The Federal Government can be very confusing in its approach to the war on terrorism. Governor Umara Zulum of Borno State has raised the alarm that the Islamic State in West Africa Province, ISWAP, is recruiting massively and fast gaining ground.

He said unless something is done against them, Boko Haram, which has held Nigeria hostage for 13 years, “will be a child’s play”.

Yet, President Muhammadu Buhari has just inaugurated the Presidential Committee on Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Internally-Displaced Persons in the North East, with the promise that he had devised new methods to ensure the return of peace to the region.

The president’s action shows his conviction that the insurgency in the region has gone down enough to return the hapless refugees to their embattled communities.

Yet, apart from Zulum’s alarm, other indicators show that the insecurity is getting worse, not better.

SBM Intelligence has just released a report that 10,366 Nigerians were killed in 2021 by terrorists ranging from Boko Haram, ISWAP, armed herdsmen and the North West Bandits. Indeed, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has also just disclosed that the Federal Government has uncovered 96 terrorism sponsors and 424 others who support them, with 45 suspects arrested.

Why is the Federal Government returning the refugees to their communities while the situation appears to be worsening? Why not keep them in the relative safety of their camps for the few months that Buhari’s new measures will be put to work?

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We are more inclined to heed Governor Zulum’s red flag because apart from being the man on ground risking his life and going to the besieged communities to serve the people, he has always been frank and open about the security situation. This is unlike the Federal Government which tends to thrive on propaganda.

The time has come for us to stop pretending that we can go it alone in the fight against Jihadist terrorism.

The Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF, from the Lake Chad Basin states have failed to defend themselves against Islamic militant groups, especially Boko Haram and ISWAP. Because of the large amounts of ungoverned spaces in these areas, massive poverty and prolonged displacements, ISWAP finds it easy to attract recruits.

Since the Lake Chad and West African Sahel have become the new home of the Islamic State after their bitter defeat in Iraq and Syria, their presence among us has become a global challenge.

The objective of world powers is to deny these Islamists their dream of setting up territorial sovereignties. We must come together against them as was done to beat them out of Syria and Iraq.

If we do not forge a global front, all the terror groups that killed over 10,000 Nigerians last year alone could unite against us.

The time is now.

Vanguard News Nigeria