‘There is more to insurgency attacks than meets the eye’
Text of a letter by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) submitted to the Northern States Governors Forum chairman, Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, on Friday. The letter was signed by ACF chairman Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmadu Coomassie.
The Chief Servant is well aware of the grim security situation in the North Eastern part of the country, especially Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. We also have in lesser degree a similar situation in Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger and Kaduna States, where incidents of theft of animals (cattle, sheep and goats) are always accompanied by violence such unlawful killing, rape and destruction of property. The case of Plateau has a long story and now Benue is boiling on alleged conflict between Fulani and Tiv. We must not forget the onslaught on Kaduna and Kano including the personal attack on His Royal Highness the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero CFR. Elsewhere and in some parts of Southern Nigeria “Yan Arewa” are not safe. They are branded as members of Boko Haram sect, killed maimed arrested and deported to the North.
Over the years and specifically since 2009, thousands of lives have been lost to the war waged by at first the Boko Haram militant group but now only the Almighty Allah knows who is killing our people in the North and destroying their properties.
More worrisome is the reality that there is no sign of this intractable war abating, in spite of all the measures (military and other security agencies) put in place by the Federal Government. Our people in the North East are now in a state of hopelessness and helplessness. Husbands are being killed, wives are being made widows, if not killed, girls are being abducted and raped, young men are being killed and maimed. Towns and villages are being destroyed and rendered desolate. To make matters worse, school children are being slaughtered and their schools burnt. A traditional ruler, the Shehu of Bama only escaped by the special grace of Allah.
Our people are being made refugees, fleeing from their homes and towns to neighbouring countries. Economic activities have grounded to a total halt, with affected families now resorting to unconventional means of survival.
There is certainly more than meets the eye. Or else how come a convoy of thirty to sixty vehicles full of arsenal-men and material, travel five to ten kilometers conduct an operation, killing people and destroying property and return to base unchallenged.
In the face of this gradual attempt at annihilating our people, governments at both federal and at some states level go about their normal business as if all is well with us. This insensitivity on the part of government is highly condemnable. Northerners are full of despair and can only turn to our governors who are constitutionally charged with the responsibility of our security and welfare. Some of us indeed believe that our leaders have fallen short of expectation in their duty towards protecting them especially those living in the North east. Northerners want to see Governors at the forefront of employing every means at their disposal to bring to an end the massacre of Northern Nigerians. The assertion that the solution to the problem lies with the Federal Government alone is no longer acceptable. Northerners believe that the insensitivity of the Federal Government and the apparent complacency of their elected leaders have contributed in prolonging this unfortunate situation. It is common knowledge that the Army Division claimed to have been established to fight the insurgents does not have up to a full combat ready battalion on the ground. And troops so thinly deployed are most inadequately equipped and motivated. Baring insincerity why was the Governor of Borno State so castigated when His Excellency told the truth about the situation?
His Excellency, the Chief Servant and colleagues, Northern Governors are not unaware that the cardinal objective of governance is the protection of lives and property of citizens. This is so succinctly stated in the Constitution aside of what our religious books, both Islam and Christianity have provided.
Continuous spate of massacre taking place on daily basis and claiming many innocent souls in villages of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa is a clear pointer to the failure of leadership and insensitivity of governance. The Federal Government, Northern State Governors and the entire political elite including the technocrats and the bureaucrats and all leaders of thoughts need the people to be alive in order to rule them.
ACF is now constrained to draw attention of our Governors to our collective responsibility as leaders and protectors of security of lives and properties of the entire North. The efforts so far made by our Governors towards the resolution of these crises need to be re-doubled. No matter how meager the resources available to our Governors, compared with their Southern counterparts, we believe that you can do better, individually and collectively.
His Excellency Chief Servant needs to know that our people have become very apprehensive, highly impatient, and increasingly suspicious of the honesty and sincerity of the leaders towards coming to their rescue. This dangerous situation cannot be allowed to degenerate.
The ACF therefore pleads with the Chief Servant and indeed all colleagues and others in Arewa to rise up to the occasion and help our people. We plead to you to come to the aid of Northerners as believing that there are yet several options open to them if they truly care, for us. As concerned elders of Van Arewa, the only option left for us in ACF is to join the people and take to the streets. We hope that this unpalatable option will not be allowed to happen before our leaders wake up to their responsibilities. Our Governors need to join us so that we can stand up with our people and say enough is enough.
His Excellency the Chief Servant may wish to note that the feelings expressed here are not just those of the ACF. These feelings represent the current mood of the entire people of Northern Nigeria at this very moment.
The ACF is willing to cooperate with government towards ending this massacre and indeed towards any action that will ensure the peace, progress and prosperity of Arewa and the stability of Nigeria. We believe His Excellency the Chief Servant would use his maturity and wisdom to mobilize his colleagues the Northern Governors to save Arewa.