NIGERIA AND ITS FEAR OF TERROR!!!!!

With the resurgence of Boko Haram and the expansion of its theatre of operation outside its traditional stronghold in the North East geo-political zone of the country, Nigerians would have expected that the best way forward in the war against the terrorist group would be to restrict its spread, attack it with every available arsenal and finally rout it.
Instead of this, Nigerians have been inundated with reports of the movement of Boko Haram suspects from the  northern part of the country to the South East geo-political zone, specifically, the Ekwulobia Prison in Anambra State.
The report is understandably generating concern and street protests in that part of the country. State governors in the geo-political zone have met to discuss the matter, and   jointly rejected movement of suspected insurgents to the South East, to prevent the spread of insurgency to the area. Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, and the Chairman of South East Governors Forum, Rochas Okorocha, also separately met with President Muhammadu Buhari last week, and obtained reassurances that action would be taken on the matter to prevent a breakdown of law and order in the area.
The protests against the relocation of suspected terrorists to the South East are in order. Although the Ekwulobia Prison is owned by the Federal Government, it is a small, medium security facility that is completely inadequate and inappropriate for the detention of terrorists.
We share the anxiety of the people of South East on this issue and commend them for being proactive and united on the matter.  The thinking which informed the decision to transfer Boko Haram suspects to the South East is murky. We see no plausible reason for it. The transfer of suspected terrorists to the South East betrays a lack of sensitivity to the plight and feelings of the people in that part of the country.  There is hardly any community in the South East without a small crowd of refugees who fled Boko Haram terrorism in the North.  Some of them were maimed in bomb blasts, while most returned to the East destitute having lost all their belongings.  The people of Ekwulobia, in particular, were reported to have just buried 14 of their kinsmen who were killed in the recent Boko Haram bombings in the North.
Boko Haram has concentrated its attacks in the North East region for years, but its stated ambition is to engulf the entire Federation in a conflagration. The spread of its recent bombings to the North Central and North West of the country underscores this intention.  Transferring Boko Haram detainees outside the North, therefore, amounts to playing into the terrorists’ game plan.  And, if the nation has had difficulty containing them within the North East, the situation is likely to spiral out of control  when they are allowed to spread their tentacles to the South East and, indeed, anywhere in the southern part of the country.
In other words, the Federal Government should not inadvertently broaden the theatre of the Boko Haram war.  On the contrary, it should strive to constrict, isolate, encircle and eventually root out the group
Ultimately, the terrorists will have to be held accountable for their crimes in court.  The distance between the scenes of their crimes and Ekwulobia or anywhere in the South East precludes the possibility of their being tried in the proper geographical jurisdiction, as required by law.  Given the numerous occasions that Boko Haram stormed prisons, including maximum security prisons, and released their fellow terrorists, transporting the detainees between the South East and the North East for court hearings is a risk beyond contemplation.  Thus, we believe that the transfer of Boko Haram suspects anywhere outside the North East does not make legal sense.
Experience in the last few years has taught Nigeria and the world that any location in which terrorists are held is automatically a terrorist target.  It was partly for this reason that the United States created the Guantanamo Bay Prison and detention facility, carved out of its isolated naval base in Cuba, for suspected terrorists. Since Boko Haram terrorists have been operating in Nigeria for many years now, there is no doubt that more maximum security prisons would be required to hold those who are arrested for terrorism, and the nation’s planning authorities ought to have made adequate arrangements for this.
Boko Haram has become a threat to Nigeria.  It behooves the nation, therefore, to take all necessary measures to protect itself. If this means building new holding facilities to contain the terrorists in the areas where they committed crimes, so be it.  The criminal daredevilry of Boko Haram are well known, and we must do whatever is necessary to stop the group from having a wider berth.  The decision to move suspected terrorists anywhere outside the North East must be reversed.  No matter how and from whom the idea originated, it is a very bad idea that has no redeeming feature. It should be jettisoned forthwith.