NIGERIA ‘TERROR’ ATTACKS THREATEN ELECTIONS By Rafiu Oriyomi LAGOS – Bombing in Nigeria’s capital city Abuja, in which more than 70 were killed, and unabated attacks in most parts of the northern region could stall elections next year and provoke further crises, analysts told OnIslam.net. From signals we are getting it is doubtful the next elections really would hold, Tunde Akanni, a university professor, told OnIslam.net, warning that the attack in the countrys capital indicated that no part of the country is immune from future attacks. If the peace is so elusive and in so many states - we were talking about Adamawa, Yobe and Borno before, now they have taken the campaign to the federal capital where all the service chiefs are supposed to be resident.” An explosion at an Abuja popular car park claimed at least 72 lives and injured 134, according to official figures. Independent accounts say figures could be as high as 200. No group has claimed responsibility, though fingers point at the dreaded Boko Haram sect. It also emerged Tuesday afternoon that the insurgents have kidnapped well over 100 school girls at a government secondary school, compounding national fear of the sect and uncertainties over governments ability to rein in the group. Akanni warned that the crisis was getting out of hand. “No one has been able to stop them. So if the campaign had been taken to where you are supposed to have all the service chiefs, who else remains protected?” he asked. The commander in chief has not been quite supportive especially that he didnt even think it right to donate blood to the victims even when the British High Commissioner has since led his people to do so,” Akanni said. “He should also have done so. If he has health challenges that prevent him from doing so, which is possible, then he ought to say so. He is not a private citizen like you and I.” A Nigerian senator Ahmed Zanna declined to comment on the situation but sighed: The situation is sad. So sad. It is getting out if hand. Saheed Popoola, a government functionary in Nigerias north central Kwara State, said the attack on Abuja implied a lax in security in the capital city. This is not good for everybody. If they could strike at the heart of the nation, then they could strike anywhere! Popoola said, urging the security agencies to step up efforts to decimate the Boko Haram terrorists, Popoola said. The attack in Abuja is because those terrorists have discovered that security is concentrated more in the northeast so they are extending to the capital. This is very dangerous. “They feel security is relaxed. What this means is that the security operatives must be proactive. They should monitor not just the northeast but also the northwest so they wont shift base. The same goes for southwest and everywhere else too. Politics Games Although ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and opposition All Progressives Congress have both condemned the attack and called for proactive measures, some analysts think politics could be at the root of the insurgency. Akanni says he doesnt rule out politics as a motivation behind the attacks. I think so. Some of Presidents men have been threatening everything. So what is it they cannot do? We can start guessing, he said. He added that the possibility that some rogue security agents were actually helping insurgents might not be ruled out, because there are so many conflicting signals now. I dont doubt it. It is not impossible. There are so many conflicting signals now. The other day, one weekend or so, the state security service announced to us that they have killed about 20 or so people because those people wanted to break jail. But we dont know the truth actually. Many things are missing, Akanni added. Popoola disagrees, asserting that no patriotic politician of Nigerian would lend a hand to the pogrom. As a former chief executive office of a local council, I see it as a pure terrorist act,” he said. “I dont think it is political. No politician will go to this extent to prove any point. We should look at it holistically. These guys are terrorists. No other language for it. Although nobody has claimed responsibility for it, but by and large we know those who have been doing these things which is Boko Haram guys. The security should be strengthened so we can curb it. I dont think any Nigerian politician will be doing this. It has affected virtually everything and everybody, Muslims, Christians, southerners and northerners alike. They are terrorists, he added. Nelson Ekujumi of Centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiative believes that injustice and rising disparity in the spread of commonwealth as well as unemployment are at the roots of the security crisis. We want to reemphasize that it is important for all to know that our world and society will only know peace if there is justice and equity in the conduct of human affairs.... It is important to harp on the fact that a sure and only way to combat terrorism globally is in the enthronement of political, economic and social justice, he told OnIslam.net. Away from security pitfalls and politics games, Abiodun Aremu, a very popular democracy rights campaigner, said he senses international conspiracy in the whole thing aiming at destabilizing Nigeria. “There is international conspiracy in the whole thing.... it is a general destabilization agenda, he told OnIslam.net. Asked if the plot could be to stall the election next year, as is being alleged, Aremu said: This goes beyond election. Didnt they destabilize the Middle East? So I sense it is a grand plot. onislam.net/english/news/africa/471421-nigeria-terror-attacks-threaten-elections.html
Posted on: Thu, 17 Apr 2014 16:07:57 +0000
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