The Brigade of Guards is the most elite of our fighting forces. The fact that terrorists could easily breach the security of Abuja and kill eight of them is not only a national embarrassment, it is an ominous signal that non-state actors are calling the shots now.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The killing of eight officers of the 7 Guards Battalion of the Nigerian Army Presidential Guards Brigade, by terrorists in Abuja, has been described as an ominous signal.
A retired senior military officer who spoke to TheNiche, on Tuesday, anonymously, said the attack has very grave implications.
“It is the most serious indication so far that the Nigerian state is teetering on a precipice,” he said.
“The Brigade of Guards is the most elite of our fighting forces. The fact that terrorists could easily breach the security of Abuja and kill eight of them is not only a national embarrassment, it is an ominous signal that non-state actors are calling the shots now.
“The implication is that terrorists may have acquired the capacity to overrun Nigeria. If they can attack and kill officers of the Brigade of Guards in Abuja and none of them was neutralized or arrested, then we are in deeper crisis that anyone ever thought.”
Terrorists, on Friday, ambushed soldiers of the Brigade of Guards who had answered a distressed call from the Nigeria Law School in Bwari.
The school management had alerted the security forces that terrorists had dropped a letter indicating an imminent attack on the school.
The incident, which took place late Friday night around the Bwari Area Council of Abuja, left three soldiers wounded and eight killed.
Two of the slain personnel were officers, including a captain and lieutenant, while the remaining were soldiers.
There have been fears that emboldened terrorists are planning to launch audacious attacks on the Nigerian Law School in Bwari and other public institutions in the Federal Capital territory, a plot which security sources claim the government was aware of.
On Monday, the government officially shut the Federal Government College, Kwali, in the Kwali Area Council of Abuja after terrorists attacked a community near the school.
The attack on the Guards Brigade, whose duty is to protect the president, comes a few weeks after terrorists launched a similar attack on a presidential convoy in Dutsinma, Katsina State.
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On the same day, terrorists invaded the Kuje prison in Abuja and freed hundreds of inmates, including Boko Haram suspects.
Friday’s attack also occurred two days before terrorists released a video showing them mercilessly flogging persons kidnapped from the Abuja-Kaduna train on March 28.
One of the terrorists in the video threatened that his group would abduct President Buhari, Kaduna State Governor Nasiru el-Rufai and other prominent Nigerians and destabilise the country if their demands were not met.
The terrorists also threatened to kill and sell some of the remaining Abuja-Kaduna train passengers in their custody.
“This is our message to the government of Nigeria and just as you have seen these people here, by God’s grace, you will see your leaders; your senators and governors will come before us. These ones you are seeing here, we will keep some as our slaves and sell them off just as our Imam told you in the past.
“Just like the Chibok girls that were sold off, we will equally sell these ones as slaves. If you don’t adhere to our demands, we will kill the ones we need to kill and sell the remaining. By God’s grace, El-Rufai, Buhari, we will bring you here,” the terrorist said in the video.
In recent times, bandits have been attacking villages in the nation’s capital with the latest being the kidnap of a monarch in Kucihbuyi, a community in Bwari Area Council.
Villages had been sacked by bandits in Abaji, Kuje Kwali and Gwagwalada Area Councils forcing many farmers to abandon their farmlands.
Meanwhile, the federal government has directed principals of unity colleges across the country to liaise with security agencies within their jurisdictions in order to forestall any security breach in the schools.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, gave the directives in a statement on Monday by the spokesman of the ministry, Ben Bem Goong.
Adamu said the closure became necessary following the security breach on Sheda and Lambata villages, suburbs of Kwali Area Council, which also threatened FGC, Kwali.
The minister said the timely intervention of security agencies saved the situation.
He also directed that arrangements be made for final year students to conclude their NECO examinations.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has also ordered the immediate closure of all schools in the FCT by Wednesday.
A statement yesterday from the FCT Education Secretariat said the 2021/2022 academic calendar for FCT Schools would come to an end on Wednesday, July 27 as against Friday, July 29.
“All parents and guardians should please take note and ensure their wards are conveyed home in good time from the school premises,’’ the statement added.