On Thursday last week (May 2, 2024), the Nigeria Police paraded three young men whom it disclosed were behind the Abuja-Kaduna train attack, which shook the nation to its foundation.

On March 28, 2022, terrorists planted explosives on the train tracks and immobilised a train belonging to the Nigerian Railways Corporation. The train had 970 passengers on board, out of which seven were shot dead and 62 abducted for ransom. According to Police Spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, the group, which was found responsible for much of the spates of kidnappings and killings along the Abuja-Kaduna corridor, was caught red-handed in another act.

The leader of the group, Ibrahim Abdullahi, was referred to as the “mastermind” of the train attack, killings and kidnappings. The three suspects paraded looked so young that they must have been in their teens when the crime was committed over two years ago.

The Police deserve a pat on the back for apprehending these suspects of the first major train robbery in Nigeria. But more importantly, it is a big credit to the Police that they continued to pursue this case despite the fact that it had gone off the boil of public sentiments. Their ability to catch these suspected felons over two years after the tragic incident is what makes the law formidable. It strengthens the legitimacy and respect of the law enforcement agencies in the eyes of the public.

We, however, caution over the use of the term “mastermind” in describing the gang leader. The leader of a criminal gang is not always the mastermind. The young men paraded by the Police could easily be the leg men of a complex network of real masterminds who are arming, paying, directing and protecting the field men and deploying them for more sinister purposes beyond violent crimes.

We say so because the person who acted as a negotiator for the criminals, who is also linked to terror support groups in the Middle East and a controversial Islamic cleric in Kaduna, is still in the custody of the State Security Services, SSS. The role of these big-fish suspects necessitates that the Police and security agencies look further upward for the real masterminds of this and other bandit, terrorist and armed herdsmen groups.

Many of the crimes and terrorism bedevilling this country are preventable and soluble but for the glaring inadequacies in our security architecture. Former Inspector General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase, recently disclosed that a tracking device used to nab kidnappers during his tenure has been abandoned. Also, former Transportation Minister, Chibuike Amaechi, told Nigerians that his request for a technology to secure the railways was ignored.

There is definitely more to the banditry and terrorism in Nigeria. President Bola Tinubu should muster all available resources, human and material, to liquidate the network of saboteurs.