Their voices are voiceferous and could be almost misleadingly convincing. Unfortunately, the officers many want out of their seat are the Chief of Army Staff , Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, Chief of Air Staff Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar and Chief of Naval Staff Ibok Ekwe Ibas all the above mentioned officers are constitutionally mandated to save guard Nigeria from external aggression. Many have forgotten that the Nigeria Police Force which is constitutionally mandated to provide internal security for Nigeria most times is assumed to being part of the service chiefs which is constitutionally incorrect. That was why the 7th assembly suggested that the word “Force” should be removed so that the police will simply be known as the Nigerian police just like many other police across the world e.g New York police, Ghana police, SouthAfrican police, Indian Police, California Police e.t.c This is one of the reason why this writer has been consistent in the call for a total overhauling of the police structure and the establishment of state police where police men can easily be identified as Abia state Police, Ondo State Police or Sokoto State Police.
All specifically handling the security of their respective state. It is believed that had state police been established the issue of Boko Haram would have been knibbed in the board by Borno state police where the insecurity becomes unbearable then the State Governor would invite the Federal police under an Inspector General to compliment the effort of the Borno State police command. The same would have been the story of most of the security challenges like kidnapping and other heinous crimes.
However when the police was unable to handle the small snake of Boko Haram but allowed it to grow into an Anaconda the military was then drafted in to fight and kill the Anaconda called Boko-Haram , Two former Army Chief of staff Lieutenant General Azubuike Ihejirika and Lieutenant General K.TG Minimah where briefed by President Goodluck Jonathan to quell the insurgency between 2002 and 2014 but all they could do was like scratching the back of a crocodile because the Boko-Haram group continued to wax strong to the extent that they took over major areas of Borno State and hoisted their flag in 18 local governments which they captured and controlled the commercial and administrative activities in this local governments, this writer visited the recaptured Bama local government where the Emirs palace was bracingly destroyed by the insurgents it was not a good story to narrate the destruction of the palace was deep to its foundation every house was destroyed to its foundation level.
The situation increasingly worsened when the Boko-Haram group stormed Abuja,bombing the Police Headquarters, the Army barracks, United Nation, Nyanya bus stop and other part of Abuja even a church in Madala,many lost their lives and their was palpable fear in the country.
That was when the issue of insecurity was at its peak in the country, in Maiduguri schools where shut down also markets and many other institutions, same with the Federal Capital Territory of the nation where citizens walk in fear and institutions hurriedly installed anti-bomb devices while the use of cellphones where banned in banks and other places.
Then came the 2015 election which ushered in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, who at that early time turned out to be the saving grace as a former military General,he did not waste time when he promised the country of a better security strategy he searched for the right man to handle the military and change the compass of the feat and Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, who was serving as the Force Commander of the newly reconstituted Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTNF) under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic,turned out to be the right man for the job his appointment and briefing was to end the existence of Boko-Haram which has grown into an international terrorist organization with affiliation with al-Qaeda, el-shabab and ISIS. His appointment received almost zero ovation because the public knew nothing about him and his military achievements.The first phase of his warfare strategy paid off when he recaptured the 18 Local Governments from Boko-Haram terrorists group whose method was assymmetrical , in strategy. The Army also captured the camp Zero Headquarter of Boko Haram In Sambisa Forest , eliminating many of their commanders and vicious members who were under the ideological spell of their leaders.
Nigerians have suddenly forgotten this patriotic and bravery effort of the Chief of. Army Staff and his troops, including their war gallant commanders.
With their degrading, the group immediately extended an invitation of affiliation to another deadly group known as The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, officially known as the Islamic State and also known by its Arabic-language acronym Daesh, who’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi accepted Boko-Haram invitation after a meeting with Abubakar Shekau in Yemen they where attached to another fundamentalist group known as the Islamic State in West Africa formerly known as Jam’at Ahl as- Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l- Jihad meanwhile a new war frontier was opened for the military when the Niger Delta militants started blowing up pipelines across the Niger delta,which seriously affected the oil revenue of Nigeria, Again Buratai and his men where drafted to quell the militancy in the Niger Delta this acts according to security observers although it was a successful operation was seen as a distraction to the military in there war against insurgency in the north east. Apart from this internal operation the same military was drafted to quell the Biafra agitation in the southeast which was another operational distraction to the military. Who where also involved in fighting kidnappers and herdsmen. They where invited by Governors in the middle bebelt when issues of insecurity arises.
Today bandits in there hundreds flooded the state of Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina and Bauchi killing and maiming innocent citizens and destroying properties and farm products, consequently it was Buratai and his troops that the government called upon to save the situation unfortunately the police who should be in charge of internal security where initially missing in action leaving the operation for the military but later joined hands with the military to carry out joint operation in some of the northern state’s to fight the bandits. The Boko-Haram as a group have intelligence on many of the operational activities of the military from the way they operate it becomes obvious that each time the military is assigned a new war frontier internally which most times shift there operational attention it is observed that is when they strike to create a state of insecurity in the country which most times becomes tools of blackmail against the military and call for the removal of Service Chiefs. Every country usually encourage their military fighting asymmetrical war with terrorists and not being discourage because it is the applause of the football fans that encourages the footballers to score more goals maybe if this method is adopted by Nigerians it may boost the morale of both the service chiefs and the troops to bring the war to an end.
Sahel-Elite (Bamako-Mali) 