Kano arms factory bust

Kano arms factory bust
on october 23, 2013 at 4:01 am in editorial
Nigeria’s terrorist insurgent group, Boko Haram,
has formed the habit of preparing special “gifts” for
ordinary, innocent Nigerians in parts of the North as
festivals draw near, when vigilance is at the lowest
ebb and citizens are in carefree mood.
As the countdown to this year’s Id El Kabir festival
drew near, agents of the Joint Military Task Force
(JTF), acting on a tip-off by patriotic members of the
public, discovered that Boko Haram had perfected
plans to attack Kano and environs.
On Monday, October 7, 2013, JTF stormed a house
in Gunduwawa village in Gazewa Local Government
Area of Kano State, and hauled in 193 rounds of
5.3mm ammunitions, one AK 47 magazine, 107
rounds of “special ammunition and tools for making
improvised explosive devices (IEDs).”
It will be recalled that Kano has been the theatre of
the most frightening coordinated gun and
explosives attacks since the Boko Haram
insurgency took upon a scale of national
emergency. Thus was saved an unknown number of
lives and property that would have increased the
sad states of terror in Northern Nigeria.
We will never tire in urging members of the public to
continue to work closely with the law enforcement
agencies, who are making gallant and selfless
efforts to keep us all safe from our collective
enemies.
The people of Kano and other areas menaced by
agents of terror must emulate the brave decision of
the youth of Borno State to partner with the JTF in
identifying and eliminating cells of terror within and
around their communities.
The discovery of this arms dump was a chilling
indicator that Boko Haram was already beginning to
re-establish a foothold in Nigeria’s second largest
city after the security agents succeeded in driving
them to the edges of the Lake Chad in the ongoing
emergency operations.
The modest recovery of Kano from its war-torn
status would have suffered a numbing setback had
these anarchists succeeded in their designs.
It would seem that even those mischievous
politicians and social commentators, who had, at
the outset, lionised Boko Haram as if they were
fighting their political and cultural interests, have
now seen the light; that these terrorists have no
friends, only enemies. They do not discriminate.
This is why we must always side with our security
agents. Even when they make mistakes, we must
not descend on them with the venom with which
some critics came down on the security agents that
dislodged alleged Boko Haram members from an
uncompleted building in Abuja.
We must bear in mind that the security forces,
especially the army, are our last stand against an
armed enemy. We must continue to motivate them
with our support and encouragement.