How Buhari’s refusal to declare bandits as terrorists is hindering terror war

It has come to the fore that the refusal by Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, to declare armed bandits terrorising parts of northern states of the federation as terrorists, may be hampering all-out battle against the insurgents.

Both arms of the National Assembly had for long passed resolutions calling on the president to declare the marauders who have now held territories in several states where they operate, as terrorists, but the president is yet to act.

In July, armed bandits, who have been blamed for several attacks resulting in lootings, killings, raping of helpless aged and young women and abductions of hundreds of school children and their teachers, shot down a military jet in Zamfara State, north west Nigeria.

It was a rare case of a military jet being brought down by a criminal gang in the country and indeed the first to be acknowledged by the authorities.

The pilot, Flight Lt Abayomi Dairo, who survived the ‘terrorists’ onslaught by ejecting from the Alpha Jet, had finished a raid against kidnappers when he came under intense fire, the Nigerian Air Force said.

Emerging media report revealed that the Armed Forces have yet to deploy their full arsenal against the bandits who have dominated the North-West and parts of the North-Central geopolitical zones because they were being hindered by agreement signed with the United States.

It was learnt that the Armed Forces told the National Assembly, through its committees, that the agreement signed with the Government of the United States was that the A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets procured from the country would be deployed against terrorists and insurgents, and not bandits.

READ: Declare bandits as terrorists, senators tell Buhari

Informed sources in the National Assembly said the complaints by the service chiefs led to the recent demand by the Senate and the House of Representatives that bandits should be designated as terrorists.

The Nigerian Air Force had on July 22, 2021, taken delivery of the first batch of six aircraft from the United States. The second batch of the planes arrived in Nigeria in September.

A total of 64 pilots and maintainers from the Nigerian Air Force were trained to the US standards with the US Air Force’s 81st Fighter Squadron at Moody Air Base in Georgia, United States.

The training also emphasised the Law of Armed Conflict and civilian casualty mitigation, which are fundamental principles of the Nigerian military’s professional education and training.

A lawmaker, in one of the security committees in the National Assembly, told The Punch that the Armed Forces, especially the Nigerian Air Force, had not been able to decimate the bandits due to the conditions attached to deployment of the fighter jets.

The lawmaker said, “Let me tell you the truth. We once asked the Armed Forces why they had not deployed the Tucano in the fight against the bandits and one of the service chiefs (name withheld) told us that their hands are tied due to the human rights regulations regarding to the aircraft. He told us that the equipment is meant for the war against terrorists and insurgents and since these are bandits, they cannot be deployed.

“He actually told us that once the bandits have been designated as terrorists, they would be wiped out. Don’t forget that the bandits today are not different from Boko Haram, looking at their activities and the gravity of attacks by them. Now that both chambers of the National Assembly have called for the declaration, we urge the President to implement our resolutions.”

Another reliable source in the security committees, who was asked to confirm the information from the first source, said it was true. “We have done what we ought to do, so the ball is no longer in our court,” he stated.

The House of Representatives had on September 30, 2021, asked President Buhari to designate bandits and their sponsors as terrorists.

READ: Bandits terrorising North West are Fulanis, not aliens – Masari

The Senate had made the demand the previous day.

Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, who moved a motion of urgent public importance, urged the chamber to back the Senate.

The motion was titled, ‘Declaration of Bandits and their Sponsors as Terrorists.’

Moving the motion, Benson said, “The Senate, on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, adopted a motion asking President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits ravaging the northern part of the country terrorists and wage a total war on them. They also asked that the president declare all known leaders of bandits wanted and arrest them wherever they were found for speedy prosecution. Such declaration to be done through a Proscription Order can be done pursuant to Section 2 of the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011 (As Amended).

“I will like to echo the same sentiment and ask honourable colleagues to join the Senate in urging Mr President to declare bandits and their sponsors as terrorists.  This will underline the determination of government to combat the wave of criminality and murders conducted by bandits all over the country.”

He noted that declaring bandits as terrorists could be done through a proscription order.

Benson listed more benefits of declaring the bandits as terrorists, noting that such an order will officially bring the activities of bandits and their sponsors within the purview of the Terrorism Prevention Act, while any persons associated with such groups can then be legally prosecuted and sentenced to penalties specified in the Act.

He said: “Declaration of all bandits as terrorists may also encourage other countries to do same and help create a global consensus around dealing with transnational factors that feed the domestic activities of such proscribed organisations and individuals.”