Despite assurances by Nigeria’s security forces that they are well positioned to contain the current wave of terrorist threats on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, residents of the city have not been sleeping with both eyes closed.
According to The Guardian, many ordinary and Very Important Personalities (VIP) in the city have lost confidence in the ability of the Federal Government to contain the growing attacks and threats from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram terrorists and have adopted extra security measures, including prayers, to protect themselves against the marauders.
The residents spoke a day after the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), who addressed the press after a five-hour closed-door meeting of the National Security Council last Thursday chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari, had admitted that Nigerians were tired of the current security challenges facing the nation and were tending towards seeking self-help.
Recall that on the night of Tuesday, July 5, this year, terrorists attacked the Kuje Correctional Centre near the FCT, and released over 900 inmates, including Boko Haram suspects. The ISWAP had claimed responsibility for the attack.
As residents were gradually recovering from the shock of the jailbreak, the terrorists, on Monday, July 25, threatened to kidnap President Muhammadu Buhari and Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai
This was after three soldiers sustained injuries in an ambush by Boko Haram terrorists in Bwari Area Council of the FCT. The soldiers from the elite Guards Brigade guarding the FCT, as well as the presidential seat of government, were ambushed along Bwari Kubwa road while on patrol of Bwari Area where the Nigerian Law School and the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) are located.
The Guards Brigade is in charge of the security of the President, his entire family, the Vice President, VIP, the FCT and its surrounding states. The ambush was the first direct encounter between terrorists and the Brigade of Guards in Abuja.
The soldiers from the 7 Guards Battalion had been carrying out a patrol in the town following an intelligence report of an impending attack on the Nigerian Law School. The multiplicity of attacks and threats on the FCT and environs led to the immediate closure of all unity schools in Abuja.
In the face of growing insecurity, attacks and threats of coming attacks from the ISWAP and Boko Haram, residents of the FCT said they have lost confidence in the ability of the government of the day to protect them and have resorted to prayers.
Some of the residents told The Guardian that the nation’s capital was becoming a fearful place to live in such that they now sleep with one eye open due to fears of attacks from terrorist groups, armed robbers and kidnappers.
A resident in Lugbe area, Rosemary Akor, said it was most unfortunate that the internal security of the country has been compromised to the extent that Nigerians now walk around with broken hearts and disappointment.
“The truth is that Nigeria has an emergency at hand; Nigerians now walk around with broken hearts and have resorted to trusting God. We had the impression that we have a government that should provide us with security. But if we are to go by recent happenings, all is not well.
“If the armed groups are launching successful attacks on presidential guards, if they have the effrontery to attack a maximum Correctional Centre in Nigeria, break away with their members and the government has not been able to make any meaningful arrests of the over 3000 individuals involved in this, then the internal security of the country has been compromised,” she said.
She lamented that Nigerians could only hope on God for protection, adding: “I must say that it is unfortunate that Nigerians suddenly found themselves in the era of not sleeping with their two eyes closed anymore. Nigerians no longer have a fun time, because you don’t know where you will go and where strange faces will come and attack you. It is unfortunate that we have shockingly found ourselves at the point of what Chinua Achebe said, ‘There Was a Country. We only hope that the story of Nigeria will not be in the past tense.”
She called on President Buhari to step aside if he could no longer “steer this ship”, stressing, “let him step aside and give it to people that will do better.”
Another resident, who simply identified himself as Mr. Johnson, said Nigeria was on the brink of becoming a failed state, because of the inability of the government to tackle widespread insecurity and provide a safe environment for the citizens to live in.
He expressed disappointment at the series of attacks within the FCT, which he said threatened the sovereignty of the nation.
He noted that a lot of people were apprehensive due to the belief that the terrorists had long been living among the people and integrated themselves to the level that they would be above suspicion.
“I believe that they have long been living among us and are just waiting for the go-ahead from their commanders to attack. This is why many people are living in fear and no one can be trusted at this time.
“This insecurity issue has gone for far too long and the inability of the government to end these attacks is a threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty as a state. There is no way we can say this than to accept that Nigeria is not too far from being a failed state,” he added.
