Of ‘ceasefire’ and Defence Chief’s ‘defenceless’ home town

certain things are described as “stranger than fiction” consider this scenario: one moment the head of a nation’s security forces proudly proclaims that the undesirable elements undermining the country’s security had agreed to lay down their arms. A ceasefire had been agreed with the motley gang, he hollers with barely suppressed glee.
But barely a few days later the unexpected happens. The same security chief who had broadcast news of the so-called ceasefire loses his hometown to the same gang which had supposedly laid down their arms. And as if that wasn’t terrible enough, the gang goes haywire, capturing territory after territory with unbridled aplomb.
Does that scenario sound like a tale told by a carpenter, signifying nothing? It is as real as daylight, warts and all. At the centre of this  drama is the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the federal Rupublic of Nigeria, Air Marshal Alex Badeh.
Some two weeks ago Badeh had announced to an expectant nation-nay the world at large – that the maurading radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, had accepted a ceasefire . Not only would the terror group stop its so-called Jihad, it would soon free the over 200 Chibok school girls kidnapped since April 2014. Or so we were made to believe by Badeh and co.
But, alas, how things unravel! Even as signs of relief were still being heaved or experienced by all and sundry, the story developed what is called a “K” leg. Rather than cease its fire, Boko Haram intensified its killing and maiming spree, capturing new terrains with relative ease. And as if to leave no room for doubt, the rampaging gang’s leader Abubakar Shekau, announced with glee that it had not sealed any deal with the government, Shekau, mind you, was said to have been killed by the military guys many weeks ago. This is even as the United States which placed a $7 million bounty on the sect leader’s head, was yet to remove it.
Like a scence from a nightmarish movie, the devil-may-care radical sect went to the extent of overrunning Vimtim, the hometown of the same Air Marshal Badeh who had proclaimed the now infamous “ceasefire.” Talk of the birth place of the nations Defence stalwart being defenceless to the extent of succumbing to the insurgents with reckless abandon.
This sort farce-like melodrama, it would be recalled, had been re-enacted barely a couple of days after the ill-fated Chibok girls were abducted. As we reeled from the shock and anguish of that tragic incident, the military brass had announced that the victims had been rescued in one fell swoop. That “news” sounded like music to our ears until Boko Haram not only contradicted the “rescue” claim but publicized photographs of the girls in captivity.
Apparently nothing was learnt from that faux pax. Otherwise, many compatriots have found it very difficult to comprehend why a whole Chief of defence staff made a statement which has turned out to be less than truthful ( to put it mildly). As someone with a fertile imagination put it last montay, “the whole thing would have been quite hilarious, were it not so very tragic. It reminds us of the exploits of the then Iraqi Minister of Information, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf who was nicknamed “comical Ali” on account of his outrageiously false claims and counter-claims during the Iraq War of 2003”.
Ever since then questions have been begging for answers. What really happened? How come the Defence Chief on the one hand, and the Nigerian military on the other hand, found themselves at the receiving end of what has turned out to be one of the biggest farces of the year? Who okayed the so-called ceasefire deal which has turned out to be a hollow ritual?
Given the monumental embarrassment which this inexplicable and shambolic fiasco has caused the military in particular and the nation in general, it has come as little or no surprise that Nigerians from all walks of life have been baying for the blood of those responsible for this elephant-size mess. The common consensus is that all those involved in this “scum of the century” (to borrow the exotic phrase of one of the outraged commentators) should be arrested and brought to book.
Not a few compatriots out there would undoubtedly holler “amen” to that request. For too long, this country’s name has been dragged in the mud on account of the actions and/or inactions of some in officialdom who ought to have known better.
Although the jury is still out on whether the “careless ceasefire” was conjured by a fifth columnist or a soldier of fortune or whoever found it expedient to bring such odium on the land of our birth, it goes without saying that he or she mu;st be dealt with accordingly to serve as a deterrent to others.