Aliyu’s security model deserves attention
By Uba Abdullahi Musa
The Sokoto state governor said on Saturday Nigerian Army and the community Guard Corps he had set up had rescued 17 students and a woman who were kidnapped in a dawn raid by bandits on March 9 in Sokoto state.
The attack on Tsangaya school on came two days after the mass abduction of schoolchildren took place in Kaduna. The abducted Kaduna students are still in captivity
Gov Aliyu said the students were freed on Friday following an operation coordinated by the Army and the local guards.
One thing of note is that, unlike other public officeholders, Gov Aliyu worked silent and intelligently to free those children unhurt. His vision to establish Community Guard Corps has paid off.
The children have been reduced in health and are ready to reunite with their parents and guardians.
The important thing is the children have been released unhurt.
And why should we care about the method of rescue operation that was so successful? The important thing is the freedom of the students and release from trauma of their parents, guardians and relatives.
Working silently without media hype, Gov Aliyu ensure the parents of the children and the school proprietor had nothing to do with ransom. The school owner testified that neither he nor the parents of the school children were contacted, therefore no ransom was paid.
This is the far we know about Gov Aliyu’s humanity. Gov Aliyu’s way of doing things is phenomenal. In all his official duties, he goes about them as if God is personally supervising him. The fear of God sets him apart from other state governors and chief executives of many public organisations whom, in situation like this, would have flooded the media, print and electronic with ground standing photos and videos to tell his successful story.
In Nigeria, Kidnappings by criminal gangs with no ideological affiliation demand ransoms in exchange of freedom of their captives. This has become an almost daily occurrence, especially in northern Nigeria, tearing apart families and communities and throwing them into emotional turbulence because they have to pool their resources to pay ransoms by emptying their lifelong savings in order to secure the lives of their loved ones.
To achieve this rare security feat in northern Nigeria, the Sokoto state government inaugurated a 2,596-man Community Guards Corps, whose members were selected from across the 23 local government areas of the state, to complement efforts of conventional security agencies in the country.
The state governor as the chief security officer of his state, assumed the position of Commandant-General of the Community Guards, leading by example.
The pragmatic leader, after days of sleepless nights over the displacement of thousands of people from their homesteads and farmlands to unknown destinations due to the activities of bandits, came up with the idea of Community Guard Corps as part of the fulfillment of his campaign promise to Sokoto people bordering on security of life and property. And to the glory of God, the security outfit has begun to yield fruits, and the fruits will be plenty because as a true leader, Aliyu is in forefront of fighting criminals in the state. His rare leadership style has drawn commendations from former governor of the state, Senator Aliyu Wamakko and neighbouring state governors.
Wamakko commended the governor for his vision in establishing the guards to complement other security outfits in the state.
Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar; former National Security Adviser (NSA) General Aliyu Gusau (rtd); governors of Katsina, Kano, Bauchi, Benue, and Plateau states have all commended Gov. Aliyu for the establishment of security guards which they described as a step towards ensuring peace in the state.
To achieve this feat which has been eluding the whole country in terms of insecurity, Nigerian security agencies engaged in surveillance with local authorities to rescue the school children.
The children were rescued on 21 March, 2024 during a cordon and search operation by the military working with local authorities and government agencies across the country.
Gov Aliyu vowed that the Community Guards would not rest on its oars until terrorists and other non-state actors abducting citizens are brought to book.
For him the rescue of the Tsangaya school children is a clear warning to criminal elements to leave Sokoto state or face the consequences.
The Corps are extending all of its efforts and resources to find other innocent hostages and track down the terrorists that perpetrated those crimes.
The efforts would continue until they are found and the terrorists arrested, tried, and brought to justice by Nigerian law.
Copying the example of Gov Aliyu, Nigerian military said that troops would deploy the same efforts to fish out those behind the death of its personnel in Delta state. Therefore, by his vision,
Aliyu has created a security template for troops to deploy in tracking down militants responsible for the killings of 18 soldiers in Okuama Community in Delta state on March 14, 2024. Now any state can borrow a leaf from Sokoto security model.
Uba Abdullahi Musa, writes from Kano.