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Insurgents Are Not Muslims, They Are Criminals, Murderers, Says Tsav 

By JOSEPH WANTU
17 October 2015   |   3:54 am
I think the people who constitute themselves as suicide bombers are not normal human beings. In law, the crime of taking ones life is quite clear. If you take somebody's life without the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction, then, you have committed murder.
Tsav-pix-28-2-15--

Tsav

Alhaji Abubakar Tsav is a staunch Islamic faithful, a retired Commissioner of police and a public affairs analyst. In this interview with JOSEPH WANTU, he speaks on possible ways of curbing Boko Haram insurgency in the country.

What is your take on the menace being cause by suicide bombers in the country?
I think the people who constitute themselves as suicide bombers are not normal human beings. In law, the crime of taking ones life is quite clear. If you take somebody’s life without the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction, then, you have committed murder.

I think people who are doing this thing have been brainwashed and they do not know what they are doing. They might have been subjected to the intake of hard drugs that makes them not to know the consequences of their actions.

Otherwise, how would one agree to get involved in an exercise that leads to your death? I believe these insurgents are criminals and murderers. I also think this heinous act is rampant in the north because of the high level of abject poverty, illiteracy and ignorance among the people of the region. Most of the people there do not go to school, they are not learned, not exposed and hence, are easily deceived that if they kill, they would go to heaven.

But, how do you think this heinous act can be curbed?
I think consistent public enlightenment of the people has to be carried out. But apart from conducting public enlightenment, it is the duty of the security agencies to penetrate these areas and know the people. During our hey days in the police service, in a situation like this, we penetrate such people pretend to be like them, get all the information about them and pass same to the headquarters.

With such information, we get them arrested. But today, such is not done because the police themselves are afraid for their lives. They easily dangle their identity cards for identification as police officers. Under normal situation, the police are not supposed to be easily identifiable, especially if operating under cover investigation. Now the force is corrupt by not doing its job properly. The officers today, are only concerned with what will benefit them and not what will benefit the nation.

Do you support the call for the ban of wearing hijab among muslim womenfolk considering that other neighboring countries have done so in a bid to curb suicide bombings?
No! I do not support the ban. This is because hijab is a traditional mode of dressing for Muslim women. We cannot because of the security situation, ban its use since it is in line with the teaching of Islam. It is wrong. I think the people have to be rather more observant and vigilant. If you see a woman wearing hijab, observe her critically.

How Islamic are the Boko Haram members?
Well, I said it before and I am saying it again that the Boko Haram sect are not Muslims. They are criminals and murderers. If they are Moslems, they will not kill the way they are killing. If they have grievances, they should state what their grievances are, and I believe government will tackle their grievances.

As a security expert, would you say the country has enough strong laws to curb terrorism in Nigeria?
No, before I didn’t think so. Because in the past, our government ignored security, but now that President Muhammadu Buhari is on the saddle, hopefully, between now and the end of his tenure, the security situation will improve. In the past, security votes were used in getting and sourcing for security information but today security votes are being diverted to other uses like hiring of political thugs, buying of vehicles and so on. I think government should use security votes for the purpose it is meant for.

Do you have any suggestion on how best the insurgency can be combated?
First of all, the number of policemen we have in this country is very low compared to the daily crimes that occur. Government should increase the number of police; and then, carry out training and retraining of police personnel, provide them with adequate working materials and give them incentives. When these things are taken care, their performance would surely improve. Without good incentive for the police, how then do we expect them to perform well?

How do you compare the effort of the present government in the fight against the insurgents and the immediate past administration?
I think this government has done extremely well because you can see that the Boko Haram insurgents have been thrown into disarray. They have been destabilized and that is why they have emerged from their holds to come and throw bombs anyhow. With the effort of the military, I am sure that by December of this year, the whole Boko Haram sect would be reduced to pocket attacks here and there. I think the present government has done better than the previous one. The previous government was only playing lip service on security issues. The people then were only making money out of the situation without doing much.

Recently, the suicide bombers struck in Abuja killing scores of people. Don’t you see the latest attack as a sign that the insurgency is escalating rather than reducing?

Well, I wouldn’t say it is escalating but rather we are just not being security conscious. I would say Nigerians should carry out “operation know your neighbor”: try to identify strange people in their midst. Identify visitors and we should know areas that pose security threat. I would suggest the use of plain-clothes security operatives in ‘cloudy’ places. Government should do any thing that will enhance better security in the country.

The military authority recently alleged that some Northern leaders are Boko Haram sponsors, what is your take on this?
Well, they are in the best position to know. It may be they got this information from intelligence gathering, I do not know. But I do know that in this country, anything is possible and can happen.

