Again, the Nigerian security architecture has been subjected to a new litmus test. Sadly, the outcome was unpalatable. Though not to be scolded alone, yet, in the fresh bloodbath, the security was found wanting, while hapless Nigerians were put at the receiving end. Last week’s massacre in which 195 souls perished in 36 communities under Bokkos and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas of Plateau State, North Central Nigeria, was a big minus for both the country’s security agencies and the government. Indeed, it was another national tragedy.
Expectedly, reactions from different quarters have trailed and are still dropping on the multiple and bloody attacks.
These comments have been on reasons, condemnations, factors for inadequate/late response and, as usual, promises on steps that will be taken to check more and future onslaughts.
Last week Tuesday, the bereaved Governor Caleb Mutfwang, while addressing newsmen was categorical when he declared that the carnage, which took place both on December 24 and 25, 2023 nights had nothing to do with religion conflicts nor about farmer-herder clashes. Instead, Mutfwang alleged that it was pure terrorism and brutal murder.
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The Governor alleged that before his inauguration, the terrorists targeted Mangu Local Government Area, his hometown, previously known for its peace. He pointed out that the attacks persisted in Mangu, his Deputy’s area in Riyom, as well as Barakin Ladi and Bokkos. With this allusion, Mutfwang gave the impression that he had credible intelligence ahead of time of the strike. But what did he do with the security information in his custody? More on this later.
Vocal Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, toed Governor Mutfwang’s line. The cleric last week Saturday was equally assertive when he declared that the latest murder in Plateau State was beyond herder-farmer clashes. Quoting him, Kukah said the murderers “want their own kind of Nigeria according to their ideology”. The killers, he exploded, were “sons of Satan” who “opted to extinguish and snatch the light of the joy of Christmas from thousands of people on the Plateau”.
He asked rhetorically: “Who are these killers? Where are they coming from? Who is sponsoring them? What are their grouses and against whom? What do they want? Whom do they want? Who are they working for? When will it all end? Why are they invincible and invisible? Who is offering them cover?”
Now, the most central and significant: the Nigerian Army reactions. A week after the butchery – last Friday, the Defence Headquarters, through Major General Edward Buba, its Director of Media Operations, gave a lengthy response to the attacks. First, Buba pointed out that troops intervened in 19 out of the 36 villages in Plateau State after receiving distress calls from villagers on December 24, 2023. The intervention in the two local government areas: Bokkos and Barkin Ladi, he said, forced some of the militants to withdraw after wreaking havoc on the defenceless villagers. However, the situation changed for the worse.
Buba said: “Sadly, events turned gloomy with the attack on Bokkos LGA and some part of Barkin Ladi LGA on December 23. It should be noted that Bokkos and Barkin Ladi LGAs span about 2,315 square kilometres with over 350 villages, mostly dispersed. The distance between some of these villages and troops’ locations is over 90 kilometres and sometimes difficult to access because of the rugged terrain, which are mostly inaccessible to vehicles, thus affecting the reaction time to incidents, except when there is credible intelligence before the attack. The militants unleashed mayhem on the villagers before the arrival of troops to the location.”
Added to this, Buba said the troops received a total of 36 distress calls from diverse locations simultaneously on December 24 at about 7pm. The calls, according to him, reported a series of coordinated attacks by allegedly armed militant herders “on isolated villages in the two local government areas”. Buba also gave account of the measures being taken by the Army to tackle insecurity in the State before now. He informed that the troops had in the second half of the year initiated kinetic and non-kinetic operations, which significantly curtailed attacks between farmers and herders in Plateau State.
He revealed: “Until the recent killings in Plateau during the Christmas, the highlighted measures visibly contributed to the relative peace in Plateau as well as the adjoining areas in Bauchi, Taraba and Kaduna States. Similarly, the activities of Operation ‘Whirl Stroke’ significantly checked armed banditry, kidnapping and other crimes in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States.” Buba’s response ended with the traditional promise that the military had taken necessary measures to overcome all identified challenges and ensure that such tragic occurrences were avoided in the future.
There are three key issues of attention and concern in DHQ response, as echoed by its Spokesperson. The first is the time the response came. We observed that the reaction was rather belated. Being the major stakeholder in this matter, it was expected that the DHQ’s response and explanations could have come much earlier. This is not to rubbish the points the army pushed out.
The second issue of concern in DHQ comment relates to its option of kinetic and non-kinetic operations. Interestingly, Governor Mutfwang mentioned a similar measure in his Tuesday’s reaction. Through the approach, the Governor attested that the State was able to get some of the issues that really touch and affect people.
Professionally, kinetic operations involve the use of force such as traditional military actions, including: armed combat and physical destruction, while non-kinetic operations rely on non-physical means like psychological operations, cyber warfare and diplomacy to achieve set security objectives without direct force.
If the measures have worked in the past, why the latest attacks? Again, despite that the mode of operations were applauded by both the Army and Governor Mutfwang, what has been the synergy between the State Government security structure and military, most especially that Mutfwang said he had the intelligence that the ravaging terrorists have targeted his local government area, his Deputy and others?
