The announcement of the mobilisation of operational assets by the police to combat terrorism in Owo, Ondo State in the wake of a threat by terrorists to launch another attack on a church in the town is an advertisement of gross unpreparedness of the security operatives, which makes unspeakable violence to persist in the country.
That terrorists are threatening a strike again in Owo, which witnessed one of the deadliest attacks on religious institutions in the country on June 5, 2022, when they invaded St. Patrick Catholic Church in the town, killing 41 worshippers and injuring about 80 others not only makes Nigerians curious about the attackers, their mission and what emboldens them but also apprehensive due to the seeming incapability of the military and police to cage them.
It is disappointing to observe that there has not been public information on what has happened or is happening to those arrested in connection with the killing of the 41 worshippers in 2022. No punishment is seen meted out to killers of innocent citizens. That failure always has the potential to embolden the hoodlums to plan a fresh attack. As the police were announcing the threat, they should have been telling Nigerians the extent to which they had professionally moved to foil the evil plan, identifying the source, and arresting the masterminds for prosecution.
That is a feature of modern and efficient policing in other climes that elicits the commendation of the people. Unfortunately, policing strategy in Nigeria falls flat before criminal activities that are becoming increasingly sophisticated. And in what can be described as tacit confirmation of failure, leaders, political and military, are asking Nigerians to pray for what the government is expected to provide, what it can provide and what it should be providing. It is disappointing.
Unless there is a paradigm shift in the way issues relating to security are handled by the broad range of entities in the security apparatus, the country will only be dancing around its greatest problem at the risk of being consumed by it. Any country where security matters are treated questionably or in a way that aids escalation of the problem is doomed. The government must ensure that this fate does not befall Nigeria.
The Police Command in Ondo State announced the deployment of the operational assets to Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Government to secure religious institutions following the threat by terrorists to attack a church in the town. In the announcement, the Commissioner of Police, Wilfred Afolabi said surveillance and patrol activities had been intensified to forestall any potential attack with assurance to the public of optimal safety. The terrorists reportedly issued their threat through a letter addressed to the same St. Patrick Catholic Church, Owo, vowing to strike ‘soon’ with no specific date or timeline stipulated.
We can ask: how was the attack on the church in 2022 handled? It is heartrending to recall that the Federal Government as the controller of the nation’s security apparatus cannot be said to have met the expectations of Nigerians in its handling of the violence. The first disappointment was in the President at the time, Muhammadu Buhari, who never deemed it necessary to visit Owo to commiserate with the families of the victims and assure them of government action against the culprits.
The number of people killed should have elicited visible grief from any leader who has regard for human life. It was a bad signal from the presidency. Who knows how the terrorists interpreted Buhari’s indifference that they are now plotting to return to Owo to kill more?
After the attack, the military announced the arrest of some suspects. The then Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor made the initial announcement of four persons arrested on August 1, 2022, in a joint operation with other security agencies in the Eika Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State. He said one of the arrested suspects was a high-ranking member of the terrorist group known as Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP). Gen Irabor told the nation that the suspect was planning more deadly attacks and had perfected his plans with his accomplices before he was arrested. Later in a statement, the military announced the arrest of two additional suspects on August 9, 2022, at Omialafara in the Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The then Governor Rotimi Akeredolu also disclosed the arrest of another person who housed the suspects before they struck. Then, Gen Irabor told Nigerians that the military would have paraded the suspects but could not do so because of some investigations that were still ongoing, promising that in due course, they would be exposed to the whole world.
Almost two years later, Nigerians are asking: where are the suspects? Are they being tried? If yes, in what court or tribunal and what is the latest about their trial? Nigerians want to know and the families of the victims are waiting to get justice. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that the wronged gets justice. How far has the government gone to make it happen? The commissioner for police in Ondo State urged residents of Owo to report suspicious movements and activities. While citizens are encouraged to do so, they are nevertheless curious about what has happened to the suspects in the custody of security operatives.
The Federal Government only told the nation that the attack was carried out by ISWAP members. Is ISWAP stronger than Nigeria in terms of force? Or are ISWAP members immune from prosecution and sanction for criminal activities? Where is the political will of our leaders? Where is the institutional seriousness to end terrorism in the land, even as Nigeria spends trillions of naira that should have been used to develop the country, to tackle this madness?
The latest threat should be seen as a plot to invade Nigeria as a country not just Owo town. This is pure terrorism. Tackling it should not be left to the police. There should be deployment of operational assets and personnel by all the agencies in the nation’s security apparatus. Owo must not be attacked again and the families of the innocent citizens killed must get justice. The gale of attacks across the country must be stopped.
The Federal Government should give practical effect to the constitutional declaration that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. It should prove its capacity to protect innocent Nigerians and debunk the notion of presiding over a failing state. President Bola Tinubu should fight conclusively the corruption and defects in the anti-terrorism crusade that is sustaining the prevalence of insecurity in Nigeria.
