NAMING NEW BH LEADER BY ISIS PORTENDS GRAVE DANGER – EKHOMU

The Federal Government has been advised to consider the appointment of Sheikh Abu Musab Al-Barnawi as the leader of Boko Haram as a very serious and dangerous development in the ongoing war against terrorism and insurgency. 

 

The strategic leadership appointment should be considered a direct threat from ISIS. Consequently, the Federal Government should urgently direct the intelligence agencies, the military, law enforcement and citizens to be on full alert to avert spectacular terrorist attacks on Nigerian soil.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday (4^th August) Dr. Ona Ekhomu, President of Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON) said that the making of a leadership change for Boko Haram signaled a much closer relationship between BH and ISIS than was previously believed to exist. “If ISIS gets to appoint senior leadership for BH, then they are probably running the Nigerian terror group as a local franchise,” he said.

“Strategic decisions such as leadership appointments are made by the spiritual leader of a terrorist group.  In other words, the appointment of Al-Barnawi might have been made by ISIS leader Sheik Abu Bakr  El-Baghdadi himself”,  he added.

Ekhomu noted that under the leadership of Sheikh Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram caused over 30,000 deaths in Nigeria.  He advised the military to remain focused and on high alert.  He said “there are strong indications that Boko Haram is re-strategizing, not surrendering.  We should all be concerned about lone wolf attacks (such as suicide bombers) and wolf pack attacks which ISIS is very good at.”

 

He urged the Federal Government to soft-pedal on the hasty release of so-called repentant Boko Haram fighters, saying that “we could be recycling captured terrorists back into the battle-field”. According to the security expert, since the armed conflict is still ongoing, captured terrorists should be considered “prisoners of war”. 

He said the measure of performance for the governments is the prevention of any terror attacks in the country.  He called for a higher level of preparedness, urging Nigerians to be enrolled in the fight against terrorists by being observant and reporting unusual events, people or packages to the security agencies.

He called on the Lagos State government to create an intelligence fusion center where all-source intelligence can be synthesized in order to disrupt terror attacks in Lagos State.  He said as a mega city, Lagos presented a tempting target for BH/ISIS and the state should be target-hardened in order to prevent any surprise attacks.  He said that Lagos government had the capability to establish the fusion center.

The Security analyst urged all Nigerians and opposing politicians to support the Federal Government in the fight against Boko Haram and ISIS.  He said “all Nigerians must unite against this vicious enemy who could mercilessly destroy lives.”