Dateline was Sunday, 29th January, 2012. The place was Naibawa Quarters, South Eastern part of the City of Kano. I had gone to Church in the morning and returned home to sleep after lunch. Against the run of my initial plan, I decided to stay home. I had wanted to take a bicycle ride across the office but I changed my mind. That was a saving grace for me.
By 5pm, I walked across with my son to a relative's house in the neighbourhood. At exactly 6.41 pm, we heard sporadic gun shots in the neighbourhood. We all shut down everything in house - TV, generating sets and put out all lights. We were flat down on our faces. The gun fire raged and was followed by heavy sounds of bombs detonating.
The gun shots kept coming close to the house and the entire neighbourhood was in a dead silent mood. After about 45 minutes of sporadic gun shots with the attackers having a free reign, everything went quiet. We had escaped a major attack from the dreaded Boko Haram. And so the reign of terror was unleashed on the Naibawa area of Kano. By the next morning when we were counting our losses in the area, the Police Divisional Office on the Naibawa Park road was a major target. It was bombed and what was left was just mere ashes and rubbles. Three residents were killed in the cross fire as the Police tried to defend their station. Fear was palpable and the residents didn't feel like staying in the neighbourhood anymore. Security was gone and the bombing of the Police Station effectively rendered the entire axis of Anguwar Uku, Naibawa and Zaria road without any police outpost after the Yar'Akwa Police Division was bombed on the first day of the attacks on 20th January, 2012.
A lady who had dragged her boyfriend to the station to report him for some domestic issues barely left the station after reporting the guy and leaving him in the station before the attack happened. Her boyfriend was dead by the time the attacks retreated. What a way to end one's life.
Kano, Nigeria's second biggest commercial city has been under siege for nearly two weeks. In spite of the huge deployment of troops to the streets, Boko Haram kept pace with their terrorizing attacks in various parts of the city after the coordinated attacks of Friday, January 20, 2012. That speaks volume of how unintelligent our fight against terror is. In the heat of all these, I have seen mobile policemen posted at road-blocks around the city which have become a major menace still collecting or exhorting money from motorists and do not hide this at all. The way these security guys are positioned, they cannot stand any surprise attack at all.
The morning of the attack on Naibawa, while I was walking across to Church in the neighbourhood, I saw surveillance helicopters flying overhead and then wondered why they could not pick out the attackers in the evening.
The truth is that these attackers are way ahead of our security intelligence. It is high time the Nigerian authorities deploy more sophisticated methods of nipping in the bud the spate of terrorists attacks that leaves innocent citizens victims all the time. If we keep applying the same methods for a new problem, we will never get anywhere.
The economic impact of these attacks is monumental. Kano is gradually becoming a ghost city with the massive exodus of non-natives from the area. People who have made Kano a home of sort are now leaving in droves. Why would they stay? They can no longer be guaranteed safety.
What does these all portend for the corporate existence of Nigeria? Some politicians are still playing politics of sentiments with this inflammable problem. The northern politicians are saying government should negotiate with Boko Haram and grant them amnesty like the Niger Delta militants were treated. The question is: How do you discuss with a faceless group whose agenda is more treacherous than advocacy? They want to overthrow the government of Nigeria and enthrone an Islamic Republic. They insist they want all Christians to leave northern Nigeria and then confuse matters by saying they are revenging the killings of Moslems in some conflict areas in Nigeria.
Whoever is behind these group should know one thing for sure: Whatever has a beginning has an end. Osama bin Ladin didn't last forever. He was picked out. So will Boko Haram end ingloriously. At the end of the day, Nigeria will stand either as a one indivisible entity or a group of nation-states with the destinies of the people of the different nations still making progress.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
By 5pm, I walked across with my son to a relative's house in the neighbourhood. At exactly 6.41 pm, we heard sporadic gun shots in the neighbourhood. We all shut down everything in house - TV, generating sets and put out all lights. We were flat down on our faces. The gun fire raged and was followed by heavy sounds of bombs detonating.
The gun shots kept coming close to the house and the entire neighbourhood was in a dead silent mood. After about 45 minutes of sporadic gun shots with the attackers having a free reign, everything went quiet. We had escaped a major attack from the dreaded Boko Haram. And so the reign of terror was unleashed on the Naibawa area of Kano. By the next morning when we were counting our losses in the area, the Police Divisional Office on the Naibawa Park road was a major target. It was bombed and what was left was just mere ashes and rubbles. Three residents were killed in the cross fire as the Police tried to defend their station. Fear was palpable and the residents didn't feel like staying in the neighbourhood anymore. Security was gone and the bombing of the Police Station effectively rendered the entire axis of Anguwar Uku, Naibawa and Zaria road without any police outpost after the Yar'Akwa Police Division was bombed on the first day of the attacks on 20th January, 2012.
A lady who had dragged her boyfriend to the station to report him for some domestic issues barely left the station after reporting the guy and leaving him in the station before the attack happened. Her boyfriend was dead by the time the attacks retreated. What a way to end one's life.
Kano, Nigeria's second biggest commercial city has been under siege for nearly two weeks. In spite of the huge deployment of troops to the streets, Boko Haram kept pace with their terrorizing attacks in various parts of the city after the coordinated attacks of Friday, January 20, 2012. That speaks volume of how unintelligent our fight against terror is. In the heat of all these, I have seen mobile policemen posted at road-blocks around the city which have become a major menace still collecting or exhorting money from motorists and do not hide this at all. The way these security guys are positioned, they cannot stand any surprise attack at all.
The morning of the attack on Naibawa, while I was walking across to Church in the neighbourhood, I saw surveillance helicopters flying overhead and then wondered why they could not pick out the attackers in the evening.
The truth is that these attackers are way ahead of our security intelligence. It is high time the Nigerian authorities deploy more sophisticated methods of nipping in the bud the spate of terrorists attacks that leaves innocent citizens victims all the time. If we keep applying the same methods for a new problem, we will never get anywhere.
The economic impact of these attacks is monumental. Kano is gradually becoming a ghost city with the massive exodus of non-natives from the area. People who have made Kano a home of sort are now leaving in droves. Why would they stay? They can no longer be guaranteed safety.
What does these all portend for the corporate existence of Nigeria? Some politicians are still playing politics of sentiments with this inflammable problem. The northern politicians are saying government should negotiate with Boko Haram and grant them amnesty like the Niger Delta militants were treated. The question is: How do you discuss with a faceless group whose agenda is more treacherous than advocacy? They want to overthrow the government of Nigeria and enthrone an Islamic Republic. They insist they want all Christians to leave northern Nigeria and then confuse matters by saying they are revenging the killings of Moslems in some conflict areas in Nigeria.
Whoever is behind these group should know one thing for sure: Whatever has a beginning has an end. Osama bin Ladin didn't last forever. He was picked out. So will Boko Haram end ingloriously. At the end of the day, Nigeria will stand either as a one indivisible entity or a group of nation-states with the destinies of the people of the different nations still making progress.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
