In praise of might and the decimation of bandits

My column last week, ‘A Horde of Uniformed Beggars’ drew quite a few reactions from the generality of Nigerians who have been harassed by uniformed personnel soliciting handouts, to some serving and retired uniformed personnel, who requested not to be named, admitting that this unhealthy propensity within public and private security forces is a thing of grave concern. Some of them have been trying to fight it within the system. These few, in whom we are well pleased, are overwhelmed by the enormity of these problems and need the help of the system to overhaul itself.

Of all the reactions, the most perplexing was that of a reader who urged me to “give” to these personnel because it is “sadaqa.” The reasoning that translated bribery, which is clearly haram (forbidden), into an act of charity when there is no sufficient extenuating circumstance is one that puzzled me for quite a while. What is of note, however, is the argument that speaking of the ills eating the very fabric of the security system of this country, which is costing the lives of our beloved personnel, is morale sapping for them. That, because they are often called upon to put their lives on the line for little compensation, should warrant our silence, our deliberately overlooking their misdeeds so their morale is not dampened.

I think it would be a disservice to make excuses to condone this malice and watch silently as corruption continues to cost the lives of not only our civilians but members of the security services as well.

Another disservice would be to fail to give credit when credit is due and to fail to critique, and demand better from one in whom so much responsibility is entrusted, a responsibility they were clearly aware of before taking on the job.

In the spirit of giving credit, today, I must write in praise of the successes being recorded by Nigerian troops in their ongoing operations against those ubiquitous sons of the winds, those bandits who have plagued the country, kidnapped thousands of people and ruined many lives and many families.

Over the years, they have enjoyed almost a free reign and built the capacity to kidnap hundreds of students at one go and bundle them into forests. Some of these students are abused in the wilds. Most are released after their loved ones have sold off their possessions and paid the ransom demanded by their kidnappers. These criminals have grown, recruiting and expanding at an exponential rate, and developing the capacity to shoot down a fighter jet only a few weeks ago.

At last, the military has decided to take them head-on, to borrow from the president, to speak to them in a language that they understand. The result has been the capture of dozens of bandits, call them terrorists if you like, and the sanitisation of some of these forests from their pestilence. Coupled with the mass surrender of Boko Haram Terrorists in the North East and rumours of the killing of ISWAP factional leader, Khalid Al-Barnawi, a son to Boko Haram Founder, Muhammed Yusuf—albeit, at the hands of his fellow terrorists, Nigerians finally have something to cheer. Even if the irony here involves the cheering of yet another killing, but this time of the bad guys.

Yes, we are cheering the long-expected routing of a ragtag army of criminals because we have wallowed too long in their bloodletting, have allowed their menace to fester too long, allowing the credibility of our military to be questioned and our status as a failed state to be nudged up a degree higher. That is the tragedy of this situation, that we are here right now.

Our complacency over the years has cost us far too many lives. The civilians who have been collateral damages, many of their deaths undocumented, unreported or under-reported and soldiers who have unwittingly been fed into this fire, too ill-prepared to deal with the enemy and who end up losing their lives as a result.

For many of them, their sacrifices for their fatherland have not been celebrated enough. Their names are not engraved on stones or woven into the lyrics of our national lore and far too often, their families are left to flounder in misery, some of them kept from knowing the fate that had befallen their loved ones for days or weeks.

This should not be the case. It should never be the fate of families who sacrifice their loved ones for the good of all.

It is for these fallen heroes, so their sacrifices are not in vain, and for our collective good, that one can only hope that this turnaround we are witnessing in the last few weeks means a continued forward momentum that will not only lead to a “technical defeat” of the bandits and Boko Haram, such as the one we dealt to the terrorist in 2015 but to a complete rout.

It is only natural to impress on the authorities the urgency to sustain the tempo and see to the complete decapitation of these Siamese twin monsters. It must ensure that those who profit from this lawlessness do not secure reprieve for the criminals, a reprieve that will allow them to regroup, re-strategise and rebound.

Whatever objective is being pursued now must be comprehensive, it must be one that cuts off the hydra-head from the root. By this, the military objective ought to be total and unrelenting.

Of course, costly mistakes have been made in allowing these criminals and terrorists to establish themselves and fortify their positions. But now that action is being taken and confidence is growing in the ranks of the military, it is wise to counsel that the crass stupidity of General Crassus (from whom that phrase is derived) should not be repeated, where in 53 BCE, a superior Roman force blindly pursued an inferior Parthian army into a death trap that led to the decimation of the Roman army and the decapitation of Crassus, right after the Romans broke rank thinking they had won the battle of Carrhea. So quickly can fortune turn in battles.

History is too full of the cautionary tale of pride that goes before a fall.

While these criminals are being routed from their forest hideouts and captured, there must be a plan to diligently and speedily prosecute them so that the full force of the law is applied and those who have supported and aided the growth of this menace are unmasked and subjected to the law. Anything short of that will be a compromise Nigeria cannot afford; one that will rubbish the sacrifices of these soldiers.

This should not be a punitive expedition. It should be a terminal one. Takurun kus!