Uri NgozichukwukaNigeria’s Terror Cottage Industry! What happened to the all-liberating militant Niger Delta boys? Their Ogas – Tompolo, Asari Dokubo? Amnesty. Did it work in the long run; or it didn’t?
They cashed in, chopped up and forgot the cause? They didn’t need power anymore?
They were not hungry for power as it’s manifest now. They only wanted a slice of the cake baked in their kitchen and rightfully so.
We all remember how fearsome these militants looked wearing rounds of ammunition with pride and carrying very sophisticated weapons. Yes we did. As a reporter going into the creeks was scary and more like suicide mission.
The so-called militants were paid, their bosses settled. Asari Dokubo even owns a university outside Nigeria; has wives and children, and growing rotund by the day. The Amnesty programme made not a few millionaires, indeed. The warlords in the creeks held sway. The Amnesty programme was designed to make them drop their ammunition and pick up a pen or profession. There were few successes though.
However, that was the birth of the terror cottage industry. Truth be told. Tthey started the kidnapping business. They brought it into our polity . We must not be quick to forget. The sad part is these insufferable brigands and marauders from Futa jalon have taken theirs notches higher with a hundred percent complicity with government.
Government is big Every business with government presence is bound to grow big. So every business owner dreams of government endorsement. That automatically brings patronage and it doesn’t matter what type of business it is.
All over the world, terror is business. Long before Taliban used it to oust the legitimate government in Afghanistan, Terror had already become a business to upturn and remove any government and put another. In 2015, during Jonathan, it cut its teeth into the big leagues.
From then till today, July 31, 2022, the whole country is hedged in. While the Niger Delta militants targeted expatriates of the oil companies in their region, not raping and barely killing, these less than humans target the polity . Kill without reason. Rape women and sodomize the men and boys in their captivity . They drain the polity through unholy and unheard of Ransom. It’s because a multi billion naira industry. It’s reported that Zamfara state alone has done over a billion naira in ransom. The Kaduna train victims are still been held and used as a perpetual funds supply and are being released in batches after huge sums are paid. The word on the street is top government functionaries and other faceless individuals are complicit. It’s easy to believe. Who are those interfacing with them? Who gives them tip offs? The Nigerian soldiers have been massacred in so many attacks by these terrorists or bandits yet the army is also heavily compromised from all reports and indications.
While the people are pressed with dwindling resources as a result of a double digit inflation, astronomical rise in the prices of life basics like food and shelter and Medicare. The currency is at its lowest and the slide downward is not about to be halted because the end of the pit is not in sight. In addition to all the above, the polity is also living in mortal trepidation of wanton kidnap.
Slowly but surely the kidnaps have crept in here into the south. An escaped kidnapped victim narrated how he was kidnapped in broad daylight in a densely populated high-brow urban area Lekki and taken to Ogun state by an Uber ride he had requested. He entered and during the course of the ride two other men jumped in. According to him they were all speaking Hausa and were coordinating with their fellow kidnappers who were also operating in different parts of Lagos. They all met and drove in a convoy with their victims out of Lagos. He also added the cars were very neat. They got to the first destination and all victims were shot on the legs to stop them from running. They took his two laptops. His ATM card and were withdrawing a hundred thousand daily. He was DIVINELY let off while the other victims were ferried elsewhere. According to him these were soldiers and their boss was also a military man. Now did we not keep silent when over 3000 so called repentant BOKO HARAM were absorbed into the Nigerian army? What did we expect?
The sinister angle to all these unsavoury development is the international multi billion dollar dark business of organ harvesting. The masters of such trade have been operating clandestinely within our quarters. However, just like Nigeria tops in all things good , we also top in all things dark. We are topping the list of organ harvesting. The kidnapping in the south are tending toward that.
Abuja by all indications is already a fallen city. All roads leading into Abuja within 60km have been cordoned off as terrorist ridden. Kidnaps and killings hold sway. Schools have been shut. Children are at home. Yet we down south are just living it up. Chatting in Whatsapp groups. Sharing funny videos and proclaiming ” Obidient”. Will there be opportunity for the “Obedients” to actually “Obey”?
Back to the Niger Delta issue. How can we forget how Obasanjo the then president razed down a whole village Odi over “insurgency”? How does he sleep at night seeing what has become of the country he had the rare privilege to be the commander-in-chief twice in a lifetime? Under him the dubious1999 constitution was foisted on a sleeping polity. We were later to call president Jonathan a clueless president when he learnt from his chief boss you know who? When the then 19 governors or so declared their states Sharia states during Obasanjo’s rule he also did nothing.
We are all shouting the north has an entitlement mentality because of the British and I really wonder if we through our leaders have not handed them a lot more than the British gave them on a platter and on bended knees. Yes. we have.
These terrorists, Boko Haram, herdsmen or bandits have wrecked havoc and wrecked not just our land but our souls. What they can’t kill is the Nigerian spirit. Stories abound regarding the origins of these insufferable less humans. Politicians from hell imported them into the country with a bag full of promises. To help them into power. Cause fear in Nigeria so the south can leave power to the north. In return make them Nigerian citizens. Give them wads of our money and send them off. They came and have seen Nigeria is a gold mine. They wanted more. Elections are coming and the power is about to change hands so they need these mercenaries again. Little wonder no one has been arrested for kidnap or brutal killings. Billions voted for security disappear into pockets. More terror. More money. Welcome to the TERROR ENTERPRISES NIGERIA PLC.
Let’s wake up to the reality of the situation. These terrorists or bandits or Boko haram have been here for almost a decade they are not about to leave anytime soon. We need to either honestly RISE AND TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK or just live with the situation until it’s time for our own kidnap. God forbid.
It’s really a very long night in Nigeria. The dawn is far however we are determined to wait. We have hope. Our spirit is alive and stronger than the ill winds blowing from the Sahara.
Adiya Uri Ngozichukwuka
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