Abubakar Sadiq: Refugees in our own landBy Abubakar Sadiq When in the past I used to watch with horror how victims of African wars were forced to flee their homes in hundreds and thousands, I never for once ever contemplated witnessing anything of its semblance. As I drove however along the Giwa Barracks and Bama road, the home of the University of Maiduguri for the past few days, I couldn’t help but appreciate the level of damage wars like the Rwandan Hutu-Tutsi conflict or even the recent Sudan-South Sudan war brought along with them. Looking at the sea of children, women, the elderly and the sick unendingly flowing out of the crisis-prone zones mostly on foot due to perhaps lack of any other alternative means of transport, one is left with no doubt in his mind that a mixture of hardship and pain is a gruel people caught up in situations like this have to forcefully taste. Words cannot properly visualize the pathetic situation some people have been turned into some few kilometres away from a place many of us still call home. For the past few weeks precisely since the dawn of a new year, the hitherto declining insurgency has witnessed a sudden rise which can best be described as a display of undiminished fighting strength on the part of the insurgents. The horrific picture of the happenings can best be illustrated by the number of lives already lost within this year alone rumoured to be in excess of a thousand already and unfortunately still counting. Within a span of few days apart, villages upon villages under the purported protection of the so-called able Nigerian Army had fallen to ruins within short number of hours without yet any reasonable explanation from the almighty Defence Headquarters. Already, attacks on Kawuri, Alau, Kaya, Konduga and of course that of Izge which alone led to the purported massacre of over a hundred people within a blink of an eye has left people disenchanted, dis-oriented and traumatized almost beyond redemption. With the insurgents boldly attacking targets as close as 10 kilometres to Maiduguri, pessimists like me began to get restless the minute Konduga and Bama towns were attacked as the possibility of return of insurgent attacks within the metropolis continually became a reality as the helplessness of the security agents continued to shamelessly display its ugly face. How right I was as what we longed feared came to reality on Friday, the 14th of March when the terrorists stormed the 21 Armoured Brigade Maiduguri purportedly on a mission to rescue captured members being held in the Giwa Barracks the same time the University of Maiduguri and environs were being attacked. Talking to an ordinary man on the street, very few still have confidence in the ability of the security forces to even halt the insurgency let alone end it. Many are of the view that the presence of the security forces constitute nothing short of risk to them as their presence continue to attract the attention of the insurgents. They are beginning to even consider their lives safer without the security agents whom had continued to prove ineffective in curbing the menace of the insurgents. Ask any resident of the Giwa Barracks and environs and you will be surprised how frustrated they have become. With the apparent failure of the security forces to adequately repel attacks even on military formations, very few are of the view that they could in the nearest future ever rise up to our expectation. No one could blame us though because looking at the shameful manner the military handled the recent attack on Konduga, Bama and even the recent one within the Maiduguri Township, even admirers of the military like me have questioned their integrity. For a town like Konduga with a previous history of insurgency attack and heavy military presence to fall as quickly as it did with no military casualty whatsoever despite the destruction of over 70% of the town tells a lot to an observer of the seriousness the Nigerian military has been handling the situation with. As it is right now, it will not be wrong to say that we have been left on our own to lick our own wounds. We have been turned into refugees in our own land and have been left to languish in misery the duration of which no one knows. Virtually all rural dwellings have now been turned into no-go areas for fear of attacks from insurgents. The city centre is no better as we continue to suffer isolation from the rest of the country. Residents of many wards within the metropolis like Mairi, Fori, 202/303 Housing estate and as far as New GRA have had to relocate in the past few days for fear of reprisal attacks from the ever-motivated terrorists. It is generally becoming unsafe to travel in or out of the state capital as fear of attacks from insurgents on the highway continues to loom in the dark and with no functional airport, people are left with no option but to ply the roads at their own risk. Everywhere one looks, there is nothing but wanton destruction of lives and properties, destabilization of families and the gradual entrenchment of perpetual hunger and poverty within the communities around. The more one gets frustrated with the lack of possible political will and military capability on the part of this government to tackle this lingering problem, the more the government angers the ordinary man on the street with its songs of victory over the insurgents. Perhaps it is time for this government to accept the reality on ground and to take the necessary steps towards arresting this humanitarian crisis once and for all. The relocation of the Army chief to this zone in order to boost the morale of the officers and men and to increase coordination of the troops on ground is a welcomed development and a step in the right direction. We do hope and pray that we will someday wake up to find our home liberated from the threat of annihilation from people who claim to be fighting for us. Abubakar Sadiq can be reached on Twitter @sadiquemamman
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 06:20:40 +0000
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