For Borno Youths, It’s Not Too Late for Self Defence

Raring to go

“If you are faced with a mountain, you have several options. You can climb it and cross to the other side.
You can go around it. You can dig under it. You can fly over it. You can blow it up. You can ignore it and pretend it’s not there. You can turn around and go back the way you came. Or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home.”
– Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

The above aptly describes the drama playing out currently in Borno State.  Here, the cheery news came early this week from far away Maiduguri, capital of the state,  that some youths in that insurgency-devastated ancient city have taken their destiny in their hands by deciding to “blow up” the mountain of insecurity erected in their domain since the last four years by Boko Haram. Can you blame them? Who wouldn’t fall for this kind of action if found mercilessly boxed in a skintight corner as they have at the moment by the activities of the insurgents?

Perhaps it is instructive to restate that in the orgy of the killings in the area, the same youths helplessly witnessed the massacre of their wives, their children, their parents, their relatives, friends and over the years, have had to contend with the daily recurrence of the deployment of the crudest form of brute force by the insurgents who had succeeded in “capturing” them, physically and psychologically.
These youths, who have taken on a working title: ‘Civilian JTF’, deserve the support of every peace-loving Nigerian, including the federal, state and local government agencies to boost their morale as they strive to liberate their communities from the stranglehold of killer-elements in the state. They deserve the commendation of all for after weighing all options available to them, as enunciated by  Vera   Nazarian, in the opening quotation of this write-up, have at last picked up the courage  to “blow up” a mountain that has become a hard nut for them to crack.

To some, the current push by the “Civilian JTF” has come a little late; after the destructing of the city, burning down of several places of worship, killing of thousands of helpless Nigerians and looting of their homes, businesses, among others; but the truth for me is that, it does not matter how many times one falls, but his ability to rise and how strong he gets after each fall. Yes, they have fallen for no fault of theirs; they might have lent support to the activities of their attackers by innocently shielding them from being captured by the radar of the security agencies deployed there, and perhaps one or two other nasty things in the course of the crackdown; but today, the good news is that they have realized that “being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.”

Listen to them:    “We are tired of this and we want to put an end to it. Since the soldiers don’t really know who the Boko Haram members are, then we who live with them and know them have no option than to help fish them out,
“All we want is prayers from the people and their cooperation; we are working together with the JTF soldiers. We want government to assist us with more weapons like cutlasses, iron batons and axes.

“We have lost count of how many Boko Haram we have caught and handed over to the soldiers and we are going after more of them. We have caught one recently and when he was investigated, the security operatives found huge amount of money in his bank account.”
There is no gainsaying that the economy of the northern states of this country has taken the worse bashing by the deadly activities of Boko  Haram. It could also be rebuilt if we are able to restore peace in the region. One of the novel steps towards that direction are those of the Civilian JTF in Borno State.  Can the same be replicated by governments, political leaders, and other leaders of thought in Yobe, Niger, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi,  Bauchi, Sokoto,  Adamawa and Nasarawa? Can they take a cue from Borno and encourage their youths to form vigilante groups and complement the effort of  security agencies to rein in Boko Haram  members and their supporters?
Irrespective of whatever it was designed to achieve, the insurgents’ financiers must now realize that the group has already turned a monster; an ill-wind that blows no one no good!

So at the attainment of the desired peace, governments at every level must think seriously and work out ways of massively driving child of school age in the north to school; not the almajiri kind. In this time and age, there is religion or tradition that is averse to western education. We all need it. The political leaders from the north are playing politics at the national level because they were lucky to have acquired the western form of education. Each time I ponder over the growing illiteracy rate in the north, I feel like bundling all the leaders in that region to Gashua Prison!
If you do not agree with me, check out this year’s state-by-state cut-off points for entry into federal unity colleges released by the Federal Ministry of Education few days ago. Go check it out. You’ll discover that whereas a child from Anambra State must score a minimum of 139 from the 200 maximum-point to be admitted on merit, his counterpart from Yobe State just requires 2 over 200; Taraba, 3 over 200; Zamfara State, 4 over 200; and Sokoto and Kebbi States, 9 over 200 marks!
Let me shock you further with the cutoff points of the other states where Boko Haram has been holding sway. Bauchi State’s children just need 35 over 200 to be admitted on merit into any federal unity college of their choice. Borno State, 45; and Gombe State, 58 over the 200 maximum points needed to secure their children’s places at the unity colleges. Any doubts why education is a must pursuit for the region? The present crop of leaders must do it so that they will be able to raise a successor-generation that could look at an average southerner in the face in the future and say: let’s do away with this so called quota system in every sphere of human endeavours and replace it with merit and not Boko Haram!

CALL THESE NUMBERS when
IN DISTRESS…
Kaduna State
• Police Commissioner: 08033008525
• PPRO : 08033455650
• Operation Yaki:  08081708671, 08160005000, 08160000030, 08160002000, and
08160000045
   
Ondo State
• Commissioner of Police: 08081774646 and 08033429440
• O/C Operation: 08034072740
• PPRO: 08033852918.

Kogi State
• PPRO: 08077357402
• Command Hqtrs: O7030704642   

Bauchi State
• Commissioner of Police: 08035324090, 08126281692;
• PPRO: 07056551700

Abia State
• Police Commissioner: 08032862623
• PPRO: 08039148294
Emergency Numbers (24 hours)
• 08079210003
• 08079210004
• 08079210005

Ebonyi State
• Police Commissioner: 08033145629
•  PPRO: 08037565418

Cross River State
• Commissioner of Police: 08033027978
• PPRO: 08032215852.

Lagos State
• Commissioner of Police:  08034752664
• PPRO: 08033027142 ; 08125151603; and  08115557885
• Control Rooms: 08080499797;  08123405164; 08037332678;  08037034711; 08080499797;  08063299264;  08060357795; 08079279349; 080755462708; 07035068242; and 07055068242

Bayelsa State
• Commissioner of Police: 08035045847

Ekiti State
• Commissioner of Police: 08037003030
  • PPRO: 08056022366  and 08125275109

Ogun State
• Police Distress Call lines
08032136765; 08037168147; 08123822910; and 08081771717
Email: compologun2@yahoo.com

Vehicles    Reg . No    Location
Audi 80                  CU 952 GGE        Onikan
B.M.W S/Car         BQ 305 BDG        Denton
Honda Accord       CF 356 AKD        Aswani
Accura Jeep           DV 414 EKY        Aswani
Toyota Camry       UC 591 KJA         Ipakodo
Toyota  Sienna      EKY 565 AJ         Ilasamaja
Toyota Camry       DK 522 GGE        Ikorodu
Volvo 950 S/Car    EK 975 KRD        Alakara
Toyota Avensis     BV 190 AKD        Surulere
Daf   Tanker          XA 597 KGG        Area ‘E’ Hqtrs
Toyota Camry       BDG 130 AL        Ogudu
Honda Accord       DJ 630 JJJ             Ojodu
Toyota Camry       AE 411 DGB         Oko-Oba
V/Wagen Golf 3    BT 842 FKJ          Oko-Oba
Hyundai Accent     DU 310 EKY        Iju
Toyota Celica        LB 837 KJA          Mile 2 P/Post
Mit. Gallant           JX 877 AAA         Nat. Theatre
M/Benz S/Car        BJ 510 AGL          Ponri
Toyota Camry       FD 84 KRD          Ojodu
Land Rover Lrs     EV 444 KRD        Ketu