FG PROVIDING REENFORCEMENT FOR BOKO HARAM
In words of late General Sanni Abacha, if terrorism persists beyond 24 hours know that the Govt has a hand in it.
This statement was credited to the former Head of States of Nigeria over two decades ago yet still valid. The recent moves by the Buhari administration to release over 1,400 repentant Boko Haram fighters in exchange for nothing is one of the dumbest National Security strategy of the Federal Government.
In this article we shall x-ray how Prisoners of War (POWs) were used for strategic reasons and set the records straight regarding amnesty programmes for Militants in the Niger Delta and Boko Haram Insurgence in the North East.
The release and integration of repentant insurgents into the military was received by Nigerians with mixed feelings especially in the wake of increasing Boko Haram attacks on our villages in the North East.
During Gulf War II, the Syria Govt released captured militia fighters in their prisons to join in the fight against Allied forces in Iraq. The Americans and British ensured that the state of Syria pays heavily for that decision.
It is no longer news that Syria is almost in complete ruines if not for the intervention of the Russians, the President of Syria and country would have changed forever in the interest of the West.
The rationale behind the Allied anger is because they suffered alot casualties in the border between Syria and Iraq, which is a direct consequences of those released militia fighters from Syria prisons.
A regression of the situation reveals a lucid correlation with the Nigerian situation. The Nation has witnessed ramped up attacks from the Insurgence since the release of over 1,400 Boko Haram fighters.
The most recent was in Adamawa State. Weapons do not operate in isolation, humans used them for specific task. These insurgents were captured under heavily fought battles with security forces loosing gallants officers and men in the line of duty. The logic behind the release has no philosophical basis in the opinion of many security analysts.
The recent outburst of the National Security Adviser support the argument that the National Security strategy of the country is failing . When an Israeli soldier was captured as prison of war, they ensure they did everything necessary to secure his release including releasing hundreds of Palestinian fighters held in Israel detention centres.
Late Senator John McCain was taken prison of war on October 26, 1967 and stayed in captivity for almost 6 years before his eventual release by the Vietnamese in exchange for similar gesture.
This exercise was named Operation Homecoming by the US Govt.'The practice of handing over NVA and Viet Cong prisoners captured by Americans to the South Vietnamese military, where the abuse of such prisoners was commonly known, may have contributed to abuse of American POWs held by the NVA and Viet Cong as a means of retaliation'. Therefore, prisoners of War are released in exchange for something that is of great national values.
It is in the public domain that some of the security forces, Chibok, Dapchi girls especially Leah Sharibu are still in captivity yet the Federal Government could not negotiate their release in exchange for their fighters as part of diplomatic solution to securing our POWs.
This placid behavior of the Buhari administration clearly fits into the narrative that he is not in charge of the Govt because there are remote forces influencing the decision of Mr President and they are not in the interest of Nigeria, it is to satisfy their capitalist appetite.
Nigerians are very quick at directing their frustration on the wrong persons because of lack of knowledge, the call for the change of service chiefs in my opinion is not the solution to the problems, however, if they are due for retirement, they should be ease out legitimately.
In the words of Senator Inaya Abaribe, the president should resign because the bulk stops on his table rather blaming security chiefs.
The lackadaisical attitude of this administration has shown that the political class in the APC supposed signed some pact with foreign Govt to use insurgency to steal our wealth in the North. I want to use this article to call on President Buhari, Sen Bola Tinubu, HE Nasir El Rufai, Attahiru Jega, etc to tell Nigerians the agreement they had with the West that saw the US Govt directly meddling into our elections through the broadcast of former US President Barrack Obama to Nigerians to take the next curve.
These leaders should in the interest of the future of this country to come out clean.
The Americans are supposedly in the forefront in the fight against terrorism, however, they have not released any suspected terrorist without extracting actionable intelligence from them before repatriating them back to their country and not US soil.
What is the philosophical rationale behind the release of captured Boko Haram insurgents back to the Nigerian society? Pondits on the side of the Govt will argue that Militants were granted Amnesty, why are we against similar strategy for the insurgents?
The following questions should be answered by those putting up those arguments. Has the FG declared a period of Amnesty? Were Militants seizing territories? Were Militants attacking civilian population? Were Militants attacking churches and Mosques? These are pertinent questions for them to answer.
The recent plans by the Senate to establish Repentant Boko Haram Commission despite the establishment of the North East Development Commission is another misplaced priority and a prove that the Government has a hand in the insecurity ravaging the country.
The duplicity of our political leaders driven by greed has led us to this terrible situation in our hands. With the prevailing condition in the North East, the best military in the world cannot conquer the insurgents because our National Security policy is determined by foreign interest whose interest is to acquire cheap natural resources for their economic advancement.
It is bizarre to know that the NSA Alh Mogunno, Chief Staff Abba Kyari and COA Buratai are all from Borno State, the epicenter of the conflict yet they cannot stop the senseless killings of their indigenes yet they can provide so much protection for same people in other regions of the country. At this point, it is important to note that they are mining high Uranium in Borno State amid Boko Haram Insurgence.
The argument that the country lacks what it takes to defeat insurgency is not tenable in my views because the country has excellence intelligence gathering capabilities that can produce actionable intelligence but the political will is lacking. Our political class must realise that our soldiers, men, women, children and Communities are regularly destroyed by this foreign elements called Boko Haram.
Analysis of the condition surrounding the release of captured Boko Haram fighters and our Visa policy, clearly support the argument that President Buhari is providing reenforcement for the insurgent group. This assertion was further confirmed following the ubiquitous but renewed waves of attacks across the North East.
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