Terrorists strike at heart of Abuja in Nigeria, prompting school closures

Abuja

Terrorists have invaded Nigeria’s capital Abuja and wounded soldiers, throwing the city into a panic that has caused an immediate evacuation of students from federal government schools in the city.

The latest attack on soldiers on Monday confirms the threat terrorists pose to prime institutions in Abuja.

It came after an earlier successful attack on July 5 on a prison in Kuje-Abuja in which 39 terrorists and more than 900 other inmates were freed.

The daring terrorists, who have even threatened to kidnap President Muhammadu Buhari, had attacked his advance motorcade in Daura in his home state of Katsina in the northwest Nigeria.

The Monday attack came a day after terrorists who kidnapped train passengers on the Abuja-Kaduna railway line on March 28 released a new video in which they were shown torturing their victims and asking for a huge ransom.

In the clip, the terrorists threatened to abduct President Buhari and Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state, as well as other top government officials.

Troops on patrol ambushed

The troops attacked on Monday belong to the Brigade of Guards, which provides security in Abuja, the administrative capital, and the presidential villa. They were ambushed in the late hours of July 25 while on patrol on the Kubwa-Bwari road.

Reports say the gunmen were headed to the Nigerian Law School in Bwari, near Abuja, when they ran into the troops.

Captain Godfrey Anebi Abakpa, a spokesperson for the Guards Brigade, confirmed the incident on Tuesday and explained that the attack was repelled, without providing further details on casualties or arrests.

Captain Abakpa said a few of the men wounded in action had been taken to a hospital and that the troops were searching for the criminals.

“They were attacked and the attack was successfully repelled. We had a few (men) wounded in action who have been taken to the hospital and [are] receiving treatment,” he said.

Boarding schools closed

The federal government has ordered the closure of boarding schools in Abuja over security concerns.

The Federal Government College, located in the Kwali area of Abuja, has been shut after gunmen attacked two adjacent villages.

Parents trooped to the school on Monday morning to evacuate their children from the college.

Some influential groups, including the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF) and Aka Ikenga, have condemned the government for not acting promptly against threats.

Mr Bitrus Pogu, the MBF national president, accused President Buhari of lacking the political will to flush out terrorists even when the military had displayed its capability.

“Is the government honestly telling Nigerians that they don’t have intelligence on the location of these terrorists?’’ he asked.

‘Government is ineffective’

Mr Alex Ogbonnia, national spokesman for Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said the terrorists’ actions showed that the government is ineffective.

“These are signals and effects of poor governance. They are not causes but effects of [bad governance]. Nigerians are in a quagmire and it is a pity,” he said.

Mr Tanko Yakassai, of the Arewa group, said the level of insecurity did not come as a surprise “because President Buhari has not shown any capacity to tackle it”.

Reacting to the criticism, the presidency on Tuesday assured Nigerians that the military would not relent in dealing with terrorists.

Carpet-bombing call opposed

Spokesman Garba Shehu explained in a statement that if the military went by the popular call for carpet-bombing areas known to harbour terrorists, it would only “assuage the desire of an angry public for revenge” but put hostages in danger.

“Terrorist activity using propaganda and the use of violence to force governments to accept or submit to political demands is not new all over world,” he said.

He insisted that the country’s security and defence forces are not clueless or helpless.

“They have their plans and ways of doing things, which they will not display in the media,” he said.

"The dilemmas in dealing with the specific case of trained terrorists are manifold: punitive action like the popular call for carpet bombing of the known locations may assuage the desire of an angry public for revenge, but what about the hostages? They have committed no offence. All they did was to board a train.

"To help the nation against the ongoing situation, the media must increase their support for the fight against the exploitation of the internet and social media for terrorist purposes.”