Opinion
By Emeka Omeihe
KEEN observers of the abduction of the Al-Kadriyar family members among others from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), must have been pleasantly surprised at the sudden news of the successful rescue of the captives by the police and the army.
Police authorities had in a statement said, “Following the relentless advancement of the FCT police command anti-kidnapping squad in a concerted effort with troops of the Nigerian Army, on the heels of the kidnappers that struck the Zuma 1 area in the Bwari Area Council on the 2nd of January 2024, the FCT police has rescued the victims and reunited them with their families”.
It said the operatives successfully rescued the victims around the Kajuru forest in Kaduna state at about 11.30pm on Saturday, January 20, 2024. The command eulogized what it called the uplifted security architecture of the FCT that has brewed public confidence while assuring utmost maintenance of peace for all.
A previous rescue attempt by the police accompanied by an uncle to the Al-Kadriyar sisters had ended fatally as he and two of the policemen involved in the rescue operation were killed in the process. The killings and events that followed the abduction had diminished hopes of any respite through security intervention.
The risk of any further attack harming the abductees or annoying the bandits to the point of killing more of their captives, made such option less attractive. So when the FCT police command announced the rescue of the captives through coordinated efforts with the army, many wondered how they came about that feat.
How did they engage the murderous bandits without a single casualty? Was there any armed confrontation or the forests had been made so hot for the bandits that they had to flee and abandon their captives? What of the issue of ransom especially given the uncompromising stance of the kidnappers? Or did the abductees especially the Kadriyar sisters regain freedom without paying the N100million contentious ransom? Such were the posers thrown up when the police announced the rescue of the victims.
As searing as these posers were, the police may not be really obliged to explain how they came about that feat. They could easily hide under the discrete nature of security operations to avoid full disclosure. But that would still leave many gaps unfilled in a matter that had attracted considerable national attention.
But, the public is still entitled to know the circumstance of that rescue operation given the elevated national interest it had generated. Such information is vital to sustain public confidence (which the police alluded to) on the capacity of the security agencies to secure the citizenry.
Such details never came until the uncles to the Al-Kadriyar sisters who were involved in the negotiations came up with their account of what actually transpired. Curiously, their account untied all the above posers. They turned out assigning a chance role for the army but none for the police in the whole encounter.
Sheriff Al-Kadriyar, uncle to the girls who was privy to the negotiations and subsequent release of the girls, said the police had no role in their release. According to him, ransom was paid and the girls were dropped off in the forest for the family to go and collect them.
“There’s nothing like rescue on this matter; we paid ransom-even though I can’t disclose how much for security reasons” he said. Further details on the release of the girls indicated that they were dropped on a particular location in the thick of the forest by the bandits on that Saturday after each of the families involved had paid an agreed sum of ransom three days earlier. One of the girls then called the family giving details of their location.
Then a group of family members were mobilized to proceed to the location. The area is a very thick forest that scarred the family members. They then sought assistance from a contingent of the Nigerian Army they met on their way to lead them into the forest.
The army obliged them and successfully guided them into the thick forest where the girls were. They subsequently took them home and united them with their family. That was the account of the release of the Al-Kadriyar sisters and other abductees whose families paid the ransom.
For the Al-Kadriyar family, their account of the incident is merely to clarify issues and not to discredit the police. They were apparently reacting to the wide gaps between the claims by the police and the circumstance of the girls’ release. They may also have been reacting to possible fears of victimization.
But their intervention filled the yawning gaps left by the claims of the police. The FCT police command should take responsibility for any image deficits from the contradictions arising from their account of the rescue encounter. The Bwari abduction was a matter of intense public interest given the circumstance of it.
Not only were more than 27 people kidnapped from that council area in one fell swoop, some police men who tried to thwart the abduction lost their lives in the process. The Al-Kadriyar family lost two persons-one in the process of foiling the abduction and the other for failing to meet up with the deadline for the payment of the N60 million ransom.
The kidnappers also killed four of the abducted victims in a very callous manner apparently to drive the point home that they meant business. This was in addition to raising the ransom for the Al-Kadriyars to N100million with a further threat to kill the girls if they failed to meet the next deadline. All these were bound to raise public anxiety on the circumstances of the touted rescue operation by the police and the army.
Again, the Nigerian security authorities have always told whoever cared to listen that their inability to rescue abducted victims even when the location of the kidnappers is known is to minimize collateral damage to the lives of the captives. Somehow, the public has come to appreciate that line of reasoning. So when the police gleefully announced that it had in conjunction with the army rescued the Bwari abductees, there was bound to be public curiosity as to how they came about it. Have our security agencies evolved new strategies to rescue abductees without putting their lives in harms’ way? What of the bandits? How did they neutralize the bandits before the abductees were freed?
The way these posers are resolved has serious implications for confidence building in the capacity of our security architecture to get a perfect handle to the escalating insecurity. Ironically, public confidence in the capacity of the security agencies which the FCT police command sought to shore up through their claims, turned out in a reverse position. The FCT police should hold themselves responsible for the ensuing image deficit.
There was neither need for the police to claim a purported feat by its anti-kidnapping squad when none existed. Nor was the public expecting them to perform miracles in the circumstance. Armed confrontation with the bandits was not a viable option as it could harm the abductees.
We saw how that played out in the abduction of the Abuja-Kaduna train passengers. So nobody was expecting the security agencies to perform magic once the abductees had been taken into the custody of the criminal elements. The ensuing controversy is avoidable.
What has clearly emerged from the FCT kidnap saga, is that ungoverned forests are the greatest challenge to the war against insecurity in this country. Bandits, Kidnappers and all manner of terrorists take cover in the thick of the forests.
Perhaps, our security agencies have to come to terms with how to penetrate our forests, smoke out the bad elements hibernating there and diminish their power for nuisance. For as long as these forests give them cover, so long shall we be at the mercy of all manner of criminals taking refuge there.
It is getting increasingly clearer there are powerful individuals behind the cycle of insecurity that has put this country on edge. The Minister of solid minerals development, Dele Alake said that much recently in relation to the banditry in that sector. He also spoke of the threats he has been getting since that statement. Who could have been threatening him except the powerful? The level of sophistication, planning and execution that go into banditry, terrorism and kidnapping is way beyond the ordinary. Our security architecture needs credible intelligence to unmask the powerful sponsors of the ravaging insecurity before they make the country ungovernable.
– This article was first published in The Nation Newspapers.
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-JANUARY 29, 2024 @ 10:35 GMT|
Tags: Al-Kadriyar sisters Dele Alake Emeka Omeihe
