In the Grip of Unrelenting Terror

With changes in the top hierarchy of the military some months ago, the confidence that terrorism occasioned by incessant attacks on persons, public facilities and security agencies by  Boko Haram  and lately, the Ansaru group, would be over soon was high. Although, there were doubts over government's readiness to embrace dialogue as part of measures geared towards solving the crisis, there were indications that efforts were in top gear to containing the rising casualty figure that the terrorists’ mindlessness had brought about in the last few years.

Unfortunately, the renewed onslaught in the last few days has eroded that confidence. The recent attacks, including the one on the otherwise dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) headquarters in Abuja, have instead heightened fears in the society about safety of lives and property. The erosion of confidence, coming close to the Yuletide when crime is naturally high, has underlined the reason why the Federal Government would need to work harder  to reassure the people that it can protect their lives and property from the rampaging insurgents.

A Flash Back
For Muslim clerics, the Maiduguri crisis that erupted on July 27, 2009, was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. Months prior to that time, they had been battling with Mohammed Yusuf, the progenitor of the cancerous idea that Western education is forbidden (Boko Haram). They had engaged him in intellectual debates as they battled to make him see the weakness of his belief. They lampooned him in mosques during congregational prayers. They tried to persuade him privately. All of these failed.

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