Yakubu Maikyau, the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has attributed the Plateau killings to an “intelligence failure.”
Around 150 people were killed in attacks on Plateau State towns on Christmas Eve.
Akorede Habeeb-Lawal, the NBA’s national publicity secretary, made the instances public in a New Year’s letter, and Maikyau called them “inexcusable and unacceptable.”
He pointed out that there was a weakness in the nation’s security architecture demonstrated by the Nigerian military’s recent drone attack in Tudun Biri, Kaduna State.
On Sunday, December 3, 2023, a military airstrike in Tudun Biri, Igabi Local Government Area, Kaduna State, killed over a hundred residents celebrating Maulud.
“The attack in Plateau is indicative of poor intelligence gathering or, a deliberate failure to act despite the intelligence on the impending attacks on the villages, or notice of the attack on the villages by the bandits, as reported by community leaders,” stated the NBA President, “based on the information made available by the military and other security sources.” “The Tudun Biri incident is suggestive of the gap in our security architecture—a lack of inter-agency synergy and coordination.”
The NBA urged the government to make sure that the Armed Forces and other security institutions guarantee that the government controls every single inch of the nation’s land.
It issued a warning that terrorists and other criminal groups should not have power over any area of the nation.
It further stated, “The Federal Government must take a comprehensive approach to the security issue while not overlooking the unique characteristics of each region and design bespoke measures to deal with them.”
Accordingly, the government shouldn’t be “scared” or “ashamed” to spend in security appropriately, in keeping with international trends, without jeopardizing our sovereignty.