Hope Rises For Troubled Communities As Buhari Appoints New Service Chiefs

When President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR got into office on May 29, 2015, the hopes of many restive communities were rekindled that with a former military general taking over as the Commander-in-Chief calm will return to troubled parts of the country, especially, in the North-East where he hails from.

Prior to that time, the North-East has suffered over 9 years insurgency with some parts of the country been declared as Boko Haram (the insurgents’ name) territory and flags hoisted by them indicating a new nation within the larger Nigeria.

With this development, people began to wonder how such insurrectionists could have the mind to want to establish a new territory within a sovereign nation. So, there was hue and cry on the then President Goodluck Jonathan to fight the insurgents and reclaim the parts of the country where the Boko Boys have claimed ownership.

In fact, the then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC, Buhari’s party) used the Boko Haram insurgency as a major campaign tool promising to have the magic wand to put to rest the unprovoked act of insurgency.

Little wonder why Nigerians became excited when the party gained power and activated a vociferous campaign anchored largely on its ability to fight large and medium scale insecurity across the nation.

With that mindset that a new sheriff was in town, the insurgents stepped up their  attacks but met stiff reprisals by government forces and, according to Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Communication, were said to have been tactically decimated, but was that really so?

Days, weeks, months and years came to prove the government’s claims as half-truth; the insurgents actually retreated from their supposed conquered territory in Yobe and Adamawa States and were launching attacks on soft spots. And this has continued till today despite government’s denials.

In what appears to be a new twist to the whole anti-terrorism onslaught by the government, a new dimension of attacks sprung this time with the title of herdsmen. The new insurrectionists soon took over the news headlines with a high degree of carnage in places like Benue State were they successfully slaughtered farmers, light chickens in Agatu and elsewhere in 2016, the community settlers had to completely flee the Community for their safety.

In response to the new attacks the Federal Government was not just docile but appeared inept as to how to address the new security challenge facing the nation.

Meanwhile, down South, especially in the East, a secessionist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by its Supreme Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, a London based Umuahia Prince had sped up its activities, calling for the self-independence of the entire South-Eastern part of the country, which is exclusively inhabited by the Igbo ethnic nationality.

The Federal Government, which could not eliminate the Boko Haram insurgency and the herdsmen orchestrated terrorism, descended on IPOB members, who were simply agitating for independence, arrested them, charged them to court and got them sentenced to various prison terms.

Not ending it there, the swiftly acting federal military made frantic efforts to arrest the IPOB Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, upon his arrival into the country in late 2015, he was immediately charged for treasonable felony. However, his trial faced lots of condemnation within and outside the country. He was later offered stringent bail conditions, which he fulfilled with Abia South Senator, Enyinnaya Abaribe signing his bail bond.

As if this was not enough, the Federal Government secured an order from a Federal High Court istting in Abuja presided over by Justice Okon Abang which proscribed IPOB as a terrorist organization, this dealt a major blow to the dream of IPOB members to agitate for their Independence.

While the government heaved a sigh of relief that it has decimated IPOB, the South-South continued to witness high rate of kidnapping, cult rivalries, sea piracy and crude oil theft.

This posed another major headache for the Buhari administration; in less than a year, the entire country has been enmeshed in general insecurity.

The people began to call for re-engineering of the security architecture to bring him new security chiefs as the old ones appears to be bereft of ideas as to how to tackle the insecurity bedeviling the country. But would Buhari listen to the cry of the masses?

While he seemingly became nonchalant about removing the security chiefs, the crime rate across the country assumed frightening dimensions this time with armed banditry in the North-Central and South-West. It then became obvious that the Buhari administration had little understanding of the gravity of issues within the security sector before it assumed power.

For instance, in the heart of the Niger Delta, in areas such as Bonny Local Government Area, where the nation’s oil and gas cash cow, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), ExxonMobil, SPDC, etc, are located, which was, hitherto, very calm, became the epicenter of sea piracy leading to the kidnapping of five prominent indigenes of the area who were attending a funeral in Banigo Isile-Ogono Community.

