Nigerian Newspapers
Jonathan’s carrot-stick offer
If anything, the declaration of emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states has brought to the fore the inherent contradictions in our perception of and response to the war against terrorism in the country. It has also exposed the unreliability or deceit in some of the information we have hitherto been fed regarding what ought to be done to tame the scourge. More so when it is realized that terrorism, being a global phenomenon, ought to be confronted according to universally tested rules of engagement. But ours, for curious reasons, was touted to be different and therefore required some local therapy.
Perhaps, due to pressure, outright confusion or to fulfill all righteousness, the federal government found itself incapable of taking the right decisions at the right time. This was in spite of clear evidence that some of the solutions being proffered were not only self-serving but inherently incapable of substantially redressing the threat to the nation’s sovereignty. And the cavalier handling of the matter was further portrayed as evidence that armed confrontation was incapable of taming the monster.
So it was that President Jonathan fell for the amnesty lobby group. Not even the repudiation and rejection of the offer by the insurgents was considered enough signal that something was amiss. He pressed on, inaugurated the amnesty committee even on the eve of the bloodbath in Baga, Borno State. The subsequent sacking of Bama and other terrorist killings in parts of the north could not change the situation.
The questions which nobody was interested in responding to were, if northern leaders who rooted for amnesty had the mandate, respect and confidence of the insurgents, why did they find themselves incapable of reining them in? Why were they unable to persuade the terrorists to sheathe their swords temporarily for the committee to conclude its work? Who really wanted the amnesty in the face of the resurging tempo in the criminal escapades of the insurgents? Or were these heightened attacks to underscore the point that the government has been brought to its knees and must therefore do the bidding of the terrorists? These were the nagging contradictions.
President Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in the three states was therefore, a direct consequence of this dialectics. It was a huge contradiction to accept that amnesty could pull the surprise when there is no change of heart by the insurgents. If the pontifications of apologists of amnesty had been relied upon, the terrorists could have mustered the needed capacity to over run the entire country. That was what drove Jonathan to order massive deployment of soldiers to among others, arrest, detain, search, cordon off any building and stamp out the impunity of the insurgents. He said that the activities of the terror group amounted to a declaration of war against the Nigerian state and an attempt to undermine its sovereignty. That is correct. Curiously, all the negative tendencies which Jonathan cited to justify emergency rule had all along been there.
Yet, we were sold to the idea that dialogue is the most efficacious therapy to this unprovoked act of insurgency. The first issue thrown up by the impending military action in the three states is that it amounted to a loss of confidence in dialogue or the amnesty programme. And this loss is two dimensional. There is loss of confidence from the side of government that dialogue or amnesty is all it takes to redress the madness. And its resort to full scale military action illustrates it all. There will also be loss of confidence on the part of the terrorists in government’s genuine commitment to dialogue. These are not in doubt. Before now, the terrorists had complained they did not trust government’s sincerity to dialogue. That was why Dr. Ahmed Datti withdrew from the earlier panel on the matter. He cited the same reason for declining his nomination in the current one.
But the government says military action will run simultaneously with discussions on amnesty. To underscore this point, the committee met with the president the same day emergency rule was proclaimed. How workable this will turn out is a matter of time. But it is difficult to conceive how the committee can reach out to the insurgents now their lives are in mortal danger.
There are two axioms to contend with here. The first is that government has come to terms with the fact that it has to re-establish its authority in those states. It has also accepted that dialogue or carrot cannot do it hence the need to offer the insurgents the stick. But then, what are the likely outcomes of the combination of these two strategies in the fight against terrorism? There are some possibilities. The first could be to demonstrate government’s capacity to tame the monster. The idea is that if battle is taken to the hide-outs of the terrorists and they are smoked out, those left will be quick to accept the peace process. This draws support from the widely held view especially in the north that government is incapable of winning the war at the battle field and must therefore negotiate.
The other could be to demonstrate very unambiguously that it has the capacity to re-establish its authority by militarily incapacitating the insurgents. The message is that the offer of dialogue should not be misconstrued as weakness on the part of the government. They are being told in very clear terms that it is either they embrace peace or be routed out by the superior fire power of the government forces. There are two possible scenarios. The first is that the insurgents may be so frightened by the new direction that they will quickly scamper for the peace option. If they embrace this option, they will save lives and bring a quick end to the hostilities. This appears attractive.
The other is that unsure of the real intentions of the government and for fear of reprisals, the insurgents will fight on. Their hit and run strategy and the fact of the successes they had made before now, may embolden them to sustain the fight beyond the expectations of the government. And since the insurgents are driven by some weird ideology, there is every thing to expect that they will not succumb to the fear of escalated military onslaught. They will fight on. This possibility is also very high.
If this happens, the government may have to wage the war much longer than envisaged. And in a desperate attempt to subdue the terrorists militarily, both the civilian population and the insurgents will suffer irretrievably. Then, it would have given skeptics ample room to mock the new offensive. Already, skepticisms are rife that the emergency rule will fail like the earlier ones declared in some local governments. Fears have also been expressed on the safety of the civilian population as the onslaught lasts.
Whichever way, it is clear that government has a big burden to discharge in the way it confronts the Boko Haram insurgency in the days ahead. The choice of military action is justified. Somehow, the government has no other option than to restore peace and order in those areas or abdicate and throw in the towel. But the fight is likely to be encumbered by the strategy of the insurgents that blurs differentiation between them and the civilian population. It is therefore difficult to fathom how the military can wage this war successfully without being accused of violating the rights of civilians. That is the new challenge even as the Boko Haram insurgency must be stamped out.
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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: The Nation Newspaper
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•Deploy more personnel as army chief vows to wipe out terror group
•Security beefed up at N’Assembly
Deji Elumoye and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power, is under a massive security cordon following threats of attacks by insurgents and the increasing wave of banditry in the contiguous states of Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger States, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.
There has been a wave of kidnappings in the outskirts of the federal capital, notably Pegi, Tuganmaje and Kuje among others, which the police have battled in recent times.
The security situation in and around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was heightened by the pronouncement of the Niger State Governor, Mr. Sani Bello, that Boko Haram fighters who he said sacked 50 villages in the state and hoisted the terror group’s flag, were about two hours drive away from the FCT.
Security has also been beefed up at the National Assembly as operatives, yesterday, thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
The deteriorating security situation nationwide prompted the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, to warn that the 2023 general election may not hold, demanding the declaration of a state of emergency as well as the convocation of a national conference.
However, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, yesterday restated the Nigerian Army’s determination to annihilate Boko Haram.
But the Governor of Katsina State, Hon. Bello Masari, cautioned against declaring a state of emergency, saying doing so isn’t the solution to combat the security challenges facing the country.
The security of the nation’s airports was also in focus yesterday as the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said there was no threat to them.
THISDAY’s investigations showed increased presence of troops, police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel and intelligence operatives at the three strategic entrances to the city notably, Keffi, Zuba and Gwagwalada.
More checkpoints were also mounted around Gwagwalada and Keffi.
THISDAY also observed increased intelligence deployment at the entrance and the borders of FCT with contiguous states.
Beyond the borders, there were more deployments and police patrols inside the city and increased intelligence deployments as well.
Security sources told THISDAY: “There are deployments here and there but they are routine. Alertness is key to a secure environment.”
It was also learnt that security agencies were involved in frenzied meetings throughout yesterday.
The meetings, coordinated by the office of the Chief of Defence Staff under the new joint operational strategy of the armed forces, were aimed at coordinating a joint response to possible threats of attack to the FCT.
“I understand the security teams have been meeting for some days now and if you look around you, you will notice that there are increasing patrols and numbers of security personnel. The threats are not been taken lightly,” a source said.
