THE North-West Terrorists which the Federal Government and the military call “Bandits” have come full circle in re-enacting strategies adopted by the Abubakar Shekau’s Boko Haram to hold government to ransom and frustrate our war against terror.

On Monday, April 11, 2022, the media carried photos and videos of the terrorists posing with some of the passengers they abducted from the train attack of March 28, 2022. Like Shekau’s Boko Haram, they demanded the release of 16 of their “commanders” who are with the security agencies awaiting justice, in exchange for the over 150 captives in their custody.

The train attack was obviously staged to embarrass and blackmail the Federal Government.Boko Haram insurgents became intractable when they resorted to the abduction of helpless citizens, particularly schoolgirls and women. On April 14, 2014, they abducted the Chibok schoolgirls, an epochal event that helped to ensure that former President Goodluck Jonathan lost his 2015 re-election bid. 

Almost four years later on February 19, 2018, they also abducted 110 schoolgirls from Dapchi in Yobe State, but later released all except the only Christian, Leah Sharibu, who refused to convert to Islam.

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The menace of the North-West terrorists became a concern of national and internal proportions when they mimicked Boko Haram and carried out a series of abductions of students of both genders from schools in Katsina, Niger, Kaduna, Zamfara and Kebbi states. Not done, they turned their attacks on military targets, invading the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna twice. They downed a military jet and attacked the Kaduna Airport twice. Their train attack that led to the loss of eight passengers and abduction of over 150 others was the second targeting of our railways.

The steady massacres and attacks of defenceless communities in Southern Kaduna as well as Plateau and Benue states by herdsmen terrorists have gone largely ignored by the Buhari government. Indeed, the herdsmen terrorists have been hugely condoned, with the regime even trying to forcefully secure land for them and their animals at the expense of indigenous communities.

The parlous economic situation and near anarchy due to the failure of the Federal Government to protect innocent and defenceless people have continued to put a question mark on the positive legacy this regime has recorded. They render hollow any promise by those tussling to succeed him to continue with his legacies. It is up to Nigerians to decide how to react to such campaign promises.

We failed to learn from our Boko Haram experiences, thus validating the dictum that those who fail to learn from their experiences are doomed to repeat them. We hope the next regime will review the actions of major actors of this administration in mismanaging our security. 

Vanguard News Nigeria