Security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu has condemned the massacre of 47 Villagers by terrorists in three local government areas of Kastina State, calling it “a crime against humanity.” According to him, “the large scale massacres give the impression that Nigerian life is cheap”.
In a press release issued in Lagos on Monday, Dr. Ekhomu who is the President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON) said that the terrorists (which some people euphemistically call “bandits”) took advantage of the COVID-19 lockdown to carry out the bloody attacks.
He expressed shock that about 450 terrorists operating on about 150 motorbikes swept through three local governments, killing, maiming and looting and yet there was no law enforcement or military response.
Ekhomu said that the undue concentration of security forces in major cities is clearly a vulnerability in the nation’s security systems, declaring that the federal government must hold the Commissioner of Police in Katsina State and the Military Commander there responsible for the security lapses that resulted in the preventable deaths.
Ekhomu, who is the first chartered security professional in West Africa raised the alarm that the nation is under siege by foreign jihadis and militias. He said some of the terrorists were from Mali, Sudan (Janjaweed militia), Burkina Faso and other unstable countries. “It’s high time we call a spade by its name. Instead of calling these blood thirsty killers “terrorists” we call them bandits – which is an euphemism. Bandits or not, they are not allowed to take Nigeria lives without being accountable”, he averred.
Dr. Ekhomu said that the continuous attacks by the terrorists shows that the policy of appeasement adopted by Katsina Governor, the Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari and some other northwest governors was ill-conceived and ineffective. He said: “some foes are simply implacable. West African Jihadists who have engaged in trafficking in women, drugs, guns and cigarettes in the Sahelian zone for many years now see Nigeria as a fertile ground to plunder. These are the same groups that are fighting the governments and peoples of Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, etc. They are involved in cattle rustling and have the munitions to take on a small army. They know the forests well and can live off the land.”
The policy analyst urged the Federal Government not to be distracted by the COVID-19 pandemic while citizens are being slaughtered like fowls. He said human life is precious and Nigerian lives are precious.
Dr. Ekhomu said that the terrorists must be combatted using a whole of government approach as is being done with the COVID-19 pandemic. He said all security agencies, intelligence agencies, paramilitary agencies, private security operatives, vigilance groups, community leaders must be brought together and organized to combat the threat of foreign jihadi invasion. He said the jihadists are “a clear and present danger” and must be neutralized to serve as a deterrent against further attacks against Nigerians on Nigerian soil.
He advised that force multipliers be provided to facilitate combating the jihadi threat. He urged the Federal Government to take seriously its constitutional mandate to provide for the welfare and security of Nigerians. “We cannot pay lip service to the issue of human lives-be it COVID-19 or blood-thirsty terrorists. All threats to our national security must be combated”, he said.