National Assembly workers, lawmakers and visitors also had a harrowing experience accessing the legislative complex due to heightened security in the area.
Security operatives thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja, impeding both human and vehicular traffic.
The Sergeant-at-arm of the National Assembly and other security agencies supervised the operations, leading to huge traffic build-up inside the complex.
Legislative staff, visitors and lawmakers were seen patiently waiting for their cars to be searched so that they could go ahead with the business of the day.
Some staff and visitors at some point got tired of waiting and were seen alighting from their cars to trek from the gate to the complex.
Meanwhile, the ONSA has said there is no threat to the nation’s airports.
A statement by the Head of Strategic Communication, Mr. Zachari Usman, said the reports of threats to the airports were an internal correspondence of security threat assessment misconstrued as security threat to the airports.
PDP Demands State of Emergency
In a related development, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, yesterday demanded the declaration of a state of emergency, warning that the 2023 general election might not hold if the federal government failed to tackle insecurity.
He called on the federal government to summon a national conference to address the spike in insecurity.
Secondus added that the national caucus of the party will meet today to discuss the state of the nation.
Addressing members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja, Secondus said: “We are worried Abuja is not even safe. It is no longer politics. We got alert of plots to bomb and burn down our airports.
“We urge the federal government to declare a national state of emergency in security. There is the need to call a national conference to discuss the insecurity in the country.
“There may not be any election in 2023 in Nigeria due to insecurity. This government must listen to the people. The Buhari government should call a national confab to discuss security and state of the nation. It is no longer politics. This time we are not playing politics. Let’s keep politics aside and move the nation forward.”
He said the country had been grounded, regretting that there had been no matching response from the federal government.
Secondus said in the past, terrorism in the North was confined to the North-east, but with the report of Boko Haram occupying villages in Niger State, terrorism had spread to the North-central
“Herdsmen are also menacing in the West; gunmen causing havoc in the East; and the militants in the South; all killing, looting, raping, maiming and burning down homes. The situation is bad; Nigerians all over are living in fear,” he said.
The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the problem of Nigeria was outside of the PDP headquarters, while pledging the support of the Senate to the declaration of state of emergency in security.
Abaribe said he deliberately decided not to speak on the floor of the Senate but to allow the APC senators to speak so as to avoid being accused of giving a partisan colouration to the issue of insecurity.
He stated that only electoral reforms would give victory to the opposition party in the 2023 general election and ensure a democratic defeat of the APC-led federal government.
Also, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, commended the NEC and the PDP leadership for their collective efforts at resolving the House leadership crisis.
The NEC meeting adopted the position of Secondus, calling on the federal government to convoke a national conference to discuss the state of insecurity in the country, according to a communiqué read by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan.
Army Chief Vows to Wipe Out Boko Haram
The army yesterday reiterated its commitment to wipe out Boko Haram.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, told reporters in Maiduguri, Borno State that Boko Haram had been defeated in many encounters and would continue to be defeated until it’s annihilated from Nigeria.
“We will take on Boko Haram decisively, and we are committed to the focus of the operations, which is the total annihilation of Boko Haram from Nigeria,” he said.
The COAS, who was visiting the headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri for the fifth time since his appointment four months ago, said the visit was to boost the morale of the troops, reassure them and listen to any issues affecting them.
Earlier, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Farouq Yahaya, lauded the visit, which he said had continued to boost the morale of the troops.
“We are honoured, we are grateful, we are encouraged by those visits. You provided us guidance, logistics and other things we required. We are most grateful for those visits,” Yahaya said.
State of Emergency Won’t Solve Security Challenges, Says Masari
Katsina State Governor, Hon. Aminu Masari, has, however, said declaration of a state of emergency won’t solve the security challenges facing the nation.
Masari, who spoke yesterday with journalists after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari at the State House, Abuja stated that he was against the recent call by the House of Representatives for the declaration of a state of emergency in the security sector as it would not solve the problem.
