By Evelyn Usman

President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria, AISSON Dr. Ona Ekhomu, yesterday, said the Commissioner of Police, Katsina State Police Command and the Military Commander in the state should be held responsible for the massacre of 47 villagers by terrorists in three local government areas of the state.

Describing the attack as a crime against humanity, the security expert, blamed it on what he described as security lapses.

Ekhomu, in a statement issued in Lagos and signed by his Media Assistant, Tope Adesuyi, Monday, said the terrorists hijacked the COVID-19 lockdown in the state to commit the dastardly act.

He said, “ The Federal government must hold the Commissioner of Police in Katsina State and the Military Commander there responsible for the security lapses that resulted in the preventable deaths.

“How could about 450 terrorists operating on about 150 motorbikes sweep through three local governments, killing, maiming and looting, yet, there was no law enforcement or military response?”, he asked

He stated that the undue concentration of security forces in major cities was “ a vulnerability in the nation’s security systems.

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He further raised the alarm that the nation was under siege by foreign jihadis and militias, stating that “ some of the terrorists were from Mali, Sudan (Janjaweed militia), Burkina Faso and other unstable countries. It’s high time we call a spade by its name, instead of calling these bloodthirsty killers “terrorists”, we call them bandits – which is a euphemism. Bandits or not, they are not allowed to take Nigerians lives without being accountable”. he averred.

Dr. Ekhomu said that the continuous attacks by the terrorists showed that the policy of appeasement adopted by Katsina Governor, Hon. Aminu Bello Masari and some other northwest governors was ill-conceived and ineffective.

He said: “some foes are simply implacable. West African Jihadists who have engaged in trafficking in women, drugs, guns and cigarettes in the Sahelian zone for many years now see Nigeria as a fertile ground to plunder. These are the same groups that are fighting the governments and peoples of Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, etc. They are involved in cattle rustling and have the munitions to take on a small army. They know the forests well and can live off the land.”

The policy analyst, therefore, urged the Federal Government not to be distracted by the COVID-19 pandemic while citizens were being slaughtered like fowls.

He advised that the terrorists must be combated using “a whole of government approach as is being done with the COVID-19 pandemic. All security agencies, intelligence agencies, paramilitary agencies, private security operatives, vigilance groups, community leaders must be brought together and organized to combat the threat of foreign jihadi invasion.

“ Force multipliers should be provided to facilitate combating the jihadi threat. Federal Government should also take seriously its constitutional mandate to provide for the welfare and security of Nigerians. We cannot pay lip service to the issue of human lives-be it COVID-19 or blood-thirsty terrorists. All threats to our national security must be combated”, he said.

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