Other attacks were equally launched by the pirates on the Bonny waterways making sea transportation which is the only means of commuting from Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital to the oil city of Bonny, very deadly. The sea pirates continued unabated with the Rivers State Police Command acting ignorant of the crime going on in the area.

In a frantic reaction to these spate of attacks, youths of the area organized peaceful protests on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, January 12 and 13 in Bonny, and on January 14, in Port Harcourt, respectively. They peacefully marched to the King Perekule Palace, official residence of the Amanyanabo and Natural Ruler of Bonny Kingdom, His Majesty, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple, CON, Perekule XI, where they presented their 5-point demands to his representative and Secretary of the King Perekule Palace, Se-Alabo Abel Attoni. They later proceeded to the Local Government Council Secretariat in Bonny, where they demanded to see the LG Chairman, David Irimagha, who was said to be unavoidably out of town.

At the Port Harcourt end, the protesters converged at the entrance to the Rivers State Government House, where they were received by the State Commissioner for Youths, Prince Ohia, who represented Governor Nyesom Wike; and later moved to the State Assembly Complex, State Police Command Headquarters, and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat, where the Speaker of the State Assembly, Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, represented by Christian Ahiakwo, the State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Yomi Oladimeji, and the State Chairman of the NUJ, Stanley Job, respectively.

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These agitations got International attention and various promises to fight the sea pirates were made. While it may be too early to adjudge if the authorities will walk their talk. It is, however, clear that government appears to be helpless in addressing the high degree of insecurity across the country.

Similar cases of sea piracy, cult rivalries and arson are taking place on a daily basis in the neighbouring Andoni LGA of Rivers State where cultists have sacked communities and made the people live in perpetual fear until recently when the Chairman of the LGA, Paul Lawrence had to employ a community policing strategy through the Andoni Security and Peace Committee (ANOSPAC). Amidst the criticisms and allegations of high handedness, the strategy appears to have yielded dividends as it had in a way restored minimal peace to the area. But how sustainable will that be? That will be a matter for another day.

Obviously, in a frantic effort to save its face, the Federal Government, yesterday, announced through the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the appointment of new service chiefs to replace the retired chiefs who have held sway for five years.

Part of the statement read: “President Muhammadu Buhari has accepted the immediate resignation of the Service Chiefs, and their retirement from service.

Those involved are the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

President Buhari thanks the outgoing Service Chiefs for what he calls their “overwhelming achievements in our efforts at bringing enduring peace to our dear country,” wishing them well in their future endeavours.

The new Service Chiefs are: Major General LEO Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral A. Z. Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff; and Air Vice Marshal I. O. Amao, Chief of Air Staff.

The President congratulates the new Service Chiefs, and urges them to be loyal and dedicated in the discharge of their responsibilities.”

Well, since it took the President 5 years to agree that the erstwhile security chiefs were abysmal in addressing the security deficit in the country, one wonders how long it will take them to properly address it and put an end to the ongoing senseless killings.

Apparently, given that Nigerians are not confident and satisfied that merely changing guard at the Defense Headquarters can be of any significant amelioration to the masses cry for safety of lives and properties, we would, therefore, be pleasantly surprised if the new security chiefs do any better than their predecessors.

Our thoughts are emboldened by the majestic manner in which the immediate past security chiefs were removed, they were celebrated by the President as conveyed by the statement of his Media Aide cited above. So, Nigerians are left with no other understanding than the fact that Mr. President appears to have supported the lackadaisical manner in which the previous heads of the nation’s military acted and seems inured to their largely incompetent tours of duty.

It is our candid advice that Major General Lucky Irabor, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo, and Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Amao, see their appointments as a new opportunity and one that requires them to bring in better and result-oriented tactical methods in managing the nation’s security architecture, which should naturally integrate deploying new technologies in the fight against crime, insurgency, kidnapping, national asset vandalization, homegrown and cross-border terrorism and other forms of criminality, wherever they may be.

It is also our thoughts that this new vista will offer troubled communities across the country such as Bonny, Andoni, Ogoni, Chibok, among several others, a renewed hope of reprieve from armed groups hurting their wellbeing, anchored on equity and justice, peace and fairness. Until then, we siddon dey look.