The cry was plaintive enough: “The horror is too much (munin ya kai muni), the mercilessness is beyond measure, (rashin imanin ya kai rashin imani), government must show it is a government, (ya kamata gwamnati ta gwada mana akwai gwamnati) if government cannot guarantee lives and properties of its citizens then it abdicates its responsibilities, (domin in babu tsaron dukiya da rayuwar jama’a babu gwamnati)” The wailing came from a contributor to the BBC Hausa discussion program, Ra’ayi Riga, on the matter of rising insecurity in Nigeria. The affected person spoke from Katsina and was bemoaning one of the most distressing cases of mass kidnapping ever in the country – the Wurma village kidnapping saga.
The story had been running in the media since it broke out on Wednesday morning last week. A large number of bandits were reported to have invaded Wurma village on Tuesday night. Wurma a community on the border with Zamfara State is in Kurfi Local Government of Katsina State. The bandits were said to have spent hours ransacking the village of all movable properties in sight; food stuff, animal stock and anything they could lay their filthy hands on. They ended up kidnapping over fifty persons mostly women and children for ransom.
Throughout the bandits’ over three-hours rampage in Wurma, there was no help from any quarters to the beleaguered people. However, a Nigerian Police report next day, Wednesday, confirmed the incident but said only fifteen persons were taken away by the bandits from the village and a hot pursuit by the police had succeeded in rescuing ten persons. The village head and many of the villagers have continued to deny this version of the police. They still insist that more than fifty of their relations are still languishing with the bandits and negotiations are ongoing to pay a ransom for their release.
Why the Wurma village matter resonated across was not only because of the sheer savagery of the attack, but also for the lack of security assistance when they needed it most. The barbarity that manifested in Wurma village is just indicative of what obtains today in many settlements across the far-northern states. In the past many years we blamed the religious zealots, represented by that malevolent group, the Boko Haram, who went about routinely shooting hapless citizens, bombing public institutions, abducting school girls and generally causing mayhem wherever and whenever they choose. When our troops checked and degraded the Boko Haram, the notorious group transmuted into an insurgent outfit which to date has kept a large swathe of the north-east in a permanent state of insecurity.
As this was not enough trouble for the country, banditry of all sorts reared its head across many states in the north central and in particular the north west. There had been cases of armed robbery, cattle rustling and the occasional communal clashes here and there. But nobody really envisaged that kidnapping along major highways would become the new cash cow for the bandits and become so widespread. Now all the routes out of Abuja and Kaduna are prone to incidences of kidnapping. The Abuja to Kaduna highway is most affected with the dismal statistics of those killed or kidnapped looking grimmer every passing day. Unfortunately, this menace has spread to the states of Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina. The bandits now running wild in those states have even gone beyond attacking and seizing commuters on highways. They now go in large numbers to attack villages and towns and with impunity cart away their people until a ransom is paid as it happened in Wurma.
On the Abuja Kaduna high there had been a lull in banditry and kidnapping when security surveillance was stepped up in the last many weeks. Sensing a slowdown on the security surveillance, the bandits returned in strong force. Suddenly on Tuesday evening last week they sprung on the Abuja Kaduna Express way just shooting sporadically and stopping vehicles. Eye witnesses said the spot was somewhere around the Olam factory some twenty-five or so kilometres from Kaduna. A number of the commuters were killed and some were captured and taken away into the bush.
The three ABU students who became the famous faces of those kidnapped were among those taken into the bush. Their case stuck to the public attention as the pathetic recordings of negotiations with the kidnappers was even played out in the public gallery via the widely used platforms of the social media. Though the police said they rescued the students, their families insist that they negotiated with the kidnappers, paid up to five or so million naira before they were released.
It is not only the Abuja Kaduna highway that is affected. The highway leading out to Plateau and Nasarawa States is also becoming problematic. The Akwanga axis is now notorious for banditry. A daring attack on the convoy of the Nasarawa State Deputy Governor a few days ago on his way to Abuja is one of the latest incidences recorded. The Deputy Governor barely escaped unhurt when his convoy ran into bandits operating near Akwanga. The dare-devil bandits were reported to have opened fire on the convoy killing three policemen and a driver. Nonetheless, to the credit of the diligence of the security men, the ring leader of these bandits has been arrested in Kano with a large cache of arms.
Added to the brew of insecurity in the nation is the intense communal clash that has been persisting in the Taraba and Benue border. Opposing militias have been engaged in an orgy of killings and destruction of properties. The highways in that area has been rendered virtually unsafe. A catholic priest David Tanko who was on a peace mission between the communities, met a gruesome end on the Katsina-Ala Takum road when he was attacked, killed and his vehicle set on fire. As the body count escalates, the President was reported to have sent a letter to the two governors of Benue and Taraba literally chiding them to keep the peace.
As Boko Haram escalates attacks on both the military and defenceless civilians in the north-east, and the bandits in the north-west are having a field day harassing villagers and commuters alike, plus the communal conflagration in the north-central, the security situation is seen to be gradually reaching a pitching point. Those who have their hands on the levers of our security outfits must be seen to be up and coming to put a stop to this glide into an abyss. The state governors who are closest to the people, probably feel the pinch more but they are grossly handicapped having no troops.
In the most desperate situations as in the north-west, Governors Matawali of Zamfara State and Masari of Katsina State, have been constrained to go into the forest to negotiate terms with the bandits harassing their citizens. Governor Zulum of Borno State has courageously been shuttling between scenes of attacks in northern Borno oblivious to what could befall him on the road. We need to see a corresponding empathy from the Federal Government. Admittedly the new Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi has enthusiastically hit the road. He has lately been spotted in Maiduguri putting heads together with the Borno Elders. However, we need to see more from the President. The buck, after all, stops on his table.
