Editorial: Yet another Boko Haram Slaughter

There seems to be no end to the sorrow, tears and blood flowing in the country. While the government claims to be doing the best it can to end the carnage, the killing of over two hundred Nigerians by Boko Haram insurgents, following several similarly gruesome killings in the past, has reinforced the palpable despair that the invasive terrorism-related carnage is far from ever abating. In a continued orgy of indiscriminate bestiality, gunmen in military uniform struck four villages in Gwoza district of Borno state late Tuesday, razing homes, churches and mosques and killing residents who tried to flee the violence. Some community leaders put the death toll as high as 500. And it is most strange that all these happen in spite of the state-of-emergency and a heavy presence of military task forces made up of just about every component of the security forces. Despite the support of the international community, the war on terror, sadly, is far from over. President Goodluck Jonathan has his job well cut out: save Nigeria, or what is left of it, from terrorism.

The latest attack on the villages of Goshe, Attagara, Agapalwa and Aganjara is the deadliest in the Islamists' deadly five-year insurgency and top the more than 300 who were killed on May 5 when insurgents laid siege to the nearby town of Gamboru Ngala. Reports from the remote region, said the insurgents continued their attack on Wednesday, stealing livestock and food and burning property; taking over at least seven villages and hoisting their black flag. Men, women and children who tried to flee were tracked by gunmen on motorcycles, who shot them as they ran. This grotesque campaign of human savagery and barbarism is now the poster of how badly the nation is bleeding. While mindful of the efforts of the president in tackling the insurgency, he ought to be reminded that though the war would not be a quick-fix, it is winnable. And win he must, else he should have no business seeking re-election, having failed woefully to adequately discharge his responsibility for the safety of Nigerians, which is the primary responsibility of his office.

Once again, the sophisticated methods of the insurgents, the audacity and brazenness with which they have, at will and unchallenged, operated over wide geographical areas to achieve their objective to plunder, destroy and terrify the populace are sufficient reasons to perceive a palpable inadequacy in the effectiveness of military presence in the area. It calls to question the strategy of the security forces and their commitment to the fight. Tuesday’s attack seemed a reprisal after four Boko Haram gunmen were killed when they opened fire on a church, killing nine. Residents had allegedly sought assurances from the military that they would be protected from reprisals over Sunday's church attack but no troops were sent. The question cannot but be asked again and again: are there fifth columnists within the ranks or is the problem attributable to mere insufficiency in the tools for the fight? Are there people profiting from its open-endedness? If there have been successes, such have been cancelled out by the plundering of Nigerian lives, lives of security personnel and innocent civilians.

The fact of the matter is that Nigeria is at war and the management of the situation is awful. Too many security personnel are being killed by a presumably less trained terrorist group. Even far more innocent civilians are falling victims. It appears the command structure and the reporting lines between the men in the trenches and the military headquarters are too long and bureaucratic. From Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, the violence has practically cruised through the north central with Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa states now under siege. With the killing and maiming of hundreds in suicide bombings in the nation’s capital, Abuja, whatever faith was left that there is any safe place anywhere in the country was shattered; and the vulnerability of the entire country to this orgy of bloodletting was exposed, even at the seat of government. Whatever success so far recorded in the war, appears debatable with the magnitude of the successes of the terrorists.

As Nigeria bleeds, a more heart-rending phenomenon is the politicization of the insurgency, leading to a senseless blame game by politicians, a vanity industry of condolence messages and mindless photo-ops and a befuddled sense of what needs to be done. The result is that not only is a solution still elusive, the political elite seem conscienceless enough to be exploiting the crisis, in symbols and in substance. In spite of its protestations to the contrary, the government, has certainly not earned praises in its handling of the insurgency. And all talk of the buck stopping at Mr. President’s desk is true. He was, after all, hired as president to protect Nigeria and Nigerians against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That citizens, north, south, east and west, now live in fear is a testimonial that he should be ashamed of.

But blaming Jonathan and his government is the easiest thing to do. Of course, the government can and should do more. But it is much wiser to see Boko Haram as a challenge to all Nigerians especially the political parties. Therefore, political leaders across party lines must unite to ensure the safety and sanctity of the Nigerian state that each desires to rule now, or sometime. To begin with, Jonathan, as president of all Nigerians irrespective of party leaning, should avail his administration of the cooperation of other political parties to address the insecurity. Merely trading brickbats is most unhelpful at this time. Secondly, government must not allow itself to be driven into irrelevance. A situation whereby social service facilities such as schools and hospitals are closed plays into the hands of Boko Haram. In addition, displaced persons should be catered for in ways that will make their unhappy condition more tolerable, lest they become ready tools in the hands of the insurgents. The government should consider providing appropriate support to community vigilantes for local intelligence gathering. They know the terrain, they know the people, and the people know them. This will obviously augment the intelligence network of security forces.

As the Nigerian life gets cheaper by the day and death stalks every nook and cranny of the country in the color of Boko Haram insurgents or suicide bombers, every Nigerian must pause, reflect on the death of the innocents, on the possibility that any Nigerian could be next and determine to be each other’s keeper. Vigilance, eternal vigilance on the part of all is what is most needed now. That is the first step towards cooperating with the security agencies and overcoming terror in Nigeria. The government and the people of Nigeria need to contain terrorism before it consumes the soul of the nation.