According to him, declaring a state of emergency will not achieve the desired effect as the security structure and personnel to be used to execute the emergency are already overstretched in a bid to safeguard lives and property.
Sourced From: THISDAYLIVE
Tribune Online
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 62 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 165,110. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Friday. “55 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria; Lagos-21, Yobe-19, Ogun-6, Akwa Ibom-3, Kaduna-2, Plateau-2, FCT-1, Rivers-1.” YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE COVID-19: Nigeria Recorded […]
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Tribune Online
Sourced From: Tribune Online
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
The people of the South East region have been urged to explore the power of negotiation and mutual settlement in the face of ongoing killings and security challenges in the zone because the east can not afford another war at present.
Stakeholders from the South-East geo-political zone made the remark on Thursday, at the unveiling of the book, “Igbo, 50 years after Biafra,” written by Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Drainage Services, Joe Igbokwe, held at Ikeja G.R.A.
Speaking at the unveiling of the book, the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Cutis Adigba,
urged the people of the South-East to learn to build bridges across the country, so that they can realise their ambition of producing the next president of Nigeria.
Adigba urged leaders from the zone to discourage the move and agitation by some youths in the South East to go to war and secede out of Nigeria.
Also read: Banditry: Disregard viral video, Niger State gov’t urges residents
He said that Igbo have always found it difficult to rule Nigeria because they refused to build bridges across the six geo-political zones that made up Nigeria.
While describing the agitation as uncalled for, Adigba noted that after two decades that Nigeria returned to civil rule, the Igbo has predominantly identified with only one political party.
He maintained that remaining in one party can not advance the cause of the people of South East and cannot make them realise their objective of producing an Igbo man as president.
He maintained that the publisher of the book, Igbokwe played politics outside his state, so that the Igbo race can be integrated with one another race.
Adigba said the failure of the Igbo to reintegrate with other ethnic nationalities politically was responsible for the retrogression of the race in Nigerian politics.
Igbokwe, also addressing guests on the occasion, maintained that the Igbo are not advancing politically because they refused to be integrated into National politics, lamenting that, despite their success in business, they are not successful in playing politics at the national level.
Corroborating Dimgba, Igbokwe noted that there was the need for the Igbo people to stand up and build bridges so that their objective of producing the next president of Nigeria could be realised.
According to him: “I have decided to raise my voice, I hope my people will hear me while trying to quell the effect of the war, our people are spoiling for another war, mayhem is being unleashed in Igbo land, and there is palpable fear.
“Those who could speak have lost their voice, mindful of the consequences of their actions, I am calling on all Igbo leaders to speak up because all actions carry consequences, consequences of the silence will be too dastardly to sustain.
“Those silently supporting the wild wind should be careful or else they hand over to their children,” he said.
Igbokwe urged those spoiling for war to jettison their plan and embrace dialogue, urging them to learn from the South West region that despite the challenges faced after the annulment of the June 12, 1993, election, they did not go to war, and the region had the opportunity of producing two of her sons for presidential position in 1999.
“You have to build bridges to become president of Nigeria, but it is unfortunate the Igbo are burning bridges.”
Speaking at the event, Chief Uche Dimgba who is the coordinator of Igbo in All Progressives Congress, APC in Lagos, described Igbokwe as “a Frank, fearless and reliable leader, who based his views on issues and stand by his opinions, and we the Igbo have confidence in him and believe he can lead us aright.”
“He is a leader we Igbo believe in and we will follow him. If he can serve all the governors produced in Lagos State since 1999, he is a better man to follow because he possesses all the experience that can be of benefit to Igbo both at home and in the diaspora.”
The post Attacks on S’East: We must explore all options of negotiation — Stakeholders urge Igbo appeared first on Vanguard News.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
The government said that no worker should stay back beyond 6:00 p.m. within premises of buildings undergoing construction.
The post Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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