It is unbelievable that the Federal Government could scoff at the threat by terrorists to kidnap President Muhammadu Buhari.
The terrorists that kidnapped passengers of the Abuja-Kaduna train in March had on July 5 released a video where they were flogging the remaining captives and issued a threat that they would soon kidnap Buhari and Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State.
However, reacting to the threat, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, described the terrorists’ threats, as “laughable” and a mere “propaganda”.
We believe that it is either the minister is downplaying the matter or the government is not in full grasp of the situation.
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It is also strange that the president was even unaware of the threat until days later when el-Rufai told him about it. If the president’s aides, especially those responsible for security, could not draw his attention to an issue concerning his personal safety, we wonder what they are telling him.
We believe that the threat should not be treated with levity as this government is wont. The likelihood of the president’s kidnap happening is high because the fight against terrorism has been compromised in high places and the president himself does not seem to care due to lack of circumspection or indifference to serious national issues.
Another fuel for this is his failure to take proactive and decisive actions to sanitise those hangers-on around him, beginning with releasing the names of those sponsoring terrorism in the country in a list the government has also admitted is in its possession.
Why the president is playing this dangerous game is as confusing as his body language and selective approach to the war against the various terror gangs in the country among whom are the marauding Fulani herdsmen, who never make pretensions of their bloody campaign across the country and yet get away with it under the president’s watch.
There is indeed cause to worry because the terrorists are becoming more daring in their recurrent attacks.
Recently, the terrorists ambushed the convoy of an advance convoy of President Muhammadu Buhari en route his hometown, Daura, in Katsina State.
A few people were reportedly killed in the attack while two others sustained minor injuries when the bandits hit the president’s advance team, comprising security guards, protocol, and media officers.
What is worrisome about this latest affront among many past attacks is the increasing bald-faced impudence of the terrorists.
The Presidency, as usual, was prompt to condemn the dastardly act, describing it as a sad and unwelcome development, and that was the end of discussion.
Obviously, the terrorists have become more daring of late and more frequent in their attacks, holding Abuja by the jugular.
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According to the Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), a project of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) of the United States, activities of violent non-state actors claimed no fewer than 5,222 lives nationwide in the first half of 2022.
According to the tracker, at least 996 persons were violently killed in January; 765 in February; 1,214 in March; 917 in April; 594 in May, and 736 in June, totaling 5,222.
Considering the frightening development, it is therefore worrisome that the government dismissively described the threat as a laughing matter.
There is no doubt that government failure or reluctance to deal decisively with the marauders is responsible for their effrontery to attack the president. It could have been the president himself and not his advance party but providence averted that. Now they even have the guts to threaten to kidnap him.
It is embarrassing that the president cannot safely travel to his home state, which has become a bastion of bandits. If the hoodlums could attack the president regardless of the kind of security around him, one could imagine the fate of ordinary Nigerians.
No wonder then the armed gang was emboldened to venture further by attacking
In the light of all this, the Federal Government’s response is neither here nor there because as things stand in the country, nothing is impossible for the terrorists in the face of limp resistance put up by the security agencies.
Anyway, it makes more sense to assume that the terrorists would attempt to bring their threat to pass than dismiss it. This would trigger a red light alert on the part of the security forces than dwelling in a fool’s paradise that it would not happen.
It must be put on record that the security forces are managing to hang in there under the circumstances. They do not get the morale booster they need, contending with enemies within an inexplicable government policy of reintegrating the so-called Boko Haram terrorists into society.
In fact, a former Boko Haram member was discovered to have successfully enlisted into the Nigerian Correctional Service, NCos, in Adamawa State.
There are likely others like him in some other important security outfit and they would have nothing more than sabotage efforts to tame the madness out there. One of the people issuing the threat to kidnap the president was one of the escapees of the Kuje prison attack, who has since returned to his evil group. He was seen in the video, mocking the government and gloating that he was declaring wanted those government officials that had declared him wanted.
We also believe the government on information management strategies is faulty. Why does the government or the military make noises about their latest military acquisition? Does it make sense to reveal your armada and plans to your enemy?
The deduction from the parlous security situation in the country is that the fear of terrorists seems to have become the beginning of wisdom for Nigeria, especially the president.
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That is, perhaps, why Nigerian lawmakers have issued him impeachment threats too. So, Buhari is not only faced with threat of kidnap by terrorists, but also embattled by the lawmakers, who could boot him out of office if he does not shape up.
Some security meetings have been held, which has witnessed a reshuffling of positions among Nigeria’s Generals. This is yet to translate to action though and has done nothing to excite Nigerians or assuage their fears.
We believe the threat to kidnap the president is very real and more than a laughing matter. The president owes Nigerians an explanation why the government seems to be glossing over weighty security issues that could bring this country to extinction.
President Buhari should urgently address the swirling rumours that what is happening is an orchestration to eventually handover the levers of power to Islamic terrorists and members of the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP, who are suspected to have established sleeping cells around the country and only waiting for orders to activate their evil plans against the peoples of Nigeria.
