As Nigerians still struggle to come to terms with the heinous massacre of 42 school children of Government Secondary School, Mamudo in Yobe State over the weekend, the state governor, Ibrahim Geidam has said that the lack of telecommunications service in the state played to the advantage of the killers, suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group.
The governor’s position has the support of operatives of the Joint Task Force in the troubled North-East state as a security source in the area also confided in our correspondent that the shutting down of GSM in the state made it impossible for security operatives to stop the killers of the young victims.
“Lack of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) service has prevented patriotic citizens who have hitherto been collaborating with security agents from reporting suspicious movements in their neighbourhoods,” Gaidam said when he visited the school where the pupils were murdered on Sunday.
Investigations revealed that the security operatives were indeed sad with the fact that they received the information about the killing after the perpetrators had carried out the slaughtering and had fled the area.
A security source who confided in our correspondent explained that the men of the JTF would have responded promptly to prevent the disaster if they had been reached on the phone on time.
“You know that the JTF cannot be everywhere; one important question you must address before rolling out the blames is, were they informed? Did they delay in going for a rescue operation?
“You see, it is rather painful that by the time the information got to them, the havoc had already been done.
“You must remember that GSM services are down in these areas. The attack took place in a rural area near Potiskum, not even the state capital, Damaturu. So there is no way the JTF could have known or be alerted on time for a rescue operation.
“That is the other side of the shutting down of the GSM in the area. Their JTF patrol may not necessarily be stationed in the area. It is a rural area. The JTF cannot be in every house and every street.”
The source who faulted comments that the insurgents might have outwitted the JTF in the ongoing fight against terrorism in the area pointed out that the deployment of the security operatives did not suspend the activities of the traditional state security apparatus in place in every Nigerian society.
The source said that the attack on the school was a clear indication of the fact that the insurgents had gone for soft targets to attract attention because of their defeat in the hand of the JTF.
The JTF personnel insisted that while the task force was confronting the insurgents and smoking them out of their camps, the police and other security operatives were still carrying out their sensitive security responsibilities in a complementary way.
The source added, “The normal process of security is in place. Others still have a responsibility to do their jobs. Much of what the JTF is doing is to look for the bases of these people and attack them.
“The task force also conducts cordon-and-search operations meant to mop up arms and ammunition from them.
“It is unfortunate that these people have started attacking soft spots, it is the trend in terrorism, they are showing clear traces of defeat, they have been dislocated from their bases,
“You can see that they will not attack security agencies; they go for helpless people because they needed to attract attention.”
Investigations revealed that the JTF had intensified patrol in Yobe State with a view to apprehend those behind the murder of the school pupils.
The source said that the security operatives were optimistic as those behind previous attacks on schools, both in Borno and Yobe states were arrested, though, at different locations.
He said, “I can tell you that we have more aggressive patrol in Yobe; we believe that the perpetrators will be caught. The last time it happened, the perpetrators were arrested in another location. The operation is continuing and we shall get them.
“Until this emergency, six weeks of it, this thing has gone down. The operation got to them in their epicentre in Borno State which is host to most of their camps.
“They have gone to Yobe, looking for soft targets. It is one of the unfortunate things about terrorism.”
The Director of Information at the Defence Headquarters, Brig.Gen Chris Olukolade, said the JTF had intensified its cordon and search operation with a view to arrest the culprits and prevent a re-occurrence of the incident.
Olukolade said the JTF would continue to rely on the people in the ongoing efforts to eradicate terrorism from the area, adding that the security outfit would adopt measures to prevent a repetition of of such killings.
He said, “What happened is unfortunate; the JTF has stepped up a cordon and search with a view to not only catch up with perpetrators and also ensuring that such a thing does not happen.
“We still continue to rely on the people for their cooperation; we can still assure them they are safe.
As for measures, the JTF would take steps to prevent such a dastardly act, we cannot discuss such sensitive issues in the media.”
“The JTF is in the trail of those who carried out the criminal act. We are walking round the clock to ensure that such a thing is prevented.
“All security agencies are still working, and working hard to ensure that this type of issue is not repeated.”