Kuje prison break: Heads must roll

After the Kuje prison break on Tuesday night which saw over 800 people released by Boko Haram, I expected that by Wednesday morning I would see scores of resignation letters by many officials. But this is Nigeria where nobody resigns.

The Kuje prison break did not come to many as a surprise and the reasons are not far-fetched. It is instructive to note that we have experienced eight jails break in the last 14 months. This is sad.

After the eight jail breaks, no one has resigned or been sacked so it’s business as usual. I have always maintained that crimes and impunity continue to fester in the country because there is no punishment for bad behaviour. People do anything and get away with it and nothing happens. That needs to change.

For Boko Haram to have the cojones to attack Kuje correctional centre in the federal capital territory, it means security has collapsed in the country. There are so many questions about the attack that needs to be answered. How can Boko Haram terrorists operate for two hours in Abuja, not in Sambisa or one village, and there was no fight back from our security agencies. Two whole hours and no one has resigned by now?

If terrorists can operate two whole hours unchallenged in the federal capital, in local parlance we call it “see finish”.This attack is a slap on our military and by now I expect some serious fight back to restore their pride. In football terms, the terrorists are leading our military by 2-0. These terrorists lack total respect for our military.

This again brings to the fore the argument of rehabilitating Boko Haram suspects. It’s an exercise in futility.

I believe by now, the Suleja prison will be their next target and our security agencies will not be able to do anything to stop it. We shout, condemn and cry till the next attack.

I was happy when President Muhammadu Buhari visited the Kuje prison unannounced and saw the extent of the damage. The president was perplexed and asked pertinent questions a bloody civilian like me will ask. By now I expect President Buhari to sack at least 10 people for this national embarrassment.

President Buhari has a phobia of sacking people but this is not business as usual. The president holds security briefings regularly and I am sure what he saw in Kuje is different from what his security chiefs have been telling him.

The president has less than 10 months to the end of his administration. This is the time to leave a lasting legacy and finish strong. This is not the time to issue statements vowing or pledging to crush bandits or terrorists till the next attack. This is the time to take action.

Unless we want to keep playing the ostrich, Boko Haram is back in Abuja. The governors of Niger and Nassarawa states have been shouting hoarse that terrorists are in their states and these are neighbouring states to Abuja and no one listened to them. They have been proved right.

In the next few days, expect to hear of more attacks in Abuja. We have over 200 dangerous Boko Haram insurgents roaming the streets of Abuja.

By now I would have expected that the prison service will release all the photographs of the Boko Haram members that escaped. Some of them will be in Abuja town roaming freely and going to shopping malls since most Nigerians can’t recognise them.

To be sure it is not only Boko Haram members that are roaming the street of Abuja, we also have murderers, arsonists, thugs and thieves. Armageddon is here.

We have one of the best militaries in the world and I believe in their ability and capacity to win this war and arrest some of the prisoners.

No doubt, the airport will now be a target. I expect more security around the airport area. Anything less than a massive sack is not acceptable. Heads must roll.