US terror alert and matters arising

Residents of Abuja have been living in palpable fear since the United States and the United Kingdom on Sunday warned of a possible terrorist attack in Abuja, especially aimed at government buildings, places of worship, and schools, among other targets.

“On October 25, 2022, the Department authorized the departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees and family members due to the heightened risk of terrorist attacks,” the advisory reads.

The US went a step further to authorise the departure of its government employees and their families from Nigeria over potential terrorist attacks.

In its reaction, the federal government and Department of State Services( DSS) have called for calm that Abuja is safe and residents should go about their normal activities.

Similarly, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has assured Nigerians of their safety. According to a statement by Olumuyiwa Adejobi, force spokesman, Usman Baba, the inspector-general of police (IGP), said the police will work with other security agencies to ensure the safety of all persons.

I don’t think anybody believes the statement and assurance from the federal government or the security agencies. These days by 8 pm most of the major roads in Abuja are deserted. Most of the hangout spots record low patronage. Can you blame them? It’s better to be safe than sorry. A popular Abuja mall shut down on Thursday over the fear of a possible attack. Some schools also hurriedly shut down.

I don’t think many residents believe in the capacity of the security agencies to protect them. The thing is for the United States to authorise the departure of some of its citizens, then it must be very serious.

Suffice it to say, Abuja is the federal capital and should be the most secure place in Nigeria because it is the centre of power but that has not been the case. The Kuje jailbreak shattered that myth and confidence of most residents and sadly up till now no one has been fired for the breach of security.

Despite the best efforts of the minister of the FCT, Mohammed Bello, the crime rate in the city is abnormally high. Reports of car theft are a daily occurrence. If your car breaks down at night, your best bet is to abandon the car or you risk being attacked or even killed. I have seen cases of people who spend months in the hospital because they were attacked when their cars broke down. Also, there are reports of cultist activities in some of the satellite towns. It’s a scary situation.

I am still trying to wrap my head around the anger of the government that Nigerians should ignore the terror alert warning. This is not a matter of patriotism but life and death. No reasonable person will ignore the warning and become the next statistic. Nobody wants to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

According to a report from the Nigerian Security Tracker, a project of the Council on Foreign Relations of the United States of America, about 53,418 Nigerians lost their lives to non-state actors between May 29, 2015, and October 15, 2022. The deaths occurred mostly from farmers’/herders’ conflict, clashes by religious groups, and attacks by terrorists and bandits.

No doubt, the security agencies are recording tremendous success against terrorists in recent weeks but it’s not yet Uhuru. The momentum should be sustained. I have always believed in the ability and capacity of our military to win the war against insecurity.

The government can gain the trust of most residents of the FCT if no attack is recorded from now till the end of the year. They need to prove to Nigerians that the US and UK terror alert was a false alarm. Only then will citizens believe completely in the ability of the security agencies to protect them. Telling Nigerians to ignore the alert won’t work.