Fire For Fire : Ex- Militants Challange Boko Haram

A BATTLE line appears to be emerging between the dreaded sect, Boko Haram, and ex-militants of the Niger Delta, following the state of insecurity in the nation as the ex-militants has vowed to storm Borno State in search of members of the Islamic sect. Leader of a group of 6,166 ex-militants, Abubakar Sylvester Oyas Tambo, popularly known as Aso Tambo, told The Guardian in an interview, that the group will soon storm Borno and other hideouts of Boko Haram in order to put an end to their threats on government and the nation at large. Tambo, the national chairman of the Coalition of Niger Delta ex-Militants Leaders, under the Presidential Amnesty phase two, is from Ekeremo in Bayelsa State and was the leader of the group of more than 2,000 ex–militants that stormed the FCT on July 7th, 2010 in over 60 buses. He viewed the current state of insecurity as posed by Boko Haram as a fight against Jonathan’s administration and vowed to quench it. “It is because of the innocent ones dying in these bomb blasts that we are taking this step and we will not allow the unchecked activities of Boko Haram to destabilize Jonathan’s administration.” He, however, absolved the president and the Amnesty office from knowledge of the group’s plan to attack the sect. Tambo, who called on Northern leaders, to call members of the Boko Haram sect to order, or have both groups clash, urged the federal government to steer clear of the clashes that will soon ensue. According to him, the attack on innocent citizens by Boko Haram was not a mere fight against the government and the entire nation, but against the government of a Niger Delta-led government. He called on Boko Haram to stop the cowardly act of hiding among innocent Nigerians to fight but that they should come out to the open, set up bases from where they could be engaged, rather than stay in places where innocent Nigerians can easily fall victim of crossfire. Meanwhile, speaking recently at a public lecture organised by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), Prof. Muhammed Ladan, from the Faculty of Law at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), said the government would have to tackle the reasons for youths’ adoption of violence and terrorism before the menace of insecurity could be contained. Ladan, who was the guest lecturer at the event, noted that the solution to terrorism in Nigeria was not in the use of military force alone, but combination of human capital empowerment and military might. To buttress his point, Ladan noted that about 12.2 million educated Nigerian youths were unemployed; among them are those who have embraced terrorism and violence. “The government will have to understand how these extremist youths, especially the Boko Haram, have grown in sophistication before terrorism can be stamped out,” he said. He added that there should be thorough investigations and the sharing of intelligence on previous bombing in order to prevent crime, rather than making hurried arrests and name mentioning. According to him, the bombing of the UN House could have been prevented if information on previous attacks had been shared. However, Director General of IPCR, Dr. Joseph Golwa, said the inability to satisfactorily resolve high profile cases has a disproportionate impact on both local and international perception of the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. He added that the nation’s criminal justice system must be able to punish criminals and terrorists who have perfected the art of using bombs to kill and maim innocent people at will.