Finally, after over 50 days in captivity, the 39 pupils and seven teachers abducted from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State have regained their freedom; bringing to an end a harrowing and tortuous period of anxiety, agony and palpable fear, especially among school children, tutors and the public across the nation and beyond.
The agonies the families of these victims went through, especially the family of Mr. Michael Oyedokun, who was beheaded by his abductors, can better be imagined.
How things now degenerated to this level where the entire nation is gripped with fears so much so that at a point schools were closed and every strange face seen in the vicinity was a potential kidnapper, I do not know. But what cannot be contested is the fact that the half-hearted, lack of political will to crush these threats allowed it to fester for too long and this is, no thanks to the political class, who continue to bring politics, clannishness and sectarian divisiveness to all issues of national interests and threats.
According to early reports at the time of putting this piece together, a delightful President Tinubu has promised justice for the beheaded teacher, just as he praised Governor Seyi Makinde over the rescue.
There are indeed so many things right and to be learnt from this rescue operations that we must continue to maintain if we must win this terror war.
First, it’s obvious that both Oyo State and the Federal Government were in unison in this rescue operations. This is in spite of their political differences. They both acknowledged this in their different statements on Friday, after the rescue. This speaks directly to the need for all to set aside politics, clannishness, and religious bigotry when issues of national interests are at stake.
Second, is the reassuring reported arrests of eight suspects and neutralisation of some suspects. In our previous experiences, we are told of victims’ rescues, yet no arrests, let alone killings of the suspects. These are more pronounced in the north, where obviously some state governments are not only contemptuous in their remarks and actions and treat the rest of us as fools, but as well known to have sponsored terrorists to pilgrimages and also seen openly holding meetings with armed bandits in broad daylight.
One of the most ridiculous of these kinds of spuriousness was the remark from Katsina State after the unfortunate recent killing of General Abubakar Rabe.
Recall that Gen Rabe, former Director of Defence Information, and his wife were attacked, kidnapped, dragged into the bush, exposed to the elements, subjected to immense trauma, threatened, and used as a bargaining chip in a prisoner-swap negotiation for weeks.
This unfortunate couple suffered in the hands of their abductors as Nigerians were treated with videos of the general and other captives in chains.
Suddenly, the general was pronounced dead of natural causes and not as a result of his long captivity. So claimed his abductors.
The state government, rather than conduct investigation and do an autopsy to establish the real cause of his death, hurriedly arranged his burial and took upon themselves the shameful task of substantiating the report of the bandits.
The state’s Internal Security and Home Affairs Commissioner concluded that he died a “natural death” caused by complications from diabetes and hypertension.
Not only did his family eventually deny that the late General had any of these health complications, they also wondered why the state government took upon themselves the job of a spokesman of the bandits.
To further add more drama to this strange development, the late General Rabe’s wife was released, with no single arrest and no explanations as to how the remains of the general were recovered.
Third, in the Oriire rescue, it is obvious that no ransom was paid, just as the Oyo State government had insisted because some suspects were arrested and others neutralised.
This is a far cry from our previous experiences where huge ransom are paid by the unfortunate families of the victims and governments after being cajoled by their enablers and sympathisers in and out of governments to part with handsome rewards for criminal elements.
Also, last week, the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, directed security personnel to kill and neutralise bandits and terrorists immediately upon deployment, warning that any operative who waits for approval before taking action would be treated as a terrorist.
Musa gave the order last Wednesday in Sokoto State while commissioning 62 operational vehicles and security equipment worth N27.1 billion procured by the Sokoto State Government to strengthen security operations across the state.
He was quoted to have said; “Once you’re deployed, do not wait for any order from anybody to shoot any bandit or any terrorist.”
Again, why this is taking this long to come is not as important as the fact that it has finally been made.
Before now, Musa and the Minister of Defence, as well as the national security adviser to the President, had prevaricated on their clear assignment of checking worsening insecurity.
While one of them advised us to treat terrorists as our brothers, another told us we should welcome them as our prodigal sons who should be rehabilitated and reintegrated.
These new developments must be the spirits going forward if we must win the war against terror.
We must as well not spare those who sponsor them as well as those who insist that seeking the comfort of terrorists must take precedence over the rehabilitation of their victims.
Similarly, the fight against insecurity must be devoid of political, religious, and sectarian considerations. We must be intentionally united whenever issues bordering on our safety, interests, and well-being as a nation are called to question.
