By Andrew Okonye
“Contrary to the government’s trite, predictable assertions, it is obvious that insecurity is pervasive, unrelenting in Nigeria. The Buhari administration and the security agencies are wanting in tackling the security challenges bedevilling Nigeria,” Don Okereke, a security analyst, told Al Jazeera."
Since the news of the gruesome killing of 43 rice famers in Borno State broke, Nigerians have been expressing worry over the worsening spate of insecurity in Nigeria.
On Saturday, November 28, 2020, suspected Boko Haram terrorists slaughtered dozens of farmers, who had converged on a rice field in Zabarmari village, Jere Local Government of the state to harvest rice.
According to reports, there were 60 farmers, some of whom were contracted from Sokoto State to work as labourers in the rice plantation.
But while the farmers were harvesting their crops, Boko Haram insurgents attacked them, killed 43, injured six and also destroyed their farmlands. But UN reports claim over 110 farmers may have been killed.
In a swift reaction to the tragedy, President Muhammadu Buhari described the killing of the farmers as senseless, adding that the entire country was hurt as a result of the killing.
However, Nigerians have been calling on the president to do the needful on insecurity in the country as Zabarmari massacre and the incompetence of service chiefs to tackle the menace topped Twitter trends on Sunday.
While many Nigerians are calling on the president to dismiss the service chiefs, under whom Nigeria’s insecurity problems have worsened, others ask the president to resign.
CSO demands sack of Service Chiefs, heads of DSS, Police
Civil Society Organisation, CSO, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution, CDNDC, Sunday, demanded the sack of Service Chiefs and Heads of Department of State Security and Nigeria Police Force.
The demand was made in a statement signed by the Convener, CDNDC, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, where the group called on the government to immediately put a stop to the ongoing deradicalisation programme and halt freeing of the so-called repentant Boko Haram members and prosecute them.
The Statement reads in part, “At this point, Nigerians must unite and be resolute in sounding the plain truth to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari that he should either with immediate effect sack the service chiefs, heads of the DSS, Police and overhaul the entire security architecture of the country or tender his resignation letter.
“The people of this country are pained and have totally lost confidence in the service chiefs, and by extension in the Buhari regime, and we can no longer watch and allow the inefficiency of these men and the incompetency of the President to destroy what is left of our country.
“Also, the government must immediately put a stop to its terribly flawed deradicalisation programme and halt the freeing of the so-called repentant Boko Haram, and ensure that these criminals and vampires are prosecuted and jailed.”
The statement also called for a protest in the North East region over killings, attacks, displacements, and misery across communities despite security presence.
“This is also an appeal to our brothers and sisters in the North to end the indulgence and organise protests and rallies to demonstrate their frustration and disappointment in the regime and we are very ready to support them to advance this cause.”
The statement also added that “Let no one is deceived, this is a leadership problem and since Gen. Buhari has irredeemably failed to provide the leadership that he promised the people of Nigeria when he was campaigning, the National Assembly should be courageous enough to set conditions for impeachment – act, sack the service chiefs or be impeached.”
The statement called on National Assembly to commence the process of restructuring the political system with the hope that it will address challenges facing the nation.
“Without further hesitation, the National Assembly and all the political leaders at the national and sub-national must immediately commence the process for restructuring Nigeria, which can to a large extent help to address the issue of insecurity and bad governance”, it pointed.
‘Unrelenting’ insecurity: Nigeria reels after massacre of farmers
Security forces and volunteer vigilante groups in northeastern Nigeria are searching to find people still missing after dozens of civilians working in rice fields were slaughtered by armed men over the weekend.
Locals say they recovered 43 bodies after Saturday’s attacks in villages near Maiduguri, the capital of the restive Borno state, which has been plagued by an armed campaign for more than 10 years.
Amid divergent figures, the United Nations late on Sunday amended an earlier statement putting the death toll at 110 people to say that “tens of civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded” in the “brutal” assault that was led by men on motorcycles.
In the statement, Edward Kallon, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, also cited “reports that several women may have been kidnapped” and called for their immediate release and return to safety.
In Zabarmari village, where a funeral was held for the victims of the attack on Sunday morning, a local resident who identified himself as Umar said “no one knows the exact number of people killed”.
“We can’t account for some farmers who were there during the attack,” Umar told Al Jazeera. “We don’t know if they are still hiding inside the bush or if the attackers kidnapped them,” he said, adding that local members of government-backed vigilante groups were currently conducting search operations.
“We have buried the ones we can find and hopefully we will recover more when the vigilante men return from their search,” Umar said.
No Claims of responsibility for attack yet —>
There has been no claim of responsibility for the massacre but the assault bore the hallmark of the Boko Haram armed group, which launched its military campaign in 2009, and its splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters are active in the region and have been blamed for frequent attacks on villages mostly inhabited by farmers.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, which has so far displaced some two million others and has spread to neighbouring countries such as Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected to office in 2015 on the back of a promise to eradicate Boko Haram, described the recent attack as “insane” and said “the entire country is hurt by these senseless killings”.
The government had given all the needed support to the armed forces “to take all necessary steps to protect the country’s population and its territory”, Buhari said in a statement via his spokesman on Sunday.
‘Insecurity is pervasive, unrelenting’
But the news of the latest gruesome attack – one account reportedly said the attackers tied up the men and women harvesting crops and slit their throats – was met with outrage across the country.
On social media, many expressed indignation at the government’s failure to stop the bloodshed despite repeated promises. People called for a review of the country’s security system, including the dismissal of security chiefs.
“Contrary to the government’s trite, predictable assertions, it is obvious that insecurity is pervasive, unrelenting in Nigeria. The Buhari administration and the security agencies are wanting in tackling the security challenges bedevilling Nigeria,” Don Okereke, a security analyst, told Al Jazeera.
“The bitter truth is that Boko Haram have not been defeated, tactically or otherwise. A swathe of land in the northeast and northwest of the country can be likened to ungoverned space, hence terrorists will continue to launch sporadic attacks,” he said.
Most of the victims of Saturday’s assault were reported to be labourers hailing from Sokoto state in northwest Nigeria who were hired to work some 1,000km (620 miles) away on rice farms in Borno state.
“Pragmatically speaking, it is difficult to guarantee protection for farmers in northern Nigeria, nay other parts of the country because Nigerian security agencies are currently stretched and security agents cannot be everywhere at every point in time,” Okereke added.
After attending Sunday’s funeral, Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum said people in the region were facing grim choices as they strive to survive.
“On one side, they stay at home [and] they may be killed by hunger and starvation,” Zulum said. “On the other, they go out to their farmlands and risk getting killed by the insurgents.”
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