Boko Haram and Bombing of Churches in Nigeria

Safety is of the Lord! The Bible says in Psalm 127: 1 "...Except the Lord Keep the City, the Watchman waketh but in vain". Which s to say except the Lord watches over the City, they that watch are just awake for nothing.

What a shock that inside a military formation bombs went off and killed people. Military authorities have confirmed 11 people dead and 60 injured in the  two suicide bomb attacks on St. Andrews Military Protestant Church inside the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State.
Its shocking that the suicide bombers successfully infiltrated the heavily guarded cantonment, which is a major training institution for the armed forces, and detonated their Improvised Explosive Devices.
The first bomber reportedly  detonated his IED, killing himself and five others inside the church as service was ending. Just as people rushed to the scene of the blast, a second suicide bomber drove his car to the entrance of the church and detonated another set of IEDs, killing five more people.
Who would have thought that all the Trillion of Naira given to Nigerian Security chiefs most especially the Chief of Army Staff Lt.Gen Ihejirika and his Colleagues, that a Military not civilian settlement would be easily over run by rag tag rebels. Vehicles laden with bombs passed through the gates of a whole "Military Cantonment" as big as Jaji to kill and destroy? Its so strange, unbelievable and unfortunate. Where has all the Intelligence Reports and technology to combat terrorism gone?

 How can you say a bomb exploded in a church at Jaji (which is probably the most strategic and most important base for the Nigerian military) of all places? This looks more like a direct attack on the military if you ask me except the military is aware or preparing us for something else.

On Friday, Nigeria's military offered a reward of 50m Naira for help in tracking down suspected Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, and N10m each for other suspected leaders of the group. Will this solve this problem? No It wouldnt? What they need is Security consciousness and alertness. Because as it is the the Northern Elders Forum described the act of offering cash rewards for the apprehension of Boko Haram's leaders by government as an act of insincerity on the part of government.

The forum insists that rather than focus on trying to apprehend the leaders of Boko Haram the government should treat them like it treated the Niger Delta militants and rehabilitate them.

Spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum, Dr. Paul Unongu said that the militants of south south "were rehabilitated and compensated with huge sums of money; some of them were given big contracts. If it was possible for the militants in the Niger Delta, which is Jonathan’s part of the country, why would it not be possible for Boko Haram in the North? On the surface, placing a bounty on the heads of the leaders of Boko Haram shows that the FG has dropped negotiation.When we (NEF) met the President, we suggested the carrot-and-stick approach to him and he accepted it. However, what is reprehensible is the excessive application of the stick. What Nigerians want to see is the end of the violence and loss of innocent lives.
If Jonathan applies himself to it, he would identify people he can talk to and they would relate his message to Boko Haram. He has to create the atmosphere for that negotiation to happen.”

Another Northern elder, Dr. Bulama Gubio, said "Since the President has said there is no negotiation going on between the Federal Government and Boko Haram, what else can we say? All we can do is to continue to appeal to both sides to negotiate in the interest of the people. Our people are dying every day and our economy is paralysed. Borno State is still part of Nigeria, so the Federal Government should swallow its pride and go the extra mile to make sure the negotiation works. I don’t think Federal Government can solve the problem without negotiation.”

But  the Delta militants never killed innocent civilians nor did they bomb churches. They were fighting for the economic rights of the people whose farmlands were taken over by oil spills. It was a legitimate cause. The Niger Delta area or the south south area Is contributing to the mainstay of the economy yet they were not getting much hence their fight.
What are Boko Haram fighting for? What have they contributed naturally or academically to Nigeria? What are they contributing to the economy that they are being deprived of?
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If the Northern Elders want Boko Haram compensated, with what will they used to compensate them? What exactly is the North being deprived? Out of several years of military rule and civilians Head of State, the North has more years. Infact one of the states in the North used a slogan 'power State' on their plate numbers because most of the leaders of this Country came  from that state. All the Military formations and Institutions are in the North. The Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, which is in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, The Warrant Officers Academy, Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre, Nigerian Army School of Infantry and Infantry Corps Headquarters. 

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the blast, the Joint Task Force on Operation Restore Order in Borno State declared the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Ibrahim Shekau, and 19 other top guns of the group wanted for the attacks.
Institutions in Kaduna State have been the target of several bomb attacks this year, including churches. Last February, there was a blast at the gate of the One Mechanised Division in Kaduna, which killed the suicide bomber and some other people.

Ihejirika said during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference in Asaba, Delta State, that the blasts, which he described as saddening, could have been prevented  “The event of yesterday is certainly a very sad one. A board of inquiry is already instituted to unravel what happened, which we believe could have been prevented.”

It was learnt that the military high command was embittered by the fact that the second vehicle, which exploded and killed several people including the two suicide bombers and injured many, was packed within the premises of the the Military formation. It was reliably gathered that the military authorities were of the view that it would be difficult for such an operation to have been executed without the collaboration of insiders. The belief is that the second vehicle came into the premises through a route at the back of the college.

So far, Investigations showed that security was not very tight as the vast settlement has no perimeter fence thereby making it possible for the facility to be accessed from other outlets. A car cannot drive through  a broken down fence or  through the bush. It drove through the main road so why didn't security on ground seen them? Or is the owner of the vehicles living inside the cantonment ?

It was further learnt that there are several civilian settlements within which complicate the problem of a watertight security observance in the area.

Also the manpower for an effective security maintenance in the facility could not be said to be adequate as most of the staff entrusted with the responsibility of security maintenance in the area are involved in the internal security operations in other parts of the North like Jos, Maiduguri etc. 

Whatever it is, SECURITY should be of utmost importance to our leaders now. Enough of this slaughter of Christians almost every day now. I know this wouldnt have happened if people inside did not make passages into the cantonment easy. Oh God defend your children.