Boko Haram: Time For Decisive Action

The current security challenges in the country occasioned by the activities of the fundamentalist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, which operates mostly from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, is cause for great concern.

It is remarkable that this sect stepped up its criminal activities of bombing military, police targets and civilian population since the declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan as the winner of the April 19 presidential polls.

Not even the declaration of the international community on the quality of the elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), could deter the Boko Haram fanatics and their sponsors from executing their destabilising activities aimed at undermining the security of the country, which reached a new dimension with the bombing of the Police Headquarters in Abuja, for which the sect claimed responsibility.

Since then, no day passes without Boko Haram unleashing bomb attacks on the society, including the killing of soldiers in Maiduguri.

Despite the fact that its activities clearly undermine national security and constitutes a threat to the peace and unity of the country, the Federal Government had been employing the use of dialogue in finding a solution to the inordinate demands of the sect in the interest of national unity.

Perhaps, government’s treatment of this threat to its authority with kid-gloves had emboldened the sect to spread its tentacle to other states, like Bauchi and Katsina. It is therefore, regrettable that today, Maiduguri is being deserted as residents are moving out of the city in droves, following the reaction of the Joint Military Task Force deployed to restore law and order, after it lost six men to Boko Haram attacks.

The Tide, therefore, feels that the issue at hand requires urgent and more proactive action by the Federal Government to contain this violence and culture of fear which Boko Haram has unleashed on the people, before it is exported to more states.

We are not oblivious that the Presidency has had meetings with security chiefs to chart the way forward even as some Boko Haram adherents had been reportedly arrested by security operatives.

The big surprise is that even as elements suspected to be loyal to the sect are being rounded up, those at large are carrying on their revolt against the Federal Government with impunity by the use of bombs which had killed many Nigerians and destroyed valuable property.

Needless to say that the exodus of citizens from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, would have negative effects in neigbouring states, a situation which could distract government from other important state affairs.

But since the security of lives and property of law-abiding citizens remain the core task of government, and since no government worth its name would watch helplessly while its authority is being challenged, no measure of the Federal Government  to assert its authority and curb the violent activities of Boko Haram would be considered too hasty, provided such decision was reached with due considerations for national cohesion, stability and progress.

Therefore, it behoves the security agencies to intensify their information gathering and exchange mechanisms in order to stop the spread of violence to other parts of the country. There is, thus, urgent need for surveillance activities to be stepped up on the nation’s North-East borders to stop the infiltration of hoodlums from neigbouring countries who usually take advantage of our porous borders to commit dastardly across-the-border raids.

While The Tide commends the Federal Government for its calm stance towards this security challenge so far, no stone should be left unturned in  unmasking those suspected senior citizens sponsoring these acts.

True, for meaningful change to evolve, some painful decisions are bound to be taken by those in authority for the future development of the country.

What the people expect from the Federal Government now is a clear departure from old practices whereby those fingered as brains behind violent crimes against humanity are never exposed and prosecuted for political and other primordial reasons.

Therefore, we challenge the Federal Government to assert itself by refusing to be stampeded into taking wrong decisions concerning this Boko Haram menace because anyone or group of persons who after Nigeria’s 50th year of independence still orchestrates those things that divide us should be made to pay, according to law.

Thus, the Federal Government should never bow to any suggestion at negotiating with the Boko Haram sect in order to avoid creating a dangerous precedent. It is our view that soldiers should not be withdrawn from the streets of Maiduguri, as being canvassed by some elders in that state until the safety of lives and property of fellow Nigerians are guaranteed.