Shiroro attackers won’t go unpunished, Buhari vows

• Hails Slain Army, Police Personnel, Others
• HURIWA Wants NSA, Service Chiefs Sacked For Incompetence

President Muhammadu Buhari has been advised to sack all his service chiefs, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Inspector-General of Police and the National Security Adviser (NSA) for gross incompetence and crass dereliction of duty.

Frontline civil society group – Human Rights Writers Association Of Nigeria (HURIWA) which gave the advice, yesterday, said President Buhari ought to stop his frequent lamentations over his failings in the area of security because that is not why he was elected but to take immediate and comprehensive measures to dismiss any or all of his service chiefs now since they have manifested, through their actions and inactions, that they have not got what it takes to defeat terrorists. To HURIWA, the security chiefs, most of whom are Moslem northerners, are behaving like they are aiding and abetting the successes recorded so far by Islamic terrorists and Fulani terrorists. 

The group reacted against the backdrop of the massacre of soldiers in Shiroro Dan, a strategic national asset by the terrorists known as Boko Haram. HURIWA accused President Buhari of abandoning his duty to gallivanting and globetrotting.

The Nigerian Army has confirmed the attack in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State by bandits who killed security operatives, including soldiers and police.

According to reports, at least 43 people, including 30 soldiers and seven mobile police personnel were killed when the armed men stormed the Gold mining site. They also abducted several Chinese nationals.

Confirming the attack, the Nigerian Army, in a statement issued by its Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, said some bandits were also gunned down during the attack.

“Sadly, a number of personnel paid the supreme price in the fierce firefight that ensued. Subsequently, the location has been reinforced and troops are on the trail of the criminals with some already neutralised. The GOC 1 Division has moved to the location to take charge of the follow-up operations”, the statement added.

HURIWA however said the Army should cover her face in shame that it is unable to defend the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria even when the defence sector collects giant allocations every year from the federally released annual budgets and wondered why despite the fact that the government made claims of buying equipment from all over the World, the Islamists are being allowed to crush a trained and professional Army such as the Nigeria Army.

According to the rights group, it is now certain that some saboteurs within the army may be the moles selling the country out to Jihadists.

HURIWA, therefore, called for the sack of all the service chiefs and asked Nigerians not to die in silence but to demand action from President Buhari to stop the widening insecurity in the country.

To HURIWA, it is unfortunate that Nigerians are letting the government abandon its statutory duty to the citizens by failing to actively protest the heightened state of insecurity in the country and demand the dismissal of compromised security chiefs who have absolutely nothing to offer. 

Meanwhile, President Buhari has described the attack in Shiroro as a direct assault on Nigeria, which will not be allowed to go unpunished.

He paid tributes to the gallant men of the security forces who lost their lives in the process of defending the attack.

“We honour our security forces, and particularly those brave souls who have given their lives fighting against the evil, that is terrorism. They constitute the best that Nigeria has to offer and we remember each of them.

“Sadly, Nigeria’s fight against terrorism continues. It is a battle that is taking its toll on all of us. But we shall neither relent nor shall we surrender.

“We say it again that we have reduced Boko Haram to a shell of its former self. But terrorists are parasites. They thrive when the world is suffering.

“This atrocity only serves to further strengthen us against them. Nigeria is united in obliterating these demons. Each day we grow closer to that goal. When they lash out during times of global suffering, it is the act of a cornered animal, an act of desperation.

“As always, their goal is the same: to sow fear and division amongst us. We will not let them.

“Instead, let us pray for the families and loved ones of those who sacrificed their lives in the fight against evil, and let us pray for the safe and speedy return of those abducted. We will do everything possible to ensure their return.

“And to the sadists, I say this: we are coming. No matter what rock you crawl under, what hole you sink into, what lie you hide behind, we are coming and we will find you. Shiroro will see justice. Nigeria will know peace,” the President assured Nigerians.