Nigerians were practically thrown into euphoria and jubilation when the news filtered in that all the 333, some say 344, students of the Government Science Secondary School (GSSS), Kankara in Katsina, abducted by Boko Haram on December 11, were freed on Thursday, December 17, six days after they were abducted from their school.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari reacted with so much excitement. President Buhari credited these students release to the level of work and intelligence of Nigeria’s security operatives, while the governor said that the release of the abducted students was facilitated by the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) a Fulani group.
The governor, who did not disclose anything about alleged ransom payment, told journalists in Katsina that the students were first taken to Tsafe, Zamfara State, from where they would be transported to Kankara on Friday. They have reportedly returned home with tales of maltreatment.
But as the euphoria begins to wane, questions have risen on the role of Miyetti Allah in the release of the students. While the group, allegedly notorious for killing of farmers in their quest to seize ancestral land may see the release as boost to their image within such a short time, some security experts have expressed worries and apprehension over the role of the group many regard as a terrorist organisation.
Speaking to BusinessDay SUNDAY on Friday, Public Affairs analyst, Charles Onunaiju, who is also the director of the Centre for China Studies in Abuja, said the involvement of MACBAN in the negotiation was shocking and called for further investigation.
“The surrogacy of MACBAN was shocking when it was disclosed that MACBAN was involved in the negotiations to free the school boys. We were made to understand that MACBAN is a pressure and professional group of cattle rearers and there have been one or two issues where they have been accused of getting involved in armed attacks. And if they have working relations with bandits or terror groups and have access to bandits, it raises more questions that meet the eye,” Onunaiju said.
“Government needs to interrogate this. They were said to be the go between. You cannot be a go-between for a group you are not familiar with. So, it raises very important questions about the allegations that MACBAN was involved in banditry, there is need to interrogate the MACBAN, since they now have access and can negotiate with bandits,” he further said.
He also warned that unless Nigeria addresses the fundamental question of arms proliferation in Sahel and West Africa, bandits and terrorists will continue to wreak havoc on the people of the north because they have easy access to arms, which he blamed on the collapse of the regime of the late Libyan leader Muamar Gaddafi in 2011.
“We must look at this security issues from a bigger picture. My position is that from the collapse of the Libyan regime there has been a proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Sahel and West Africa region and the whole of northern Nigeria is saturated with sophisticated weapons. Consequent on that collapse, weapons are available to very violent and criminal non-state actors whether they were Boko Haram, Bandits ISWAP. As far as these weapons flow in, we will continue to have several violent non-state actors,” he added.
He pointed out that the challenge is how Nigeria can stem the flow of these weapons even as he blamed the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan for supporting the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which toppled the Gaddafi regime and could not control the weapons flow in the region.
“Nigeria was complicit in the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in Libya because our Government then supported NATO; we were the first in Africa to recognise the opposition Transition National Council (TNC) which was a surrogate of NATO and European allies. So, for me, this is the main challenge and this is what intelligence can do. Except we cut off the supply of weapons in the region, insurgents groups will continue to rise , once you decapitate one, another will arise,” he said.
He called on the Nigerian military and other security agencies to rise to the occasion to save the nation from future trouble and embarrassment witnessed when the school boys were abducted, adding that this challenge was because the intelligence community in the country seemed to have failed.
“The issue is for the Nigerian military intelligence community to engage in this process, and discover the weapons supplies, the recruitment of men for the criminal elements. We must go to the roots and engage the Nigerian intelligence community, which has been asleep for too long. Almost ten years they have not infiltrated the ranks of Boko Haram and bandit groups, and arms are flowing effortlessly in the black market, trading in weapons are going on so smoothly.
“What is happening with the Nigerian intelligence community? We need to call them out. DSS, Police intelligence, DMI NIA, I think they need to be disbanded, refreshed and re-mandated. This is not just a war of gun and knife; it is a war of wits and intelligence,” he added.
Contributing, the Executive Director of the Social Welfare Network Initiative, an NGO that has worked in Borno State on the insurgency in the beleaguered state, said that although everybody is happy that the school boys are back, the involvement of MACBAN raises serious concerns.
He said: “Many of us are concerned that it took Miyetti Allah to negotiate for the government. The question we are asking is that we did not know that Miyetti Allah has such expertise in hostage negotiation. So, if they could do this, I wonder why they have not been able to negotiate the release of Leah Sharibu, because there is no life that is not important. We must make sure that Leah Sharibu gets her freedom and the remaining Chibok girls that can be identified should also return safely, whether the government paid ransom or not.”
His concern was predicated on the alleged overbearing and violent activities of Miyetti Allah, saying: “You will recall in the last five years the brazen boldness that Miyetti Allah had operated with. People are massacred in Benue, Miyetti Allah will come out and claim responsibility, saying it was a revenge mission and they are not arrested or prosecuted. And suddenly government has given them the level of recognition that many cannot understand, so we are surprised at move.”
When contacted, a prominent member of MACBAN, who does not want his name on print, told BusinessDay SUNDAY that the information regarding the negotiation and release of the school boys, were sketchy for now, adding that there seems a lot of secrecy in the whole arrangement.
However, Saleh Al-Hassan, the national secretary of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, a cultural organisation of the Fulani in Nigeria, expressed delight at the rescue of the boys even though his organisation did not have a part to play in the negotiation which was done by their sister organisation- MACBAN.
“It’s a very welcome development, at least the parents are relieved, the country is happy and as supporters of the President we are happy. But we don’t relate with bandits and kidnappers. We have always been partnering with the security agencies in all what we are doing,” he told BusinessDay.
