‘Relocation Of Military Command Has Put Heat On Boko Haram Insurgents’

Captain Umar Aliyu, a retired Military officer and security expert speaks to SAMSON EZEA on the renewed Boko Haram attacks, and the way out of it

What is your view on the renewed Boko Haram attacks since Buhari’s government came into office?
The renewed attacks post inauguration is to be expected; what remains a bit unsettling is the state of responsiveness and preparedness of the concerned institutions and agencies, even after the initial baptism as was experienced these few years past.

Each occurrence seems to draw the same reactions as the very first time, instead of responses; and this informed by our acculturated bend toward stereotypes.
 
If you analyse the President’s inaugural speech as per insurgency with the ears of a Security expert, you would discern there from a warning order to all relevant agencies to gird up. Events however seem the contrast in this regard.
 
Yes the insurgents have changed tactics; but then, are they into anything new in the real sense of the word; are they doing anything we haven’t seen before? No.

We have seen Churches, Mosques, and Parks bombed these years past, with painful fatalities; whether we have learnt from these and are any wiser is still left to be seen. By now, we should have standard security blueprints for any and all religious gatherings; nay Parks and densely populated public areas nationwide; with security alert levels placed on default areas, who do not meet these requirements.
 
The DSS, NPF and NSCDC should be deeply involved and in very intimate liaison with the media and state governments in this regard.

My view simply put remains, regardless foreign assistance, the Presidents resolve to stamp out this menace, if we keep doing the same things, the same old way, we get the same results; the insurgents sensed this and exploit it.

Our security agencies and their Chieftains must accept this, or give way to those who do. 

Why the renewed attacks by the insurgents despite the relocation of the military High Command to Borno State?
Seemingly, these new spate of bombings come with two message delineations; one the insurgents habitual attacks on towns and settlements in the North East has been dislodged, hence they seek other possible ways to keep their cause on course.

On the other hand, they have chosen a hitherto suspended option of bombing public places and the use of suicide bombers. This means, the masterminds sense a gap in the security of these public places and the way things are still being done, and are exploiting it.

Relocation of the command centre from Abuja to Maiduguri, underscores this line of reasoning, as the presence of such a coordinating Forward Operations Base of the Army, puts the heat on the insurgents. Add to that, the losses they have incurred in terms of ground, manpower and equipment, falling back to suicide bombings is a cost cutting and cause sustaining measure.

It also obviates the attendant risks and exposure they suffer via armed engagements with the troops. Security agencies who think along this line should have expected this, and hiked the required security awareness and alert levels.

Some have before now alleged that the insurgency was being sponsored by the North to regain political power, but why have the insurgents continued to cause havoc since Buhari assumed office?

That line of reasoning is not only baseless, but drips with naivety; the spate of events post inauguration, at the very least has debunked all such claims alongside their protagonists.

We must desist from carrying on along lines of petty thinking that beg the situation at hand. The insurgents have never minced words regarding what they stand for and identify with; none of which resonates with power shift or any particular person or persons holding office or coming to power.

What is truly needed at the moment has already seen a partial fulfillment in the person and antecedents of the President; he must as a matter of urgency be supported by the right calibre of people and mind resource, if only to drive his successes.

Persons who know what to do and how to go about it; who do not shy away from the sheer intellectual-rigor and personal sacrifice required to proffer solutions to a formless and non-stereotype threat concept; who retains the innovation, imagination and meta-cognitive skill sets to grapple with a war that needs  not  only be fought manually on ground, but also intelligently in minds.