Winning The War On Terror

The deadly attack on military facilities in
Maidiguri, and the killing of 85 innocent
persons, penultimate Monday, by Boko Haram insurgents at a time such incidents should be abating is to say the least unacceptable.
According to reports, the Boko Haram insurgents who may be bent on imposing Sharia (Islamic law) on the country, had stormed the village of Kawuri, in remote North-Eastern Borno State in several trucks with military uniforms and opened fire on residents killing 85 persons, burnt several houses and injured 50 persons.
After that attack, the incident of killing by the insurgents have become more frequent and worrisome. Sadly, in spite of the indiscriminate killings, Boko Haram still enjoys some level of support in some quarters. If the terror activities of this group must end, something more drastic must be done.
In spite of the hitherto effective use of aerial attacks against Boko Haram, nothing can justify such attack on the military and the collateral deaths and damage inflicted on their own people. That the fanatics are overtly evil can no longer be denied.
Indeed, the successful strikes by the group continually goes to give credence to the suggestion by President Goodluck Jonathan that the terror group may have infiltrated the administration. Only a couple of days ago, he advised the new Military Service Chiefs to work together to achieve the needed peace in the country.
Against this backdrop, we expect that the new Service Chiefs would guard against anything that would make them work at cross-purposes. They should be the last set of people to resort to any kind of competition and power tussle.
The Tide thinks that it is high time the security agencies evolved improved strategy to combat the insurgency. On no account should Boko Haram be seen to carry out successive attacks and cause the death of more innocent Nigerians. Indeed, the target of the present authorities to dismantle Boko Haram by April this year needs to be realised.
We think that new strategies against the insurgency should capitalise on intelligence gathering and inter-departmental cooperation.
We believe that intelligence failure, more than anything else, can jeopardise the concerted effort aimed at putting an end to the Boko Haram insurgency. Incidentally, intelligence is what they need to get from other sources within and outside Nigeria.
Even so, there is need to probe into how hundreds of attackers in military uniforms easily penetrated military facilities that are supposed to be highly secured. The probe should unravel why the security personnel in the city were caught unawares by the insurgent numbering up to 500.
We believe that if  the military can be so easily taken by surprise under a state of emergency, every Nigerian should be worried. That is why the government and the military must work together to unearth why such a massive attack was possible in the first place.
Terrorism in Nigeria appears to be home grown and, therefore, calls for the active involvement of elder statesmen, religious leaders and politicians in the affected areas. As Nigeria approaches a major political season, everything should be done to stop this mindless killing.
The Tide, therefore, calls on the leaders of the north to be able to do more by galvanising their people towards talking issues over to bring to a halt the killings that now target everyone and the corporate existence of the people.
The Federal Government on its part should do more to identify the sponsors of Boko Haram with a view to bringing them to book. Even so, efforts should be made to maintain a very cordial relationship with the natives of the place, assist them with safety advice and support with a view to cutting down the fatality rate.