Borno and Boko Haram; whatever happened to the MASSOB threat?

Senator Ahmed Zannah representing Borno Central and Senator Ali Ndume representing Borno South have consistently stayed put in the relative safety and opulent comfort of Abuja while pretending to give Nigeria and the world reliable reports on the situation on the ground. I wonder why anyone, including BBC Focus on Africa, would continue to ask for their views in the unravelling of the security situation in that most unfortunate part of the country. The situation is confounded by the fact that these gentlemen (?) and many others seem happy to serve as cheerleaders for Boko Haram, which was the exact lament of the Senate President, David Mark.

It is a great pity that the same people (or rather their political elite), had earlier declared their readiness to march on the Niger Delta over the disagreements surrounding the unresolved oil revenue sharing formula. Strangely they have suddenly proved incapable of standing their ground and defending their own backyard. Don’t they have any spine? Our brothers in Borno have obviously not read about the French popular resistance to the German invasion in the 2nd World War. Here all meaningful resistance is directed towards the Nigerian military. Is it then any wonder that things are turning out the way they are?

The army was sadly viewed as Gen Ihejirika’s Army and routinely undermined across the board. Just as in the case of the stupid implosion of the elite Iraqi Army in the face of a very much weaker ISIS force, there are grave consequences to which we are all witnesses. Gen Ihejirika is gone but the problem not only persists, but has become more virulent.

I will now seize this opportunity to ask fellow Nigerians, especially the security apparatus, to offer an unreserved apology to Chief (Barr) Ralph Uwazurike for unnecessarily harassing him and his group of peaceful refuseniks over the past two decades. The many victims of extrajudicial killings in the anti-Massob scorched earth policy is another matter altogether. I had a good laugh when earlier this year Nigeria marked the World Genocide Day in primary and secondary schools. Obviously the organisers didn’t have the foggiest idea of what they were marking. Otherwise they would have invited Prof Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe to the event. Or could they?

Misguided or not, MASSOB never constituted a teeny weeny fraction of the hazard that is Boko Haram. I have lost count of the number of times the Police, Army or DSS have raided the various officially listed offices or sites of MASSOB ostensibly in search of harmless Biafran flags, MASSOB Identity Cards and membership records.

The latest raid at Okwe, Imo State has been widely reported in the media.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Abdulmajid Ali, claimed that the recent raid was in search of arms reportedly stored at Okwe. He said, “We cannot fold our hands and allow them (MASSOB), to do lawless activities.” Interestingly he owned up that no arms were found. For this quixotic stunt, Mr Ali should be redeployed to Bama and Gwoza where he will most definitely find not only AK-47 rifles, but also machine guns, RPGs and armoured personnel carriers in the possession of Boko Haram. He would not have to search for them. Mr Ali will also find enough LAWLESSNESS to last him a lifetime!

I challenge the usually politically correct (aka see no evil; hear no evil) politicians and other elite from the South East to either support my strongly held views or vigorously dispute same. That will be the day. Honestly I shouldn’t hold my breath.

Simply put, enough is enough.

Oduche Azih