The most urgent task confronting the Tinubu presidency in its anti-terror crusade is the unearthing and prosecution of the moles who have stultified past efforts at defeating the vagabonds. There is a kind of unspoken disgruntlement within the military that known sympathisers/enablers in uniform are allowed to continue betraying their oath of allegiance to the fatherland.
When one soldier cannot trust his next colleague with whom he might share a trench tomorrow, esprit de corps breaks down; the falcon eyes the falconer in disdain.
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Et Tu, Brute?
Shakespeare captured the overwhelming power of betrayal in Julius Caesar. The stab wounds from the knives of the conspirators would still have killed Caesar, but what aggravated the pain and made him lose the will to fight back was the involvement of his trusted friend, Brutus. In horror, he lamented, “Et tu Brute?” (Even you, Brutus?) Mark Antony described it as “the most unkindest cut of all”.
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For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar’s angel.
Judge, o you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him.
This was the most unkindest cut of all;
For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitor’s arms,
Quite vanquished him. Then burst his mighty heart…
Nothing kills as fast as treachery!
Nigerians are horrified by the various disclosures suggesting that there is a network of moles operating within the national security system and passing on vital intelligence to terrorists. So far, the government has not openly reacted. However, if we are to make any headway in the anti-terror campaign, the people and the fighting forces must be convinced that they are not just being used as sacrificial lambs.
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There is a trust deficit between the government and the people on this account. The only thing that can bridge it is a transparently verifiable policy of digging out moles within the system and swiftly bringing them to justice.
Enemies Within
One of the most troubling allegations making the rounds of social media is the one by retired Major General Danjuma Ali-Keffi to the effect that the unfortunate air crash of May 2021 in which the then Chief of Army Staff and other top officers died was a targeted elimination designed and executed by corrupt saboteurs.
Ali-Keffi alleges that the plane crash which went down near the Kaduna International Airport runway did so because of an on-board explosion. Disclosing that he personally examined the bodies recovered at the site of the crash and found that the victims’ injuries were not consistent with ‘regular’ air accidents. Rather, they indicated that the plane exploded in the sky.
He argued that certain body parts were found far away from the scene of the crash indicating that they had been flung out in a dismemberment that was caused by an explosion. The pilots allegedly did not have burn injuries and remained strapped to their seats because of the cockpit’s armoured door.
The incident happened at a time when the late army chief had ordered a forensic audit of the huge funds released for the anti-terror campaigns. He suspected that huge funds were being diverted for personal enrichment and subversive activities, including paying Boko Haram terrorists to stay away from certain areas.
One of the allegations which commentators found astounding was his disclosure that when he was the head of Operation Service Wide (OSW), his team unearthed massive diversion of counter-terrorism funds and arrested terror financiers reportedly laundering money for high-ranking military and government figures. He claims to have submitted a report which the authorities have since buried.
He wonders why the full report of the National Air Accident Investigation Board (NAIB) which investigated the high profile crash, is yet to be released — more than four years after submitting a September 2021 interim report containing 27 findings and eight safety recommendations. Tellingly, the AIB was later reported to have explained that it couldn’t proceed further because of the uncooperative attitude of some people.
How could there not be a definitive report on a crash that claimed the life of a serving Chief of Army Staff and other officers and men on official mission to keep Nigeria safe? Although the official stance of the defence headquarters is that there is no cover up, Nigerians are demanding a release of a formal comprehensive report on that crash that shook the nation.
Sabotage
Questions have also been raised on whether some of the catastrophic ambushes suffered by troops are due to intelligence failure or orchestrated sabotage from within. Netizens recall the allegations made by the Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum after his convoy was ambushed several times.
The perception that certain interests are profiting from the unending insurgency, creating a disincentive for the war to end, is fuelled by suspicions of deliberate leakage of military Intelligence to insurgents in many operational instances.
In spite of nationwide clamour, the federal government has not released the name of the person who gave the order for the withdrawal of troops from the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, about 45 minutes before bandits struck. No serious nation can afford to leave a serious matter like that hanging.
Admittedly, many soldiers have openly complained of poor welfare which could incentivise clandestine acts of sabotage. There are complaints of inadequacy of equipment, internal rivalries, and corruption, which collectively undermine operational effectiveness.
The formal print and electronic media have always sided with the troops insisting that those who put their lives on the line in defence of the country ought to be given all the necessary moral and material encouragement the government could muster. There is as yet no evidence that we are giving our troops all they need, although there are indications that the government has started addressing some of the welfare issues brought to the front burner by the media.
The inability of the military authorities to win the trust of the people in many of the terror-infested areas can also be attributed to the network of moles maintained by terrorists within local communities. The carrot-and-death system established by the killers ensures that their informants are financially rewarded while those who snitch to the authorities within the communities are executed, at times publicly. To be seen as a government informant is considered a death sentence in many areas held by bandits, terrorists or any other group of death merchants.
How To Win
In winning the war for the minds of the people, the government must do a quick assessment of all reported cases of suspected sabotage, collusion, leakages and other acts compromising the security of the armed and allied forces and bring all moles to justice in a transparent manner. The recent execution of Brig General M. Uba by terrorists in suspicious circumstances must be throughly probed and those found culpable punished.
In addition to deep intel and kinetics, messaging is key.
We need to win the war against terror or we perish as a community of people governed by the rule of law. We cannot even begin to take the first steps in re-engineering the process until we fumigate the system to rid it of all rats, big and small.
Wole Olaoye is a Public Relations consultant and veteran journalist. He can be reached on [email protected], Twitter: @wole_olaoye; Instagram: woleola2021
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