravaged by the novel COVID-19 pandemic with over 81 million confirmed cases and almost two million deaths recorded in 222 countries.

While the world is being ravaged by the Coronavirus pandemic and permanent solution is being sought, Nigeria has been turned into a theatre of killings through the activities of terrorists, notably the notorious Boko Haram terrorist group and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

From January up till 31 December, 2020 the Northeast states, most especially Borno State, were terrorised on a daily basis. Hundreds of thousands of people, most especially innocent people, lost their lives.

While all these unnecessary killings continue, the government keeps claiming that the terrorists have been defeated or decimated. But the fact remains that the terrorist groups are very much on ground in the Northeast, terrorising innocent Nigerians as well as military formations. The military has lost many of its personnel, while humanitarian aid workers have been killed.

Many school, markets, places of worship such as churches and mosques were either destroyed or burnt down by the Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province.

In the year 2020 alone, between the two notorious terrorist groups, Boko Haram and ISWAP, more than 50 terror attacks were carried out with thousands of deaths recorded.

The most recent terror attack by the Boko Haram terrorist group was the killing of 11 Christians on Christmas Eve in the village of Pemi, Borno State. This was about one month after the killings of 110 farmers in Koshebe village, Borno State.

Nigeria has become the number one terrorist-hit country in Africa, while Boko Haram has become one of the deadliest terror groups not only in Nigeria and Africa but in the world.

Unlike other terrorist groups, Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province also engaged in the kidnapping of schoolgirls and schoolboys. They kidnap at will.

What is worrisome is the fact that the Nigerian government keeps saying that the terrorists have been defeated while they continue to attack, kill and kidnap both civilians and military personnel.

One keeps wondering how an extremist group terrorised a section of the country for over five years without the government finding a permanent solution to their activities.
–Agunloye Adewunmi Bashiru, bagunloye@gmail.com

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