THE ARREST OF TERROR KINGPINS

Oru Leonard 

Last week, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, announced, with fanfare, the capture of two top leaders of the ANSARU terrorist group.
The leaders, Mahmud Muhammad Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a, and Mahmud al-Nigeri, popularly referred to as Mallam Mamuda, were said to have been arrested following a major counter-terrorism operation.

The ANSARU terrorists are a splinter group of BOKO HARAM (BH). They are linked to several kidnappings, attacks on security forces and violent campaigns across Northern Nigeria. They are also alleged to have planned and perpetrated the attack on the Kure Correctional Center.

Coming hot on the heels of the arrest of the two ANSARU terrorist bigwigs was the capture of Muslim Yusuf, a son of the late founder of BOKO HARAM, Mohammed Yusuf.
Muslim Yusuf who had disguised under two aliases, namely:Mustapha Bana Abubakar and Abdrahman Abdoulaye, was arrested in Chad with five others. His identity was reportedly disclosed to the Chadian authorities following a tip-off from Nigerian intelligence sources.
Muslim Yusuf is a younger brother of the leader of the ISLAMIC STATE WEST AFRICA(ISWAP), Habib Yusuf, also known as Abu Mus’ab al-Barnawi. The younger Yusuf was said to be on the way to carve a niche for himself in the terrorist firmament. He was said to be on his way to establishing his own terrorist cell and a base in Lake Chad.

These two arrests – that of the two ANSARU terrorist kingpins and ISWAP’s Yusuf – are to quote Mr. Ribadu, “a huge breakthrough”. They would send a strong message, coming after the neutralization of several of their fellow travelers in the North East and North West theaters, that the days of the terrorist are numbered. They would also serve as a morale booster to those who have put their lives on the firing line in this two-decade war.
As these arrests give the security agencies a shot in the arm, they should also demoralize the ranks of these heinous terrorists. Additionally, a thorough debrief of the terrorists, thus far arrested, should provide vital intelligence on their modus operandi, their disposition and their sources of funding.

Against this backdrop, the National Security Adviser and his gallant team are entitled to latch onto this achievement and to bask in its glow. But such chest thumping can only be momentary. In spite of the arrest of these terror kingpins, terror-related activities and genocidal killings continue apace. They stalk and hound Northern Nigeria like a specter. Killings and abductions are the order of the day in Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina and Borno States. In the North Central, dastardly killings by unknown and un-apprehended gun men continue unabated.

For the second time in Katsina State, worshippers were mowed down, in their numbers, by terrorists. On Tuesday, 19th August 2025, worshippers were in the wee hours of the morning killed in a mosque at Gidan Mantau, in Malumfashi Local Government Area. Before then, terrorists had gone on abduction and killing sprees of villagers in Zamfara and Sokoto States.

The MAHMUDA group, another faction of BOKO HARAM, had sent not less than 3,000 residents of Babanla and communities in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State scampering to other neighboring villages. This is after the MAHMUDA terrorists had invaded Babanla, where they killed five persons and a police officer, and had looted several shops in the main market.

Add to all these the ogre and fiend, Bello Turji, who has killed many and who continues to bestride Zamfara State like a colossus. This is in spite of rooftop proclamations by Nigeria’s military high command that he was “a dead man walking”.
Clearly, these horrid incidents speak eloquently to one fact: that far from it, the war on terror has not been won. Neither is it a mission accomplished. Any declaration to that effect can only be a preposterous and a Phyrric victory.
Though the arrest of the terrorists, aforementioned, is commendable, our security agencies should not rest on their oars. They should rather view these arrests as a spur to further action. They should incentivize them to take the war to the terrorists; to ultimately defeat these mendacious elements; and to get this protracted war over with.

A speedy and swift accomplishment of the mission should restore to the country peace, enduring health and prosperity. It should also restore the reputation of the security agencies, earned from many war theaters, local and international.
To achieve this, more emphasis should be laid on intelligence gathering and inter-agency co-operation. Actions to be taken should always be informed by credible and unimpeachable intelligence. This will eschew collateral damage as well as earn the trust of Nigerians. Our security agencies must demonstrate greater savvy and ability to synergize than the terrorists they seek to subdue or obliterate.

A cursory look at these terrorist groups – BOKO HARAM, ISWAP, ANSARU and MAHMUDA – shows that they have links with other international terror groups such as the Somalia-based HARAKAT AL- SHABAAB, AL-QAEDA and ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND THE LEVANT/DAESH. What this implies is that our security agencies must be adept at co-operating and sharing intelligence with other agencies, especially those of member countries of the Multinational Joint Task Force(MNJTF). Our long, porous borders with Niger, Chad, Benin Republic and Cameroon make this compelling. Even more compelling is the capacity of these terrorists, using their networks, to enter and exit the country with ease. Thus, our fight on terror, while taking cognizance of our local peculiarities, should assume an international coloration.

Our communities, especially those contiguous or close to challenging terrains and forests, should be encouraged to report the presence of likely terrorists hibernating in their vicinities to the security agencies. The same report should be made of persons/groups which espouse weird and unorthodox religious dogmas and practices. Such reports should in turn inspire close surveillance and subsequent apprehension of these groups by our security agencies.
It should now occur to us all that those who kill and maim worshippers and innocents of the two major religions in their mosques or churches can only be terrorists. They should be reported immediately. And the security agencies should apprehend them forthwith before they unleash needless deaths and harm to innocent and unsuspecting Nigerians.