Terror threats in South-West

 

AS Boko Haram anarchists audaciously expand the frontiers of their sinister campaign of terror, state governments in the South-West, and particularly in Lagos, where twin explosions went off last week in the maritime hub of Apapa, have to take security more seriously, because the tenacious terror-mongers may have embedded themselves in all parts of Nigeria. On Tuesday, a grenade also went off in Ile-Ife, Osun State, although no life was lost. These occurrences clearly show that the anarchists are fast striking dangerously close to the thin thread of unity that binds Nigeria together. Therefore, there is an urgent need to evolve fresh strategies to checkmate the evil group.

The initial reports of the explosions in the busy Apapa ports area were heart-rending. Five people were incinerated. Scores of people, including workers in a nearby building, were critically injured. Several fuel tankers and other vehicles were razed. The reports had suggested that the explosions were caused by the improper handling of operations in an oil barge in a tank farm. However, later reports, including those from United States agents on the ground, strongly pointed to a terrorist act. This is worrying, though it may not be surprising that Boko Haram has finally launched itself in Lagos.

These are perilous times for Nigeria. The signs of terror attacks, which have become a daily ritual in the North-East following the inability of the military to put the rag-tag Boko Haram extremists where they belong, have been there for some time. Series of arrests over the past two years by security agencies are auguries of the capacity of Boko Haram to wreak havoc on Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre.

In March 2013, the State Security Service had uncovered a terrorist cell at Ijora area of the state. The devices gathered from the hideout operated by two suspects, including one Ibrahim Musa, were AK 47 rifles, home-made bomb materials, ammunition and a bomb hidden in the ceiling of his rented apartment. A month before then, the SSS had paraded three suspects, who allegedly operated terror cells in Lagos. The gang, led by one Abdullahi Berende, was linked to Iran, a country accused by the West and Israel of sponsoring terrorism around the globe.

An identical incident occurred in Owerri, the Imo State capital, last month. A bomb primed to detonate at 8am on a Sunday morning at the peak of church service was, mercifully, defused after alert security guards informed the authorities about the furtive movement of strangers the previous night. Last April, the insurgents abducted 276 schoolgirls from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State. The schoolgirls have yet to be rescued.

Events in Northern Nigeria and other parts of the world, like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mali, Somalia and Kenya, show that the extremists would stop at nothing to spread terror around the world. They succeed more in failing states like Nigeria, though the impact of their ideology is also felt in places like Europe, Asia and Russia. We feel gutted and dismayed that the sickening evil is now spreading down South.

But the state governments in the South must act, and fast too, in the face of the impending onslaught. Living in denial of terrorism will not help at all. The governors need not depend so much on the Federal Government, which has, so far, not demonstrated that it understands the workings of jihad, or that it has the will and capacity to incapacitate the jihadists.

With sustained enlightenment programmes, the people must be primed to be observant of the ways terrorists carry out their evil plans. It is time for the average citizen to be aware that devices like gas cylinders, mobile phones, batteries, wires/cables, fertiliser, petrol, clocks and empty tins are the materials used in making bombs or Improvised Explosive Devices.

The governments must carry along Community Development Associations, landlord/tenant groups and transport unions in this plan, with dedicated toll free telephone numbers that they can call when they have any information to pass on. The CDAs should be mobilised to inform the authorities when they have new landlords and tenants so as to discourage infiltrators from embedding themselves in a community.

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos has been proactive, saying, “The game must change. We have met with hospitality facilities; we have met with health (authorities); we have met with the malls; the motor parks; we are taking every measure. We are not leaving anything to chance, every information that we get we check,” at a meeting with tank farm operators on Tuesday. He must do more and forge an alliance with other governors in the South-West.

The governors need to collaborate and work in tandem with federal agencies like the SSS, police, military, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service and the Neighbourhood Watch, exchanging information seamlessly and acting swiftly to prevent terror attacks.

The states also have a campaign to de-radicalise the populace against the Islamist ideology, which is sweeping through the world, spreading terror, anarchy and rivers of blood around the globe.