Today in this country, military uniforms are indiscriminately sewed and used. But I am happy with the recent pronouncement that camouflage uniforms used by para-military agencies be withdrawn. It is a good decision. We should be more security conscious and security should be the business of everybody, not the government or security agencies alone.

19 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    They are not muslims but they kill in the name of Allah

  • Author’s gravatar

    …..maybe they are hindus, rubbish

  • Author’s gravatar

    Because somebody says he is a muslim does’nt make him a muslim.a muslim is he who keeps to the teachings of his religion.islam forbids killing of innocent people muslims and non muslims.
    one thing we should all understand is that you dont hold a religion responsible for the actions of an individual.terrorist have no religion.

    • Author’s gravatar

      ISLAM PREACHED JIHAD,HATRED FOR UNBELIEVERS,WARFARE,POLYGAMY AND DIVORCE AND REMARRY WHICH ARE ADULTERY UNTO THE LORD GOD,TEMPORARY MARRIAGES,NO MERCY,NO COMPASSION,NO CLEMENCY,VENGEANCE,WICKEDNESS,TERRORISM,HERESY OF 72 ASHAWO IN ALLAHS PARADISE, ALL OF WHICH ARE TYPES OF SATANISM JESUS CHRIST PREACHED AGAINST. ISLAM ALSO ALLOWS MEMBERS TO PRACTISE USE OF CHARMS TO PROTECT THEMSEL VES. ISLAM IS FROM LUCIFER HIMSELF THE PRINCE OF DEMONS.

  • Author’s gravatar

    They are Muslims but their ideology is different from your.ISIS,Boko Haram and others are Muslims,that is the naked truth.A child born to Muslims parents like Amuthallab is not a Muslims because he tried to bomb a plane,Bin Laden is not a Muslim ? lol,you better wake up before they destroy the human race in the name of religion.

    • Author’s gravatar

      You have to open your eyes to reality.sometimes ago a young man went inside a church in America and shot many people dead.this young man in question is a christian.should we now blame christianity for his crime.
      like it might interest you to know that man is a terrorist.

      • Author’s gravatar

        PIG 99 PERCENT OF AMERICANS ARE NOT CHRISTIANS IF YOU KNOW THE MEANING OF A CHRISTIAN

      • Author’s gravatar

        Mr man that was just a frustrated wolf on rampage……. he never came in the name of a christian as your suicide bombers come to force people to worship your way……. you can never see a christian killing someone to worship his way, if you think you have a perfect product, market it openly, tell us the GOOD, convince people of the benefits………WHAT A BIG SHAME

    • Author’s gravatar

      Point of core time they can’t destroy human race, they will only destroy and exterminate their Muslim race. Because there is no space for them to operate in the south, if they try they will meet their Waterloo

  • Author’s gravatar

    OGA THOSE WHO DID RELIGIOUS RIOTS IN THE NORTH WITH MASSACRE OF MILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS, ARE THEY CHRISTIANS OR MUSLIMS.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Abubakar was one of the strongest critic of GEJ, he is alarmed that all his premise of persecuting the Jonathan government is not holding water in his so called better arrangement. Afterall bombs are being thrown at will and Maiduguri as it is, is under siege by the terrorist. This is what happens when we politics national tragedy. Buhari had no understanding of what the nation was going thru, he will have to learn, identify and then deploy appropriate measure, no need demonizing a man who had done his modes best in the face of sabotage and lack of cooperation by stockholders!. Meanwhile the death toll continues

  • Author’s gravatar

    Now you refuse to accept them as Moslem because they evoke such religion to perpetuate their atrocities and mayhem. You forgot JNI, Sultan of Sokoto, AREWA, Northern Nigerian Elders, Imams ,, Moslem Clericsand other Islamic religious groups supported them initially and when they were bombing churches and killing Igbos/Southerners. Hypocrites. Yeye de smell.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Pure Muslims they are, your denial at this phase of their uncontrolled unslaught does not make any difference to the perception of the Southern Nigerians. You northerners used Boko Haram to destabilize the country to get power at all cost now that they are out of control from your radar, you want to call them criminals. Please we don’t buy your ideology, deal with the monster you guys created

  • Author’s gravatar

    Nigeria is a total failed state, the best thing for her is to break up so the power drunk Muslims will rule themselves

  • Author’s gravatar

    It baffles me when one come out to defend Islam on the issue of terrorism, why is it that 99% of people that carry out this evil are muslims, if u classify them as illiterates then what of those that are highly educated and civilised persons but still perform this evil in the name of religion? Islamic leaders should take responsibility and correct the teachings of Islam now that it does not spare even them that instil wickedness in these FOOLS…………