The daring terrorist attack on NDA

When news filtered in that bandits attacked the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, killing two officers and abducting another senior officer, many Nigerians thought it was fake news.

I dismissed it as fake news. Will bandits have the audacity to attack the NDA — our training institute for elite military officers? Impossible. This can only happen in movies.

But it seems the military has lost its mojo in the sight of the bandits. The military has lost its fear factor. It seems it’s only bloody civilians like me that are still scared of the military.

As a rule, I don’t criticise the military because of the sacrifices some of them are making to secure the nation. If not for our brave military, Boko Haram would have overrun the north-east by now.

However, describing this latest brazen attack as shameful and embarrassing is an understatement.

Like I said previously on this page since they attempt to bring down an alpha jet in Zamfara, they are not longer bandits but terrorists. Calling them bandits is a wrong nomenclature, we should start addressing them properly.

I also recall that bandits killed 18 soldiers in Katsina recently but to take the fight to NDA, to me, is an open declaration of war against the Nigerian state.

Ironically, the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization in Kaduna where bandits kidnapped 39 students and government officials is opposite the NDA.

Indeed, with the attack on the NDA, the terrorist has touched the tiger’s tale and I expect an instant reaction from our military. By now, we should be hearing reports of a massive raid on the terrorists’ hideout and forest. The military should treat them in a language that they understand.

No doubt, our security forces know the hideout of a majority of the bandits, and the time for treating them with kids’ gloves should be over. Nigerians don’t want to hear stories of collusion between the terrorists and military, all we want to hear is a massive operation to end criminality.

Indeed, with these daring attacks on the NDA, the terrorists will now be emboldened and be targeting government houses in the next few days.

In his reaction, President Muhammadu Buhari has said the attack launched on the facility of the NDA on Tuesday, rather than throw a dampener into the morale of our armed forces as it is intended to, will buoy their determination to make a decisive end of criminality in the country.

Noting that the attack, which led to the loss of lives, came at a time that the military had put insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, and other types of criminals on the retreat, the president said the heinous action would accelerate the total uprooting of evil in the polity, which members of the armed forces are solidly resolved to accomplish in the shortest possible time.

Indeed, I want to believe the president that the terrorists will be routed in the shortest possible time. I believe our military is equal to the challenge. They need to step up and rise to the challenge.

Jonathan Nda-Isaiah, political director at LEADERSHIP Newspapers, can be reached via 08061573299, 08054518774.