The Pioneer Director, Defence Media Operations at the Defence Headquarters, and former Commandant of the Army War College, Major General John Enenche, (rtd), has challenged Defence Minister Christopher Musa’s claim that Nigeria has defeated terrorism, insisting that Nigerians still live in fear amid persistent insecurity.
Recall that on September 3, the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd), declared that Nigeria had defeated terrorism, citing a significant reduction in large-scale attacks by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Challenging the claim, Enenche, while speaking in an interview on Arise News on Tuesday, insisted that terrorism has not been defeated in Nigeria, noting that continued insecurity and the fear experienced by citizens contradict the assertion.
“I’d love to be in a position to begin to analyze and begin to assess the policy statement of the Minister of Defense with all due respect. I need to respect his office and his intellect, his assessment, because he’s a well-trained officer and I respect him. But if you now ask me about my own views, yes, I would say that I used to say that we have won the war, we have to win the peace. I think we are human beings.
“If you say we have defeated terrorism, that means we should not see it again, raising its ugly head anywhere, wherever the root is. We have to remove the roots.
“So in a very general assessment, my response is that we have not really defeated terrorism, otherwise we would not see any sign and their walk or whatever they are doing in the Northeast, Northwest, anywhere. Even within areas where what is terrorism? To instill fear into people. People are still terrified right in my village, in the local areas. So it has not, in my own assessment, been defeated.”
Addressing recurring attacks by terrorists and bandits, Enenche called for a change in strategy, urging the government and security agencies to take proactive measures to prevent attacks and tackle threats before they escalate.
“When you look at what the government churns out in the area of support, in the area of narratives, you would think that we are moving forward. But when you look at the situation on the ground—like the success we had on Monday—you find that all the other happenings around appear to be like a pullback.
“So I will modestly and honestly say that I think it’s not good enough. We need to do more than we are doing now.
“I was in a country where I was given a confidential brief of how to move forward. These terrorists, we have the notice, bandits we have all over the place, they are known. Why don’t we pick them up? If we can, let’s nip it in the bud. We have heard severally from some quarters, which are supposed to be appropriate, that there are sponsors, that it is a clique, it is a group that does it. And intelligence is supposed to have identified them. If they are identified, why are we waiting for?
”So what we need to do is now we have to change. The government has given directives that those collaborators, all of them should be held responsible and then deal with them appropriately. You cannot continue to run—it’s a romance now. One step forward, several steps backward. I don’t think it is worth it, because it continues to have been on this for close to 20 years, two decades, and every day it seems as if it’s not getting better.
“So we should all sit up: the armed forces, the army and all, and security. And the government, the government have done what I believe they should do. It is left for the people in the field now to implement confidently, taking along the political actors, traditional actors, and every stakeholder.”
Enenche attributed the continued survival of terrorist groups in the North-East to the failure to adequately identify and tackle their collaborators, arguing that Nigeria could learn from other countries’ counterterrorism strategies to weaken insurgent networks and restore security.
“This information is not for the public, but I have to make it public now so that people, the appropriate security authorities can hear. They told us how they do it. The terrorists, they kill pigs, they went one by one and pick them up and their collaborators.
“When you call them, they say, ‘No, these people are not—they are not involved, they are our brothers,’ and all manner of things. As long as we don’t clear them… The area we are talking about can be controversial, and all that. So what we need to do is to clear them and do the best practice as it is now.”
He also called for stronger action to reclaim territories held by terrorists, saying the government could mobilise personnel beyond the regular armed forces to take over affected areas and help bring the prolonged insecurity to an end.
“The government can come up and mobilize, we can get them. There are people who are now ready to do that. It’s not a regular force. All they need to do is to go and take over the place. That is where we are now.”
Speaking on the recent abduction of a couple and their six-month-old baby from Alrahus Estate in Millennium City, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, where kidnappers demanded ₦300 million for their release, Enenche called for the deployment of intelligence-gathering technology backed by decisive action to track abductors and dismantle their criminal networks.
“As long as, you know, we treat it with kid gloves and we start with not taking along the fourth estate of the realm, the defense sector, that is, the private security in this. What do we do? We need to deploy technology and then back it up with action.
“It’s a whole network. We need to deploy that technology and then back it up with force. Once they’re detected, carry them and then let them go to where they belong in hell.”
On the proposed Department of Homeland Security by the presidency, to be led by Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa (rtd), Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, Enenche said its effectiveness would depend on political will backed by concrete action, adequate funding and cooperation among security agencies, adding that the initiative’s leadership must be given the resources and support needed to translate its strategic plans into results.
“This political statement is there, but when you talk about political will, it comes with action.
“So what may be there is like I said, the political statement could be there, but to say talking about politics that must be backed with action, master security action. We talk about funding, we talk about all that.
“The individual should be able, like I know him, to come up with a structure to be able to handle it from that strategic level and then let it drive down. Then we also need the cooperation because this office is not only about the armed forces alone, all other security are supposed to come together to be able to harness them, to put all their help on the table for him to move forward and make progress in that regard.”
Favour Odima
Follow us on:
