By ABIODUN AWOLAJA

To be sure, security agents and organizations aiding terrorists and criminals are a global affliction. Ali Mohamed, a US Army sergeant, helped Al-Qaeda train operatives, including Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), a Chicago-based charity, funneled money to Al-Qaeda. Libya, a major backer of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was the brain behind the La Belle discotheque bombing in Berlin. Iraq is a supporter of the Abu Nidal organization. In literature, we all remember saboteurs like Brutus in William Shakespeare?s Julius Caesar. Caesar?s ?Et tu, Brute?? (And you, Brutus?), uttered when he saw his friend Brutus among the conspirators who stabbed him to death, is legendary.

In Nigeria, many people habitually hawk groundnuts, a euphemism for abdicating responsibility. During the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly, certain senators-elect went to hold a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari instead of heading straight to the chambers of the National Assembly. They chose, as the musician Small Doctor once quipped, to play their penalty into throw-in, talking and laughing with Buhari when they should be getting sworn in as senators and electing the Senate President.

Remember that time when ?going to Afghanistan? was very popular in this country? Because the military government could pick you up if anything you wrote was remotely critical of its deeds, some writers/columnists hit on the idea of addressing only foreign issues, which was called ?Going to Afghanistan.? Now, when you look at the security situation in Nigeria, you find that many members of the security agencies have been going to Afghanistan for years, disappearing into oblivion when terrorists stage genocidal onslaughts but dutifully reappearing shortly afterwards to mourn with the rest of us, talking like apprentice clowns. It is a spectacularly gory scenario that sounds like treason, connivance and sheer incompetence rolled into one long bread of sabotage.

A few examples here. In 2016, Fulani terrorists ravaged Agatu, Benue and Nimbo, Enugu State. In June 2018, they murdered over 200 people and burnt 50 houses in Plateau State, then killed 73 people and razed 50 villages in Yandang, Taraba State in July. In October, they killed 19 people in Bassa, and on December 16, 2018, they sent 15 people to their untimely graves during a wedding in Jema?a, Kaduna State. Who can forget the January 2020 onslaught in which the terrorists murdered 32 villagers in Plateau State, the June 7, 2021 killing of at least 40 people during an attack on Odugbeho village, or the April 12, 2022 murder of 23 people in Gumaand Tarka, all in Benue State?

What about the killing of at least 200 people in 17 rural communities in Bokkos and Barkin Ladi, Plateau State, between December 23 and 25, 2023; or the January 2024 killing of at least 30 people in Kwahaslalek village, Mangu, accompanied with the burning of everything in sight? From December 2023 to February 2024, per Amnesty International, these merchants of bloodshed killed at least 1,336 people in Plateau State alone. We all remember penultimate week?s slaughter of over 200 souls in Yelwata, Benue State. Where were the security agencies in all these cases? Were they hawking groundnuts in Afghanistan? How can years of such patently subversive actions be coincidental?

Terrorists should be getting torn apart with bullets and bayonets, not killing soldiers and subjugating vast communities, like the lunatic called Bello Turji has been doing with demonic relish for months now. In May, Turji ordered 5,000 residents from more than a dozen rural communities in Sokoto State to evacuate their homes. This week, reports said he killed no fewer than 44 security operatives in a deadly ambush near Shinkafi, Zamfara State. Yeepa! A man who should have been bombed into smithereens long ago! If the military had cut his head into 15 pieces, would he be doing such damage now? Why is it that only criminals of Fulani origin evade arrest and prosecution in this country?

I hope Bello Turji is ground into powder by grenades, but that?s assuming that our cowardly, misdirected and patently unfit commanders will stop hawking groundnuts, making an utter mess of their uniform. O my God! Where are the real soldiers?battle-tested, raw and ready, and giving the enemy no quarter? What shall we do with the custard, toast-and-egg officers that litter our public space with containers of complaints every moment, hiding gross incompetence under sermons about kinetic and non-kinetic warfare? If you can?t do the job, why not resign and set up suya spots? If a terrorist happens to be reading this, then I dare him or her to hop on a plane and head to any of Saudi Arabia, North Korea or the United States and act funny. If you are sure of your power, find your way to the borders of Israel and see if your skull will not be used to play penalty.

Re: Do Fulani terrorists think they can kill us all and seize our lands?

It is unimaginable that the Federal Government with its bevy of security forces, the Army, Navy, Air Force, Civil Defense, and the Police is unable to dislodge some groups of ragtag bandits, Boko Haram, terrorists, and Fulani herdsmen who continue deadly attacks on the communities in the North-East, North-West and Middle Belt areas of the country. Why are the ferocious invaders difficult to dislodge? Are they invisible and invincible? The title of your article is poignant, and the question you asked was appropriate- Do Fulani terrorists think they can kill us all and seize our lands? The possibility of the attempt is remote and unthinkable. But the pussyfooting by the Federal Government to the vicious attacks is worrisome and heartrending.

The brutal attackers continued to gain the upper hand during the serial invasions conducted within the troubled areas. As we speak, the entire region is a devastated killing field where countless lives have been lost. Human beings and houses were senselessly incinerated. It is high time the Federal Government changed tactics regarding its defense strategies and intelligence gathering methods. It should incentivise the troops for effective performance and increase the number of soldiers on the frontline. Most importantly, let there be immediate consequences for criminality. He who kills by the sword must die by the sword, according to the Biblical injunction. The invaders and their collaborators must be hounded, arrested, and tried in the law court for a just punishment for their crimes.

The incessant premeditated attacks must be curtailed before they turn into a behemoth, which the government will find difficult to control. If the insecurity continues to fester, it will send the wrong signal to prospective foreign investors who are willing to do business in Nigeria. The ?economic prosperity? that the president usually alluded to in his numerous public addresses, would be a mirage. Ipso facto, Nigeria must not be intimidated by a group of deranged vagabonds who are animals in human form. Satisestsatis (Enough is enough). May God continue to protect our troops for the herculean tasks in keeping Nigeria safe.

We are in a serious dilemma here, they wanted to make Nigeria their heritage, that?s why the Bauchi governor was inviting them from all over Africa to come make Nigeria their heritage. That?s why their leaders are not always comfortable whenever they are not in power. Report from a reliable sources said all the soldiers posted to barracks to Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba are dominated by these people.

? Abiodun Awolaja first published this piece in his Saturday Tribune column.

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