TheCable

BY NAZIFI DAWUD

“Is it true that it has happened again?”

“What? What are your talking about?”

“Abduction. That the terrorists have raided a school and seized dozens of teenage girls. These wailers are very stubborn, why can’t they leave Baba alone? After all, when did he say he would seek re-election in 2019?”

“But you just asked a question and didn’t even allow me to respond before you started answering yourself. Don’t you read newspapers, listen to the radio or watch television?”

“Who has the luxury to do that now with the unending fuel scarcity punishing us? I had to go out immediately after dawn to join a fuel queue after a neighbour informed me that there was fuel in a nearby filling station. It was even there that I heard people talking about the kidnapping. I heard that about 94 school girls were taken from Yobe.”

“Who told you it was 94, they were trying to downplay the whole thing. The parents of the abducted girls have compiled a list which shows 105 of their daughters were missing. But I just heard the figure has climbed to 110!”

“Inna lillahi wa’inna ilaihi raji’un (We are from Allah and to Him is our return). So, they want to deny Baba this re-election by all means. Kai! These people are wicked wallahi.”

“Haba, what do you mean? I hope you’re not supporting that silly comment by Lai Mohammed, the information minister who said the terrorists kidnapped the girls just to embarrass Baba’s government?”

“But he is right, they want to embarrass the president despite all his efforts at fighting the insurgency and corruption. Baba has generated so much money and these looters can go to any extent to snatch the country away so they can re-loot all the money that Baba accumulated.”

“Haba, Tanko, why do you reason like that? If Baba has truly defeated the terrorists as he always claims, how did they find it so easy to mobilize en-mass from their enclaves, drive in their long convoy of rickety vehicles unchallenged right into the school compound, gather and force the girls into the waiting vehicles and escape without being intercepted by the security forces?”

“Malam Danlami, you under estimate the desperation of these looters. Don’t you think they can tip off the terrorists….”

“_Don Allah (please)_ stop this joke. This school, the Government Girls Science and Technical College, in Dapchi Yobe state, was not known to have any form of trained security personnel. Journalists who visited the school said it was guarded by only two old security guards. It was reported that the main reason the school had remained safe was because of a military checkpoint nearby, which was dismantled and the soldiers withdrawn just about three weeks before the terrorist attack. So, let me ask you, why were the military men withdrawn and who ordered their withdrawal. Is it also the looters?”

“These are just lies crafted by wailers and their sponsors to paint Baba black. How can Baba, a general who rescued over 100 of the more than 200 abducted Chibok girls when his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan failed, now be accused of incompetence? It cannot be true.”

“But there were claims, especially in a report published by America’s _Wall Street Journal,_ that Baba bought back those Chibok girls for about €2 million and five top terrorist commanders. It was a dirty and expensive deal. Don’t you think these terrorists carried out the latest kidnapping to extort more money from Baba in another juicy
deal?”

“He won’t give them a dime this time I’m sure, you don’t know Baba, they would rather die…”

“The terrorists or the girls?”

“The terrorists. He’ll deal with them and get back the girls. Baba will pursue them right to their doorsteps in Sambisa. You can’t deny that Baba has weakened the insurgents.”

“Weakened who? Where were you when soldiers who were just a few miles away from capturing the terrorist leader Shekau were forced to stop after they reportedly received an order to retreat?”

“The army has denied that rubbish Malam. It was part of other tactics by the wailers and looters to discredit the fight against the insurgency.”

“But the news originated from the BBC which quoted one of the vigilante forces at the front lines. Are you saying the looters paid the BBC to air or publish a false report? Remember the BBC is not a Nigerian medium.”

“But the BBC are not spirits, someone can be paid to tell them lies. How can they know?”

“So, Baba’s detractors are everywhere including the frontlines…”

“You can’t deny that Baba has dealt ruthlessly with these cowards unless you’re blind to the truth.”

“He has tried but the terrorists appear to be still very active. And it appears the president did not learn enough lessons from the Chibok abductions. The Dapchi case bears nearly all the hallmarks of the Chibok case—same arena of war, similar timing and even similar lies!”

“Gaskiya Malam your hatred for Baba is unquantifiable. How can you compare a general to one clueless fisherman who didn’t even believe that the Chibok girls were kidnapped? It took him almost two weeks to comment on the tragedy, but I was told Baba swung into action immediately the news broke.”

“Yes, he had dispatched troops and aircraft and ordered a 24-hour daily surveillance on the entire search territory. And he had also dispatched Lai Mohammed to fire his own propaganda arsenal!”

“Propaganda for what?”

“To deflect criticism, dish out excuses as usual and try to pacify the grieving parents with false hope until the next election. But I hear the parents won’t listen to anything. They just want their children returned back safely, period.”

“Baba will not deceive anybody.”

“You’re relying on a blind faith.”

“He’ll still get his re-election. Just wait and see.”

“Ikon Allah. Change another topic please.”

Dawud, a journalist wrote this piece from Kano and can be reached at
[email protected]