Dealing with Boko Haram threat

It has not happened. But not a few Lagosians believe that Boko Haram insurgents might one day try their luck on the commercial nerve of the country. DGossip247 explored the preparedness of the citizens of the state on the impending threat

Until it broke out a few years ago, the kind of guerrilla warfare being waged by the members of the Boko Haram sect against Nigeria government and hapless Nigerians was alien in the annals of the country. Mostly, the ruinous onslaughts which have claimed thousands of lives have been carried out in the north, especially the north eastern part of the country which is considered as the stronghold of the insurgents. The possibility of a Boko haram attack cannot be overlooked, given the fact that similar attacks have been carried out in the recent past. However, as the New Telegraph found out in a few public places around the metropolis, it was mixed reaction for the residents towards the issue of security.

Many are oblivious of the possibility of attack; many are indifferent; yet many are getting proactive. Chukwujeku Onwughalu, the Chairman of Dynasty Bar and Club in Lagos, with a benefit of access to privileged information, believes that the possibility of an attack in the state by Boko Haram elements is real. “I had some information from informed security operatives in the country that the Boko Haram sect is planning to attack Lagos and Bayelsa States.

They warned that everybody should be careful and security conscious.” Retired Group Captain John Ojikutu, a security expert and a public analyst, is worried about non-commitment of the relevant authorities to the protection of some infrastructures in Lagos, as well as in other parts of the country. He posited that not securing the public infrastructure like bridges, airports and seaports, markets and others make the citizens more vulnerable to danger of attack. He said: “About four-five years ago, I started asking about who is keeping watch over your bridge that connects Lagos Island to Lagos Mainland. I have asked them long ago about who is keeping watch over the motor parks, the markets, the shopping malls where there are people, the airports, the seaports, the Atlas Cove where they are pumping fuel to other parts of the state and the country? I told then Governor Babtunde Fashola to stop motorcycle otherwise called Okada from plying the Lagos bridges.

Even though it took the government sometime, they agreed and eventually stopped them. They drove them from the North and found their way to this place; they have infiltrated the rank of those Okada operators here.” Expressing fear that never before has the threat of Boko Haram insurgency in Lagos become more real than in the contemporary times, Tunde Kolawole, a lawyer said: “You will recall that there was a bomb blast in Apapa last year; that is the confirmation that they are around. They may be lying low for now but they are on ground. That they could go to Apapa and effortlessly plant a bomb in a depot is a confirmation that they are already on ground: they are probably grooming themselves and stockpiling arms and ammunition before they launch a serious offensive.” Kolawole explained that, usually, a guerrilla army like the Boko Haram will usually open war on many fronts to ease pressure on them.

He projected that Lagos and Benin will turn into theatres of war so as to be able to divert attention from them and ease off tension that is already mounted on them In many public places and worship centres visited by New Telegraph across the state, it was observed that Lagosians were oblivious of the possibility of Boko Haram attack. Whether in the markets, motor parks, churches and others, the residents were seen going about their activities normally as they have always done. A church leader in one of the Pentecostal churches in the state, Pastor Jeff Aken, although acknowledged high degree of complacency in many churches, stated that the church cannot afford to trivialise the issue of security. “We are not really doing anything now but I know in the recent past when churches were using metal detectors to screen worshippers during major programmes.

That practice has died down a bit. But it is good that the churches get proactive about it by doing all that they can do to enhance the security of the worshippers. The truth is that the church cannot claim ignorance about the tactics of the insurgents, and so choose to be complacent.” But in the face of likely attack, many believe that all hands must be on deck and that no stone should be left unturned in taking proactive measures which will ward off any untoward occurrence in the metropolis. Onwughalu advocates that community watch, beefing up security with all the necessary security gadgets will not be out of place as there will be some bomb detectors and beef up security around the club. Not minding the sex or the age of whoever comes to the club, everybody will be screened, he said. “Now, we are taking the security around us seriously because we don’t want to take chances.

Nothing must happen to Lagos; if anything happens to Lagos, it will affect the entire country,” he emphasised For Ojikutu, winning the war depends largely on how much intelligence the government can access and to a large extent on the strategic analysis and application of the intelligence. “The fear to put a lot of intelligence on the war is the issue. Intelligence is about 70 per cent part of a war, the remaining is just practical. Intelligence is not information; intelligence is when you have information, you analyse it. It is the ability to launch into the hearts of the enemies and tackle them before they become operational. But most of the time, they become operational before we tackle them. With intelligence, you move ahead of them. That’s why the question on who is keeping watch on the bridges and other public facilities is very pertinent. They can strike and blow off the bridges and thereby cut everybody out.”

He added that there is the compelling need for the government to unveil who the sponsors of the insurgency in the country are, and also unravel their modus operandi and other logistics being deployed in their dastard acts. “We need to take their war to them. If they are now using small girls, we need to know who they are, where have taken them for indoctrination. We need to know who the sponsors are. “There are three layers to approach the Boko Haram issue: the sponsors, the planners and the foot soldiers. If you can get the sponsors, the planners will have no money to give to the foot soldiers. If you can get the planners, there will be nothing strategic to give to the foot soldiers.

This is very important because the foot soldiers depend on the planners and the sponsors. All the ones they are arresting here and there are just the foot soldiers. The government needs to discover who the sponsors and the planners are before the war against Boko Haram can be won.” Yet, another approach to unravelling the sponsors of the insurgents, as being suggested, is to get information on the vehicle they are using in their operations. “The government can get information through the chasis number of their vehicles: they will know which company sold the vehicles to them, who ordered and paid for them, and they can trace it to country where the vehicles were manufactured.

“If the government can get some of these children they are using before they become operational, they will get information and know who to go after.” For Tunde Kolawole, sensitization of the people through the media, public surveillance and the widespread installation of security gadgets in strategic places across the state are key factors needed to be applied in the effort to ward off attack in the state. He suggested the following steps as ways to tackle security risk: The government requires a sensitization programme through the mass media, especially the electronics media, for people to be informed and be vigilant regarding the activities of the Islamic fundamentalists. They also require to put the landlords and landladies on notice to always carry out diligent surveillance on whatever tenants they are letting their property to; they also need to sensitize the imams of different mosques on the need to be vigilant as regards who may be taking sanctuary in their mosques. Thirdly, Lagos State requires to intensify the installation of CCTV cameras in strategic places so be able to monitor the movement of the people within Lagos, and in and out,” he said.