There has been a reduced incidence of kidnapping and banditry in Nigeria because of the Ramadan fast, a security expert and former director of the Department of State Services, Mr. Mike Ejiofor has observed. The former DSS Boss on Monday said that banditry “… is not coming down, there’s a lull. You know we are observing fasting now, that’s responsible for what we think is a lull in the issues of banditry, especially in the North-West where it is very prevalent.
The security situation under Mohammadu Buhari appears to have escalated from previous years, with the nation experiencing a series of security threats ranging from terrorism, banditry, militancy, cultism among others which have claimed the lives of more than 36,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in the northeast and in several parts of the country.
The 2016 split between the Jihadist Boko Haram group and the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) birthed further smaller splinter groups mostly driven by terrorist greed, has inflamed Nigeria and armed Fulani herders, bandits totting dangerous weapons, attack troops, and military locations, killing and kidnapping students and passengers for ransom at will. Nigeria Military has so far had an average success against the insurgency, deploying untraditional pacifist methods forgiving “repentant terrorists”, sponsoring their education, and rehabilitating them into the community. Governor Zulum of Borno, the most ravaged state in the North East, has consistently argued that terrorists do not repent.
However, the former DSS boss added that there an obscure line between the Jihadist global view of religious conscience and mission. “Some of them too pray. They are religious people. They don’t come from the sky. At times, they also want to pray to God. Even an armed robber will pray to God to save him from his operations.”
Recently a minister in Buhari’s cabinet Dr. Isa Pantami alleged to have ties with terrorists has come under fire and severe criticism even though he said he has repented. The Presidency speaking through its senior spokesman, Garba Shehu advised that Pantami should be forgiven because he has repented.
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