Insists on frontal military firepower against bandits
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has faulted Vice President Kashim Shettima for saying that terrorism and banditry in Northern Nigeria is accentuated by poverty and social exclusion.
The civil rights advocacy group, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, described Shettima’s understanding of terrorism as warped, adding that terrorists are among the richest and organised networks in the world.
It said the VP was chasing shadows by blaming poverty for terrorism in the North West or North East, arguing that “a poor man cannot buy military grade weapons” to down Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets in Zamfara, Borno and other insurgent-riddled states.
Shettima had said: “Unless we want to engage in an endless war of attrition, there cannot be a military solution to the crisis in the North West. There has to be a kinetic and non-kinetic solution.”
The VP was said to have made the comment in a chat with newsmen while on a condolence visit to Kano over the weekend, adding that a “Pulaku Solution” would be unveiled to end the decade-long terror in the country.
‘Pulaku’ in Fulfulde language means brotherhood and helping the Fulani community.
HURIWA said: “It is so unfortunate that the ex-governor of Boko Haram-infested Borno State has limited understanding of the dimensions of terrorism, especially in Nigeria. Terrorists are among the richest and well-organised networks. The terrorists of Zamfara and Borno are not poor; they are members of international illegal mining network with probably links to some rogues in China and Middle East.
“These same ‘poor’ insurgents shot down a NAF jet on July 18, 2021, which led to its crash in Zamfara. In April 2021, the Abubakar Shekau-led faction of Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a crash involving an alpha jet operated by NAF.”
“In many videos released by the terrorists, they were seen engaging NAF jets flying at low altitude in a gunfight. The insurgents were usually armed with machine guns, ones that seem to be anti-aircraft weapons.”
In March 2021, ex-presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said the Federal Government declared no-fly zone in Zamfara because private aircraft were being used to supply weapons to criminal gangs that kidnap for ransom. He also said the choppers were used to evacuate gold and illegally smuggle same out of the country.
HURIWA added: “Also, the talk about using a non-kinetic approach with the insurgents has expired and cannot work. All the de-radicalisation and amnesty that Shettima and other former and serving governors in Katsina, Zamfara and Borno gave to insurgents have not achieved any result, but worsened the situation.
“In July 2020, Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) kicked against the re-integration of ex-Boko Haram fighters into the society, saying they would never repent. Just recently, Auwal Daudawa, a bandit leader in Zamfara, who masterminded the abduction of over 300 students in neighbouring Katsina State, went back to the trenches, about three months after his celebrated repentance. These are hardened terrorists extremely detrimental to the survival of Nigeria. The country must not negotiate with them or use a non-kinetic approach, but frontal military firepower.”
