Terrorists assissinated ten Officers and elite Guards and take the fight to the seat of power.

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports.

Terrorists assassinated ten officers and soldiers of the elite Guards Brigade in Abuja last week, signaling a dangerous increase in insecurity and putting President Muhammadu Buhari squarely on the spot, writes Louis Achi.

Last week, two military officers – a captain and lieutenant – and eight soldiers from the 7 Guards Battalion Abuja were killed in an ambush by terrorists in Bwari, a Federal Capital Territory suburb (FCT). The soldiers who died were on internal security operations at the Nigerian Law School in Bwari.

The audacious attack stunned the entire Nigerian Army, Guards Brigade, and the 7 Guards Battalion, which served as their mother unit, as officers, soldiers, and bereaved families expressed shock at the incident, which occurred just weeks after the Kuje prison attack, which freed over 60 detained terrorists.

The federal government finally confirmed last Thursday that elite soldiers guarding the president were ambushed and many of them killed. The National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), confirmed that soldiers from the Presidential Guards Brigade had been “ambushed and decimated,” confirming the country’s growing insecurity.

An embattled Monguno spoke after President Muhammadu Buhari convened and presided over the National Security Council meeting. “So far, we have recovered all the bodies of the two officers and eight soldiers and are making contact with their families, some of whom are not in Abuja,” Monguno said.

With residents of Abuja’s FCT on edge, the federal government on Monday officially closed the Federal Government College, Kwali, in the city’s Kwali Area Council. As insecurity increased, schools in the capital city were ordered closed. Nasarawa State has also ordered the closure of schools.

The bloody attack on the Guards Brigade, which is tasked with protecting the president, follows a similar terrorist attack on a presidential convoy in Dutsinma, Katsina State. Terrorists invaded the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja on the same day, freeing hundreds of inmates, including Boko Haram suspects, in an unusual display of operational synchronicity.

Terrorists gleefully released a video showing them manhandling people kidnapped from the Abuja-Kaduna train attack incident 48 hours before the attack on elements of the Guards Brigade. One of the terrorists in the video even threatened President Buhari, Kaduna State Governor Nasiru El-Rufai, and other prominent Nigerians with kidnapping.

Notably, even as insecurity grows, the presidency has repeatedly claimed that security has improved under Buhari’s administration. In the midst of the darkness, the Defence Headquarters announced that its operatives had killed 30 of the terrorists who had killed 10 elite Guards Brigade officers and soldiers in Abuja.

Maj.-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, Director, Defence Media Operations, announced this at the bi-weekly news conference on military operations on Thursday in Abuja. According to Onyeuko, the operation was carried out between Sunday and Tuesday by troops from the 7 Guards Battalion and the 167 Special Force Battalion in collaboration with the air component of “Operation Whirl Punch.”

Meanwhile, apparently dissatisfied with the country’s security situation, rubber-stamp Senators from both parties gave President Buhari a six-week deadline to address worsening insecurity or face immediate impeachment.

However, an attempt to bring the motion to the Senate floor was thwarted by Senate President Ahmad Lawan. Senators staged a walkout from the chambers to address the news media, led by Senate Minority Leader Philip Aduda.

Despite their efforts, the president dismissed the legislators’ move as arrogance and a waste of time.

On April 27, 2021, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State issued a warning that Boko Haram terrorists had raised their flag in Kaure Village, Shiroro Local Government Area of the state. He claimed that Boko Haram elements were attempting to use the area as a base, as they had done in Sambisa.

The uneasy governor then warned, “Kaure is only a two-hour drive from Abuja.” As a result, no one is safe, not even those in Abuja.” He also warned the federal government that “now is the time to act.” All hands must be on deck; this is not just a fight for Niger State.”

Prior to Governor Bello’s warning, the Comptroller in Charge of Enforcement at the Nigeria Customs Service, H.A. Sabo, issued an internal memo dated September 4, 2020, on behalf of the Deputy Comptroller General, Enforcement, Investigation, and Inspection, stating that Boko Haram had established camps in and around Abuja FCT. These could not possibly have been tourist camps.

According to a copy of the intelligence report, “further reports indicate that they are planning to attack some specific targets within the territory.” They are said to have established camps in several identified enclaves.”

The Defence Headquarters also confirmed the terror group’s plans to wreak havoc on Abuja. The apex security body reassured residents of the federal capital territory and contiguous states of their safety in a statement issued a few days after the NCS alert and signed by the then Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major-General John Enenche.

It is worth recalling that the devastating September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States, masterminded by the heinous Al Qaeda terror organization led by Osam Bin Laden, represented an unprecedented strategic surprise, exposing American vulnerabilities. But there were intelligence warnings, which were met with muted responses. The Kuje jailbreak and the Abuja-Kaduna train attack were also preceded by intelligence warnings.

The Islamist Boko Haram group and ISWAP oppose the Nigerian state’s constitutional secularity, reject western education and democracy, and seek to fight for their version of justice. These bloodthirsty groups’ operational bases and activities have spread from the North to the South.

The problem of risk communication in the context of imperfect intelligence about a potential terrorist attack, rather than an actual one, presents unique challenges. This is especially true when the difficulty of providing tactical warning without a prior strategic analysis and the tendency to focus on a society’s vulnerabilities rather than the terrorists’ intent is the dominant thread.

Any successful terror attacks on the FCT would send the wrong signals to the international community as well as domestic constituents. The terror group’s successful attacks on the police headquarters and the UN building in Abuja during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan will not be forgotten. However, those were suicide bombers who lacked the courage to confront Nigeria’s superior military firepower. Terrorists today are audacious, daring, and courageous enough to confront the Nigerian Army and threaten an open assault on Buhari and el-Rufai.