Why security agencies can’t bomb bandit enclaves — Presidency

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga,  has disclosed that security agencies were fully aware of the identities and locations of the bandit groups responsible for recent mass abductions, including the attack on St Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, in Niger State.

Onanuga, who spoke in an interview on ARISE News‘s programme, Prime Time, said though security operatives had the necessary intelligence, their operations were often constrained by the risk of collateral damage to civilians being held by the bandits.

“The security people, they know all the bandits that are operating in that axis. They know them. They know where they operate,” he said.

He said the government could not simply launch airstrikes on the identified enclaves, noting  “our people are living around where they operate, so you can’t just go there.

‘’They need to be very careful that in the course of chasing these bandits, they don’t go and bomb innocent Nigerians.’’

While recalling recalled a past incident in Borno State where the military mistakenly struck civilians, Onanuga said:  “Some years ago in Borno State, when the military thought they had the right satellite connection, they bombed the wrong people. They must avoid that kind of mistake.’’

He added that uncertainty persists about the exact number of abducted students because neither the school nor the Niger State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, had provided complete records.

“As of now, the authorities are in the dark as to how many people are really missing. You said students are missing — let us have their names. Let us know what we are looking for,” he said.

Onanuga also claimed that the school principal had “disappeared”, complicating the verification process. “For the security, they found it very strange that they are not cooperating. What is the agenda?” he queried..