Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and the largest economy, has severely suffered ethnic, religious and political violence since its independence from Britain in 1960. It went through a Civil War between 1967 and 1970, the Maitasine crisis in the 1980s, sporadic ethno-pastoral conflicts, particularly in the Middle Belt, and militancy in the oil-producing Niger Delta region in the southern part of the country.
In the past decade, there has been a spate of violent attacks linked to the group notoriously known as Boko Haram in the Northern part of the country where thousands of lives have been lost and extensive property damage suffered, setting the already slow development of the region even further backwards. Agitation by pro-Biafra group in the South-East for the establishment of a Sovereign State of Biafra raises concerns.
Also, the conflict between nomadic herdsmen, cattle rustlers, and farmers has most recently expanded to other parts of the country with an escalation in the spate of violent clashes resulting in several deaths with entire villages being burnt down, and animals and farmlands destroyed. Bandits later appeared as the new bogeyman of insecurity in Nigeria, joining a long list of others.
Exploiting a weak Nigerian security system, bandits/terrorists attacked Kaduna International Airport on 25 March 2022. Over 200 invaders seized navigational equipment, interrupted flights and openly confronted troops. Before they were repelled by the Nigeria Army and Air Force, they had inflicted further massive damage on the national psyche. An official of Nigeria’s Airspace Management Agency was shot and killed in the invasion.
Apparently emboldened by the seeming victory they recorded at the airport, the bandits, on 28 March 2022, tweaked their game plan and moved to lay ambush for the public train that runs between Kaduna and Abuja ferrying millions of passengers daily between the two major cities. The killers successfully and without any challenge, laid tonnes of explosives on the rail track, and they succeeded in their evil scheme.
About a year ago, armed bandits attacked the staff quarters of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the Kaduna International Airport and abducted about 12 people. Terrorists also carried out large-scale attacks on the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Abuja and Kano, and kidnapped hundreds of students in the North. But a major bandit attack on an airport is out of the ordinary.
In July 2021, an Alpha military airplane was shot down at the border between Zamfara and Kaduna. Amazingly, the military did not respond with the expected ferocity against the insurgents. The feeble response encouraged terrorist operatives to attack the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) the following month, when two officers were killed and one abducted. Under Buhari, even the military is unsafe.
These attacks heavily portray Nigeria as a failed state and raises questions about the ability of security agencies, especially the police, military, and the State Security Service to secure strategic assets, lives, and property. As the state is confronted with regular daily incursions by Fulani bandits and militias, security operatives should not be caught napping again.
Security agents must explain how about 200 bandits were able to travel long distances to the airport on 70 to 80 undetected, uninterrupted motorcycles. Does a state under the siege of criminals not have a 24-hour surveillance, patrol, and intelligence system? Shamefully, President Muhammadu Buhari remains in denial and refuses to take control.
Bandits have taken these deliberate killings to the sovereignty of our country, well beyond what is understandable. The Federal Government must accept failure and present a very strong front to ensure that these attacks do not take place any further. And for it to stop, someone needs to be held accountable to act as a deterrent to others.
The airport breach rekindles widespread fear that Nigeria is on the verge of a cliff. Kaduna is host to the elite 1st Division of the Nigerian Army; Nigerian Army Depot, Zaria; Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji; Nigerian Defence Industry, Nigerian Airforce Training School, Nigerian Police College and the Nigerian Navy School of Armament, Kachia.
Other military institutions in Kaduna are: The Nigerian Army School of Legal Services, Bassawa Zaria; the Nigerian Defence Academy; the Nigerian Army School of Artillery, Kachia; the Nigerian Army School of Military Police; Army Operation Base, Southern Kaduna and the Nigerian Army School of Infantry.
With these and other security agencies operating in Kaduna, the state and its environs should have become a veritable military fortress that cannot be easily overrun by bandits or terrorists. But this is not the case. It has paradoxically suffered more attacks by daring bandits and terrorists than many other states in the North or any other part of the country.
These audacious attacks have come in torrents and destructive fashion, leading to the killing of thousands of innocent persons, destruction of key national infrastructure and the kidnapping for ransom of very important Nigerians. Members of the armed forces have also fallen victims to the ravenous elements, which apparently are always on the lookout for top officials to maim, kill or kidnap for pecuniary gains.
Nigerians are playing with fate. Insensitive and entirely selfish politicians are preoccupied by the 2023 elections as the country collapses. To avoid the impending doom, strong voices must demand action from the Buhari regime. Nigeria needs an urgent security reform. States should meet the challenge by organising well-armed security outfits to complement inadequate and failing federal agencies. This war needs to be about intelligence and technology.