Remembering Mumbai, 2008

Okelue

And finally my greatest fears have been confirmed! Terrorists, suspected to be of the militant Islamist group, Boko

And finally my greatest fears have been confirmed!

Terrorists, suspected to be of the militant Islamist group, Boko Haram, carried out an attack in a way I suspected they are capable of. 

Yesterday, the weekend of the Islamic celebration of Eid el Kabir, with people going about doing last minute purchases for the holidays, some people struck at 3 different locations within Maiduguri at about the same time. They targeted military bases within the city.

I believe that these attacks were carried out by Boko Haram.

What worries me most is the pattern of Boko Haram attacks. They have steadily maintained this style - they try out a method of attack in Maiduguri, and soon afterwards carry out similar attacks in Abuja. The attack on the Borno Police HQ shortly before it was repeated at the UN Building in Abuja comes to mind. In the last week, Boko Haram has attacked military and Police patrols with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). 

Should Abuja be afraid? Should Abuja be prepared for what may be coming? I will let the security agencies worry about that.

Every time I have thought about Boko Haram striking simultaneously in various locations within a city, my mind goes back to what happened in Mumbai in 2008, when a terrorist group from Pakistan breached Indian security and held the city under siege for days. The body count after that attack left the world in shock.

Boko Haram has severally bragged about the resources available to them, 100 men ready to lay down their lives for whatever cause the terrorist group is fighting for. The group has access to guns, and explosives too. What do we think will happen if they decide to strike Abuja with all of what they have got? An army of terrorists silently spreading themselves around the city, at strategic locations, armed with AK 47s and an almost unlimited amount of bullets, with IEDs rigged into refuse bins that dot the roadsides in the FCT, going on the offensive at the about the same time. Our security agencies have shown they are not capable of responding decisively to even the simplest kind of attacks. The effect will be maximum, both our emergency services and hospitals will be absolutely overwhelmed to the point of collapse.

I fear this might happen soon and I don’t think we have enough intelligence to stop this. God help us!

The attacks in Maiduguri on Friday should be a wakeup call and a forewarning of what Boko Haram is capable of doing and might do. The holidays are here, I believe we all should chew our ram meat with one hand and the other hand on the door lock ready to run into pandemonium. It might happen sooner than we all think.