By Olamide Francis
The call by many Nigerians for the presidency to proscribe bandits and arms-carrying herdsmen as terrorists is uncalled for. The presidency hasn’t done anything wrong to turn deaf ears to this reverberating call except that it has failed to treat these vicious murderers, the plunder of resources and architects of national bewilderment for what they are — hardened criminals. To refer to criminals as terrorists is itself a means of glorification of their atrocities and an offering of cheap publicity to their lawlessness and irrational hostility. Bandits and arms-carrying herdsmen aren’t terrorists.
The Oxford Dictionary defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.” Besides, the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), defines terrorism as “acts of violence by non-state actors, perpetrated against civilian populations, intended to cause fear, to achieve a political objective.” Since the 20th century, the term “terrorism” has been applied most frequently to violence aimed, either directly or indirectly, at governments to influence policy or topple an existing regime. So, the presidency was right to refuse to brand bandits and arms-carrying herdsmen as terrorists because only killings perpetrated by non-state actors against civilians, motivated by a particular political, economic or social goal, are classified as terrorism.
The threefold mandate of bandits and arms-carrying herdsmen is clear: to steal, kill and destroy. It’s what armed robbers and other criminals do. And if the presidency doesn’t treat them as such, Nigeria will be sitting on gun powder. These criminals have no objective for the wanton killings and instability they have brought upon the nation. They’re not fighting for political power or to enforce another form of sovereignty. They’re just armed robbers leveraging the shortcomings of a visionless nation to enrich themselves. Maybe that’s why a seemingly power-obsessed Buhari-led government is finding it difficult to completely crush them. More of a case of “So long as they’re not after the seat of power, let’s handle them gently.” There is no means and there will never be any to justify the killings and damage perpetrated by bandits and killer herdsmen. It’s obvious that, by all definitions, they’re not terrorists — at least from what is visible to the public — and that should make it easier for the federal government to eliminate them. We know what they are and we must give them the necessary treatment as stipulated by our laws.
Section one of the Nigerian Robbery and Forearms Act stipulates the punishment for offenders like the killing machines popularly called bandits. The remainder of section one outlines all the conditions that must be met to be on the short end of that legislation. All of which these killers have surpassed. But what do we see? Government pampering and romancing them and even making them look like the victims. Perhaps they’re victims of bad governance that has bedeviled our political landscape. But it’s not peculiar to them. It’s the plight every average Nigerian goes through. They have no excuse to carve a source of livelihood out of kidnapping, killings, and destruction in the name of a failed system. If every suffering-Nigerian resorts to carrying arms in a bid to earn income, what will be left of our dear nation? Bandits are simply armed robbers with sophisticated weapons. It is a sign of weakness to dialogue or indulge them. Unless they’re serving a purpose for the narrow ruling elite, they are meant to be crushed and forgotten as other armed robbers and disruptors of peace in society.
