The massacre at Mamudo boarding school

Aliyu Musa

Nigeria may not be in a full state of war, but the magnitude of violence perpetuated in recent times actually suggests it is. Last weekend’s invasion of Government Secondary School Mamudo in Yobe State and the massacre of dozens of its pupils is one of the very many abnormalities curiously occurring, while everyone watches helplessly, including the government.

The Mamudo cold-blooded carnage was one of the many tragedies that were only waiting to happen. When the president declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states many applauded the decision and wished it was a means of effectively checkmating the Boko Haram insurgency. But this column in three series titled A Nation at War warned that it was impossible to defeat a formidable violent group that has attained such sophistication using this strategy alone.

What I previously tried to do was to draw our attention to a number of reasons why this insurgency would endure for quite a while and some possibilities of turning the table on the insurgents. One thing the government and probably conflict resolution experts advising the government have failed to understand is the real of logic of the Boko Haram sect. I have warned quite a few times the insurgents, especially their leaders, would rather fight to the death than be captured alive.

Up until now it is this logic, including the lessons they have learnt from their precursor the Maitatsine sect that continues to influence their reactions to situations. When the military operation started they put upvery little resistance and most certainly melted into the civilian population and/or scampered to safe havens. But our military strategists and the media counted that as victory.

In violent conflicts where the adversaries are unequally matched it is not unexpected that a side, usually the weaker but maybe smarter, would apply strategies that take its rival by surprise, including tactically retreating and resurfacing to strike at soft targets. In such precipitous assaults most of the victims are often innocent people. But whether such sudden strikes are successful or not depends on the alertness and commitment of the other side.

When the insurgents began storming communities to pick out and execute people even remotely related to those they suspect are members of the civilian vigilante helping to expose and apprehend them they were certain they would accomplish their mission without any challenge from the JTF. Again, their invasion of the Mamudo School followed a similar pattern except that the victims’ fatalities were callously maximized.

In the case of Mamudo, for example, reports claim the authorities were aware of a failed bid to attack the school and that prior to the successful one the principal (with his own family members) and all staff (except Malam Ibrahim Tikau, the English teacher killed alongside the pupils) had all relocated, leaving the pupils at the mercy of the killers. Whether the principal, in whose care the children were put, did anything to alert the government or not, the reports did not say but what is clear is no one really gave priority to the welfare of the pupils. It is the height of irresponsibility, something that has continued to efficaciously permeate every facet of the Nigerian state.

Such criminality could only happen in a nation where life is not only fully devalued but also no one cares about what becomes of the nation. The youth, considered a country’s future, are endlessly reminded there is no place for them in any future scheme and left with calamitous choices – like joining violent groups like Boko Haram or agonizingly dying in the hands of insurgents or JTF.

And because it is a country where all forms of barefaced violation of rights are condoned, no one faces or gets justice. The tales of Baga and now Mamudo flourish as evidence; no one has been prosecuted nor has anyone been compensated. It is ‘natural’ death for justice in all cases.

If the president hopes to succeed in fighting this menace he must change the strategy. One big mistake is cutting off telephone (GMS) networks in the states he declared a state of emergency. Shortly before the killers struck reports claim villagers sighted them but because they had no means of informing security forces they did nothing. And as is always the case no help came until they were done and quietly walked the same way they came. A serious government would by now be working hard to track down and bring the culprits to justice. But our president only hopes they burn in hell fire. This is even more depressing.

Postscript:

This articles also appears in the Blueprint newspaper of Friday July 12, 2013.