The leadership of the House of Representatives yesterday held a closed-door meeting with service chiefs over recent upsurge in insecurity across the country, The Senate yesterday after resuming plenary urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a full-fledged war on terrorists.
Just as the lawmakers were engaged in a series of meetings with service chiefs, there was a report of an attack on a military base at Pole Wire in Birnin-Gwari, Kaduna State, with no fewer than 17 soldiers and three civilians killed during a gun battle.
According to The Guardian, Experts in the security sector revealed key reasons to the lawmakers why military bases in Northeast and Northwest have suffered frequent attacks by terrorists despite the presence of military institutions on ground to guarantee peace, safety and protection.
A security analyst, Mr Christopher Oji, said: “Terrorists see soldiers as enemies and as their enemies, they are the first target, so they are vulnerable to attack.
“Secondly, soldiers are seen as the most formidable security agency and once they are able to subdue the military, then the country belongs to them.
“I will want to believe that terrorists have infiltrated the military to the extent that the enemies within are giving out their colleagues to the terrorists. This is where the government has its own blame.
“How can the government conscript some repentant terrorists into the army? These people don’t repent. The government should do something drastic to avert more damages.”
Another security expert, Frank Oshanugo, said: “The vulnerability of military bases to bandits or terrorists’ attacks could stem from two things, one of which is that since the military is the only institution that has what it takes to thwart whatever jihadist intentions the terrorists or bandits have, the best thing to do, is to weaken the powers of the military through such attacks.
“The second reason may be insider conspiracy by those who may be benefitting from the effects of such attacks. Each time bandits or terrorists strike leaving some damages behind, there are usually those who are charged with the responsibility of replacing those damaged items at government expenses. They may be benefitting heavily in the replacement process.”
Former DSS Director, Dennis Amachree, wondered aloud: “Why military bases? I think the question will be, why Kaduna, because the city has a concentration of more than eight military and security facilities. The terrorists feel very emboldened and are making a serious statement about their capability to take on the Nigerian military by hitting Kaduna.
I still maintain that there is more than meets the eyes.”
AT the military base at Pole Wire in Birnin-Gwari, where terrorists killed at least 17 soldiers, locals said terrorists, in large number, came to the area on motorbikes, wielding dangerous weapons, including Rocket Propelled Guns (RPGs).
A source said 17 soldiers were killed in the attack. “About 40 fatally wounded soldiers were brought to the 44 Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna, from where 17 of them were confirmed dead,” he said.
Another source in Birnin Gwari said apart from the soldiers, three civilians were killed. “The two civilians were members of a vigilance group, while one was a traveller,” he said.
Attempts to confirm the casualty figures from military authorities in Kaduna and from the state police command were not successful. However, journalists gathered that the terrorists were moving from Niger State to Zamfara, through their usual route in the Birnin-Gwari area.
“The soldiers were overpowered by the terrorists who came in large number on motorbikes. The terrorists burnt down three military armoured vehicles, stole armaments and other properties,” the source said.
The Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressive Union (BEPU) had earlier in a statement deplored the deteriorating security situation in many rural communities and major roads of Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna.
Chairman of the union, Ishaq Usman Kasai, said the security situation is becoming increasingly alarming, whereby a large swath of Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area is now at the mercy of marauding bandits who usually roll into towns and villages in convoys of motorcycles, mostly riding three on each, brandishing AK47 rifles, killing and abducting people, including women and children.
“BEPU notes that bandits usually spend hours operating with impunity and unleashing terror, especially in rural communities. The bandits also placed taxes on various communities and keep coming back to attack them because of the absence of law enforcement agents.
“BEPU is also concerned with the activities of Ansaru terrorist organisation, whose members have freely continued to operate, preach and recruit people in various communities. There is, therefore, urgent need for the government and relevant stakeholders to arrest this situation before the area is completely taken by criminals who have continued to challenge national security and sovereignty of Nigeria.”
In the aftermath of increasing incidents of terrorists’ attacks in the last two weeks, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen Faruk Yahaya, has reiterated the resolve of the army to deal with all adversaries terrorising the peace of the country.
The COAS said the Nigerian Army is reviewing the security architecture of the country with a view to bridging observed gaps and are building the fighting will of troops. Gen. Yahaya made this known at the opening of a seminar on Intensifying Warriors Ethos in Abuja, yesterday.
The COAS, who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans, Major General Anthony Omozojie, stated that varied acts of insurgency, terrorism, kidnapping and banditry from Boko Haram Terrorists, Islamic States of West Africa (ISWAP), to Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ECN and other terrorist organisations have continued to pose substantial threats to the nation even as he insisted that ‘the Nigerian Army has continued to respond assiduously to contain and decimate all adversaries in line with his vision to defeat all adversaries of Nigeria.”
He said: “The volatile and complex security emergencies facing the nation have necessitated the continuous review of the National Security Architecture to contain the threats.
“To address these threats, it has become expedient to review the current security architecture and re-strategise to bridge observed gaps, as well as build the right fighting will for the threats,” he stated.