Exactly nine days away from the Kawuri town attacks at Konduga LGA, the Boko Haram insurgents were back again on February 11, this time around to occupy the local government headquarters in another hours of killing and burning spree.
The security structure in Konduga LGA on that fateful day simply collapsed before the onslaught of the insurgents.
It was amazing, at the same foreboding, the ease with which they trounced members of the military joint task force who simply made themselves scarce. Billowing smoke from the conflagration that burned the headquarters of the LGA could be spotted thirty-five kilometres from some parts of Maiduguri, the State capital. Sequel to this attack was another one on a town situated between Biu and Damboa LGAs. In those two attacks, dozens of people were killed and scores of houses and valuables burnt.
The Boko Harams also visited the Government Girls Science School at Konduga town on that day. They burned some staff quarters and threatened to kill students and staff should they be found in school on any of their future visit. Thanks to Allah that they didn’t took away some girls from the school.
Were our security outfits equipped with needed intelligence and poised enough, they would have seen this last attack coming. In fact they would be preparing for an impending attack on the remaining major towns along that trunk road such as Malari and Alau towns.
The Borno Central Senator Hon Ahmed Zannah said on the BBC Hausa service that one of the military commanders in the state admitted to him that lack of modern munitions hampered their ability to counter the firepower of the insurgents and that they, the military, had already sent a request to that effect about five months back but yet to receive any supply.
Within a period of nine days, over a hundred people were killed and property worth millions of naira razed in just one LGA, Konduga. Ironically, the attention of our leaders is on politics, swinging from APC to PDP and vice versa. While our field commanders are complaining about the lack of modern equipment to fight the Boko Haram insurgency, the attention of the government is on paying millions of dollars to buy favours of national executive or legislative members that would dump APC to the PDP.
Now, if humbleness is a virtue, then it is time that the president comes out and admits that the Nigeria government cannot handle this war alone; that we need the augmentation of some regional or global superstructures such as the ECOMOG or even the UN.
Abdul Ibrahim Audu,
Jere LGA Borno