Now, the group accepting responsibility for the spates of bomb explosion rocking the north and the targeted assassinations of prominent individuals, the Boko Haram group, might have taken a page out of the style book of MEND, issuing out statements in the name of one Abu Zaid. But the question is who is Abu Zaid, or even Boko Haram itself properly? Are these names real or convenient covers to carry out violence in the north under the banner of a group with supposed grouses against the Nigerian State?
Bomb blasts and Boko Haram
Now, the group accepting responsibility for the spates of bomb explosion rocking the north and the targeted assassinations of prominent individuals, the Boko Haram group,…
Weekly Trust’s discussions with policemen conversant with the ongoing investigations over the violence whose responsibility is claimed by Boko Haram suggests the police have not fully bought into the thesis of a fundamentalist religious groups with a suicidal jihadi agenda, ala al-Qaeda, in the north. The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer at the Nigerian Police Headquarters in Abuja told Weekly Trust that the claim by the Boko Haram sect on being behind bomb blasts hasn’t been fully established and cannot in any way divert the attention of investigators. He says: “In fact police will not focus on any group that claims responsibility for blasts so as not to jeopardize the probe already going on over any explosion. But if during investigation police found similarities in the facts they obtained and the claim made by any group on the explosions, then such claims must be verified.”
However, a source at the police headquarters Abuja said no one was arrested directly in connection to any blast incidence since last year and no one has been found with useful information on the whereabouts of the bombers. He said police haven’t arrested any real Boko Haram sect member in recent days in spite of the havoc they were allegedly causing. “But investigation on sect members and their activities is continuing.”
The Force PRO, DCP Olusola Amore said recent blasts in Zaria and Abuja on the inauguration day were caused by homemade bombs. This suggests that any persons or group could as well be behind the explosions. One of the Zaria blast that claimed the lives of two brothers Mansur Yahaya Soja, 14, and Abdullahi Yahaya Soja, 12, occurred near the borehole where they had gone to fetch water. A source who doesn’t want to be named said the general belief among residents is that the owners of the bomb had no intention of harming anybody that was why they kept the bomb in a place they assumed as a safe area.
The source says: “What we suspect is that the owners of the bomb were keeping it in their homes. We are thinking that they wanted to experiment with that bomb to test the efficiency of the locally-made bomb that is why they planted it beside a refuse dump; perhaps, believing that if it explodes in that place it will not affect anybody. It is unfortunate those children crossed the place and it exploded.”
What the authorities have not been saying is the technology for making bombs have become so accessible and available that any persons or group with a mind to upsetting the peace could deploy it with efficacy. This is at the heart of what is becoming a manhunt for supposed members of Boko Haram. The concern is by going after a supposed religious fundamentalist group, could the authorities be chasing shadows?
Former Inspector general of Police, Alhaji Gambo Jimeta has blamed security agencies for the proliferation of dangerous weapons and illegal weapons as well as the increasing spate of bomb blasts in the country. Speaking to Voice of Nigeria (Hausa service) on Wednesday and monitored by Weekly Trust, the ex police chief said what is happening in Nigeria has nothing to do with religion.
“It is just a high level of destitution and drug addiction in the land,’’ he said. He laments situations where criminals are returned to the country from abroad due to the offenses they have committed. This last view seem to be shared by security consultant and chairman, DEN-MAX security, Major Dennis Adeshola Adejo (Rtd), who says, “there is need to track where this technology came from. It is certainly not Nigerian. I believe it came from somewhere and our boys have now learnt it.” He says: “Local people that are even illiterates can now sit in the comfort of their homes or wherever and make explosives that can kill and destroy. If these things were checked before hand, this bomb making skills would not have degenerated to this level.”
Dr. Terfa I Joshua, retired history lecturer in the University of Jos worries that the whole bombing saga stands the risk of being labeled a purely northern affair, especially by southerners. “They really see it as a problem of the region, meanwhile it is not so,” he says. “It is a national problem because wherever you go in Nigeria, people of both regions dwell.”
Just as a popular wisdom has developed in the street that every major national event stand the risk of being marred by a bomb explosion, another growing wisdom in the street, especially among southerners, even though erroneous, is the fact that the explosions is because the north have not gotten over the emergence of Jonathan as president. What is worse is even the federal government has so far failed to deploy the kind of resources hat was deployed to check the violence of the Niger Delta when it threatens to overwhelm the nation. Says Major Adejo: “It doesn’t matter whether it is a local bomb or a sophisticated one, so long as it kills and destroys. Even if you used an empty can of milk or bottle to make an explosive or detonate anything in like manner and kill people, it is pure terrorism.’’
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