Governor Nasir el Rufai of Kaduna state is not one to keep quiet in the face of imminent danger. And because he is a governor and a member of the ruling party’s inner caucus his alarm registers instantly. Late July, El Rufai warned that “terrorists are consolidating their grip on communities in Kaduna state”, forming “a parallel government” and setting up “a permanent operational base.” In a memo to President Muhammadu Buhari, the governor said the terrorists, belonging to Ansaru, for short, moved to Birnin Gwari in 2012 when they broke away from Boko Haram. He described how the terrorists overran communities and formed “a parallel governing authority,” exercising control over social and economic activities and dispensation of justice.
El Rufai noted that in the countdown to next year’s general elections, the group had promulgated a law banning residents from partisan politics. “The insurgents enacted a law, banning all forms of political activity or campaigning ahead of the 2023 elections, especially in Madobiya and Kazage villages.” He said, “According to actionable intelligence, members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Musulmina Fi’biladis Sudan (aka Ansaru) are hibernating in Kuyello district of Birnin Gwari LGA, which recently conducted a nuptial ceremony during which they married two yet-to-be-identified female residents of Kuyello village. The ceremony was attended by various Ansaru members and witnessed by residents of the area. After the marital rites, insurgents in attendance reportedly conveyed the brides to the dreaded Kuduru forest in the same district.”
The July memo was el Rufai’s second confidential correspondence with President Buhari on the dire security challenge confronting the nation. In 2016, just a year after Buhari came to power, el Rufai, himself elected governor for the first time, warned the president that he was losing the battle against terrorists. This is not politicking because the two men are in the same governing All Progressives Congress (APC). It is why the president must listen to el Rufai and do the needful in the fight against terror. He is at the tail end of his presidency but he still has time to do something to write his name in gold. His information Minister Lai Mohammed, last weekend, said the reign of terror was over. True or not, time will tell.
