When news filtered in that bandits had attacked the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna, killing two officers and abducting another senior officer, many Nigerians dismissed the story as fake news. I equally dismissed the report with a wave of hand.
The question that Tuesday morning was: Can bandits have such audacity to attack a military facility like the NDA? It’s impossible, so we thought. This is not just an ordinary military school; it is a training institute for elite military officers. This can only happen in movies.
But it seems the military has lost its mojo in the sight of the bandits. The military has been stripped of its fear factor. It appears it’s only bloody civilians like me that are still scared of the military.
As a rule, I don’t criticise the military because of the sacrifices some of them are making to secure the nation. If not for our brave military, Boko Haram would have overrun the North East by now.
Describing this latest brazen attack on the NDA as shameful and embarrassing is to say the least in the mildest way.
Like I said previously on this page, since they attempted to bring down an alpha jet in Zamfara, the criminals are no longer bandits but terrorists. Calling them bandits is a wrong choice of nomenclature; we should start addressing them properly.
I also recall that bandits killed 18 soldiers in Katsina recently but to take the fight to NDA, to me, is an open declaration of war against the Nigerian state.
Ironically, the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization in Kaduna where bandits kidnapped 39 students and government officials is just nopposite the NDA.
Indeed, with the attack on the NDA, the terrorists have touched the tiger’s tale and I expect an instant onslaught from our military. By now we should be hearing reports of a massive raid on the terrorist’s hideout and forest. The military should treat them in a language that they understand.
No doubt, our security forces know the hideouts of majority of the bandits, and the time for treating them with kid gloves should be over.
Nigerians don’t want to hear stories of collusion between the terrorists and military; all we want to hear is a massive operation to end criminality.
If nothing is done about these daring attacks on military formations, the terrorists would be emboldened enough to even start targeting government houses in the next few days.
Culled from the Leadership News Nigeria
