Like a bolt from the blues, news of the emergence of yet another deadly militant group shot onto the national landscape last week. Identified by the bombastic name of Ombatse Militia Cult, and operating in Nasarawa State, the group members signified notice of their intention to be taken seriously by the Nigerian authorities with their brazen murder of about 35 policemen in Alakyo Village, which is less than 10 kilometres to the Nasarawa State capital, Lafia. Some officials of the Directorate of State Security (DSS) were also killed in the incident that is tantamount to nothing but a dirty slap on the Nigerian government, the nation’s security agencies and, indeed, the entire country.
Apparently, the Ombatse Militia had been terrorizing the people of Nasarawa for some time, but somehow, its operations stayed well off the national security radar. But, with the killing of the policemen and other security agents in Alakyo, the Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura, had no choice but to make an official report of the group’s activities to the Presidency in Abuja.
In the absence of President Goodluck Jonathan who was away to Namibia last Wednesday, Al-Makura told Vice President Namadi Sambo how he had convened a security meeting on the activities of the militia group in Nasarawa where it was decided that security agents in the state would raid the shrines operated by the group in Alakyo and arrest its members.
But, the plan apparently leaked to the cult group, which then ambushed the security agents. At the end of the bloody encounter, 35 policemen were confirmed killed by the cult group with several operational vehicles burnt. About 30 corpses of security operatives killed during the ambush were initially confirmed to have been recovered, while many of the 90 policemen deployed for the operation are yet to be accounted for. Twenty-eight of the missing agents were, however, released by the group last Friday. President Goodluck Jonathan immediately cut short his state visit to Namibia. He met with his security chiefs last Friday and, as expected, ordered an investigation.
Since that gruesome incident, many people have been understandably worried about the matter. While some of the operatives that survived the ambush alleged that the militia group might have charmed the murdered policemen, some security chiefs and the Niger State Governor, Aliyu Babangida, have attributed the massacre to failure of intelligence and inexperience on the part of those who directed the operation.
The mindless slaughter of so many policemen in the Nasarawa incident is a tragedy. Tufiaka! Ee wo! Ye pa ri pa! Ombatse Militia has joined Boko Haram in wanton killing of Nigeria’s security agents! .Abomination is now walking on four legs in Nigeria, in broad daylight. Policemen have become like mere flies, killed at will by militants.
If there had been any argument up till now over the fact that Nigerian policemen and other security agents have become endangered species in the hands of militant groups in the country, the Nasarawa incident has rested it. Anyone that did not come to that disheartening conclusion following the massacre of security agents in Bama, Borno State, last week, must surely be convinced by the latest incident in Nasarawa.
It is noteworthy that the image of policemen as overlords that the authorities needed to convince us are our friends, on account of their general high-handedness, unfriendliness and wickedness, is now giving way to that of the operatives as pitiable sitting ducks for militant group across the country.
These militant groups apparently have an upper hand over the police, and they seem to derive joy from killing policemen. This is a scenario that Nigeria cannot afford. Policemen should not be targets of all manner of disgruntled people in the country, especially when the nation is not officially at war.
Apart from addressing the failure of intelligence and inexperience of security operatives deployed for this assignment mentioned by the Niger State Governor, the police and other security officials need to tackle the problem of infiltration of their ranks by militants. Otherwise, how did the matter of a raid to be carried out by the operatives become known to the Ombatse Militia to the extent that the cult group was able to muster superior fire power to rout the security agents and send them to early graves? How did the Ombatse group know about the planned police raid, without the police getting a hint of the ambush planned by the group? Is this a case of the Ombatse being more adept at intelligence gathering than our police and the Directorate of Security Service?
One other thing that appears glaring is that the Police Command in Nasarawa did not appear to have a full grasp of the strength of the Ombatse militia. Even if it did, as the number of operatives deployed for the raid suggests, the Command obviously did not envisage that the cult boys could run over its team so easily. The team was apparently unprepared for the challenge of its planned raid of the group.
As Governor Aliyu put it at the opening of the Geo-political Security Awareness workshop in Minna, recently, intelligence gathering and security operations require silence, speed and surprise. The planned raid of the Ombatse group lacked all three. It was not at all silent, and it was no surprise to the militia, which was apparently well prepared to confront them.
Serious security operations like the one that went awry in Nasarawa should be handled with all seriousness. They require careful planning and could be postponed if there is the slightest chance that they might have leaked to the targets.
Again, security agents must employ the best of equipment available for such operations. It is saddening to hear after the massacre that the state command could have asked for patrol jets and Armoured Personnel carriers from Abuja, but failed to do so, apparently because it expected to have an easy ride over the cultists.
This type of approach to such serious security problem must be avoided in future. With what has happened, one can only sympathise with the victims and the families they left behind. It is so sad to lose loved ones to avoidable deaths such as this.
Nigeria Police, which has been losing its men in droves of recent, deserves to be encouraged by the authorities. There is obviously need for training and retraining of officers charged with security duties. Critical operations such as the one in Nasarawa should involve higher levels of police authority, especially at the planning stage. Our security agencies must put their best foot forward at all times.
The Ombatse cult has dared the Federal Government of Nigeria. An attack on policemen by anyone in a country is an attack against the entire country. What the Ombatse Militia has done is to run its hands over the blunt knife-edge of Nigeria’s security agencies, and dared them to bring it to book.
Nigeria must not fail to respond appropriately to this open challenge by the cult. The militia group has to be unmasked and made to account for this heinous crime, otherwise, Nigeria risks similar deadly groups rising up and killing policemen and other security agents with impunity all over the country.
In addition, the problems of unemployment, poverty, devaluation of our moral values and other ills that make a life of criminality attractive to youths should be addressed. Idle minds and hungry stomachs make a volatile mix that is the Devil’s ideal playground.