The third issue, which caught our attention, was the promise of taking measures to check future occurrence. This is traditional and not a few Nigerians dismiss and hold it with a pinch of salt. If there is anything serious in the previous promises and boasting, the recent slaughter would not have happened in the first place.
Still, the blame is not totally that of the Army, given the wide coverage areas of Army Divisions and poor personnel capacity. For instance, the 3 Division Nigerian Army is located in Jos, the Plateau State capital. The Division has under it Operation Safe Haven, which covers not just the state, but also parts of Kaduna and Bauchi States.
Apart from the wide coverage areas per Divisions of Army, the formations are seriously understaffed! And this challenge has been with us for a long time. In early January 2016, former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, while speaking on plan to establish 8 and 6 Divisions, in Borno and Niger Delta region, complained about the dearth of workforce in the Army formations. Buratai hinted then that the Army planned to increase its personnel strength from its present (as at 2016) “100,000 strength force to slightly above 200,000 in the next eight years”. He confirmed then that 12,000 personnel would be recruited in 2016 alone to fill the vacancies created as a result of the new establishments in the Army.
DHQ in its response, tactically, indicated that the troops were overwhelmed by different distress calls from different directions. This is a fact and nothing different should be expected. Notwithstanding the disclosure last week Tuesday by the incumbent COAS, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, at a special luncheon organised for frontline troops of 6 Division, Nigeria Army, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, that over 50,000 soldiers are presently involved in several peacekeeping operations across the country, he specified that the internal security operations included: counter-terrorism efforts in the North East, separatist operations in the South East and combating oil theft in the South South. For a fact, the COAS figure is a combination of Armed Forces men. Therefore, the figure he mentioned is grossly inadequate when put into account huge land mass to cover and criminalities to contain in the geo political zones being terrorised.
The truth of the matter is that the Nigerian Armed Forces are overburdened! On February 13, 2023, former Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, while speaking during 25th edition of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s Scorecard Series declared that the Nigerian Armed Forces were overstretched. Magashi revealed as of 2022, Nigeria with an estimated population of about 220 million people has a total military strength of about 223,000 personnel. Magashi analysed that this gives a ratio of military personnel to a population of approximately 11,000. He lamented that this was lower than those of Nigeria’s neighbours, except Niger Republic. And it should also be noted that the figure falls short of the United Nations recommendation of one police officer to 220 citizens.
Magashi’s solution was that there is a need to enhance the capacity of the police and other paramilitary agencies to enable them to discharge their primary responsibility of maintaining internal security. Besides, Magashi recommended that Nigeria must be consistent in the recruitment of about 12,000 soldiers bi-annually to enhance the capabilities of the military to meet the security challenges in the country.
So, if there was anything that was imperfect, it was the challenge of manpower, joined with immature intelligence gathering and utilisation. Otherwise, the criminals wouldn’t have a field day in the regrettable attacks. Shockingly, the suspected insurgents after the two previous attacks have struck again unhindered. Again, the audacious and daring terrorists have given notice of fresh and maybe more devastating murder!
On December 29, the Middle-Belt Forum alleged that the insurgents have written to the Pushit community in Mangu LGA on a fresh attack. The MBF Deputy National President, Stanley Kavwam, gave the hint while being featured on a television interview. The alarm followed the United Nations and Northern Caucus of the House of Representatives and Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda’s demand for a thorough investigation and probe of the latest attacks.
As asked by Bishop Hassan-Kukah: Who are these criminals? What’s their agenda? Who is or are their sponsors? Where do they live? These are security questions and in all honesty, answers to them should not be too difficult for our security agencies and government to answer.
On the surface, it’s good to hear that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has deployed policemen for special operations in Plateau State. What about the other States known for one security concern or the other? Still, nothing as we speak can change the disaster being recorded with the present abysmal personnel capacity in our security various security agencies.
Our concerns. For umpteenth time, the Nigerian security has been scored low, hence the recent Plateau State carnage is another pointer to its immature intelligence. As mentioned earlier, the Army alone is not to be blamed for the massacre. No magic should be expected from the Armed Forces as long as they suffer from inadequate personnel. This is one of the critical areas the President and Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces must sit up, urgently find real and persistent solutions to.
We have stressed in our recent Editorial commentaries that the Nigerian Armed Forces should justify spending since the war against insurgency has started. As at 2021, the sum of N12 trillion has been estimated to have been spent on procurement of arms and ammunition as well as on other crucial areas of security. At the same time, the government should complement its huge spending with regular recruitment and training of security personnel.
Most importantly, the locals are important in stemming insecurity in various parts of the country. The residents should be vigilant, positive and prompt in unravelling intelligence to the security operatives. When this is done, most security challenges when looming can be tackled headlong and disaster is averted.
In summary, Nigerians are tired, very tired of excuses, bloodshed and seemingly rude and empty security promises from authorities. Therefore, from the security agencies hierarchy, the government at all levels and people, serious commitment, patriotism, focus and action are what we really need. Each has strong roles to play in working towards achieving lasting solutions. Here is wishing Nigerians a prosperous and peaceful 2024.
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