A civil society organization, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has urged the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, to stop misclassifying North West-based terrorists as bandits.

HURIWA noted that it was embarrassing for a top Nigerian General to be telling the United Nations something contrary to the reality on ground regarding the actual status of terrorists who have brought only but cocktails of deaths, destruction, sexual molestation of girls and women, kidnappings for cash ransoms and weapons trafficking.

According to the group, the armed terrorists have already been legally classified as terrorists and gazetted as such officially since the middle of last year by an Abuja division of the Federal High Court in an application filed lawfully by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

On Aug 31, 2023, HURIWA said the media quoted Lagbaja as seeking the help of the United Nations Office for Counter-Terrorism, to tackle increasing threats in the country as he said bandits have morphed their methodology and now use explosive devices in their operations.

Lagbaja spoke last Thursday when he received the Under Secretary-General, United Nations Office for Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, in his office in Abuja. “The Chief of Army staff is contextually, historically, legally and factually wrong to still bandy this sort of misclassification of terrorists as bandits,” HURIWA argued.

Faulting the Army chief for misclassifying terrorists as bandits in clear breach of a binding ruling made around June last year but reported on 5^thJanuary 2022 in which the Federal Government has declared bandits as terrorists, HURIWA said the classification also affected terrorists operating mostly from Zamfara and spreading their tentacles to as far as Niger, Nasarawa and even the Federal Capital Territory.

HURIWA recalled that states in the North-West geopolitical zone, including Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna have been ravaged by terrorists’ violence. The nefarious activities of the terror marauders have also spilt into the North Central and other zones in the country. The terrorists have killed hundreds of innocent persons, kidnapped several others including schoolchildren, with some still in their custody, while some are nursing injuries sustained during the attacks.

HURIWA noted that Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 25, 2021, had granted an ex parte application by the Federal Government for Yan Bindiga (Hausa word for gunmen) and Yan Ta’adda (Hausa word for terrorists) to be declared as terrorists but the regime of the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, did not do so after over a month.

However, the then AGF, in an interview in June of last year, said his office was in the process of gazetting the court judgement, adding that the process would be concluded in a matter of days. Subsequently, a document released by AGF’s spokesman, Umar Gwandu, showed that the AGF office had gazetted the court order. The document titled, ‘Terrorism (Prevention) Proscription Order Notice, 2021’ is contained in Volume 108 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette.

The document titled, “Terrorism (Prevention) Proscription Order Notice, 2021” is contained in Volume 108 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette. It read in part, “Notice is hereby given that by the Order of the Federal High Court Abuja, in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1370/2021 dated 25^thNovember, 2021 as per the schedule to this Notice, the Activities of Yan Bindiga Group, Yan Ta’adda Group and other similar group in Nigeria are declared to be terrorism and illegal in any part of Nigeria, especially in the North West and North-Central Regions of Nigeria and are proscribed, pursuant to sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011. “Consequently the general public is hereby warned that any person or group of persons participating in any manner whatsoever in any form of activities involving or concerning the prosecution of the collective intentions or otherwise of the groups referred to in paragraph 1 of this Notice will be violating the provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 and liable to prosecution.”

HURIWA specifically also stated that the terrorist kingpins were clearly designated as terrorists wanted by the Government of Nigeria and extensively publicised in the public and private media globally with generous bounties on their heads.

In a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA expressed shock at the recent statement by the Army chief to the UN, querying: “Why is General Lagbaja taking us back in the fight on terrorism?” and begged the military service chiefs and the National Security Adviser to wage the war on terror making use of Statistics, legality, facts, figures which are government records and are in their possession. “Calling hardened terrorists mere bandits is very offensive and it is an attempt to turn logic on its head because how can you still call terrorists who have now claimed twice to have shut down military jets and slaughtering soldiers in dozens of ambushes, as mere bandits? This is an unpardonable slip of tongue. Moreover, is it this year that these hardened and rogue terrorists have started deploying explosive devices?” asked rhetorically.