{"id":94044,"date":"2025-06-13T22:14:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T22:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=94044"},"modified":"2025-06-13T22:16:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T22:16:28","slug":"kainji-must-not-fall-the-jnim-threat-is-real-nigeria-cannot-afford-to-sleep-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=94044","title":{"rendered":"Kainji must not fall: The JNIM threat is real \u2014 Nigeria cannot afford to sleep again"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Polycarp Gbaja<\/strong><\/p>\n

On June 12th, JNIM \u2014 Jama\u2019at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, al-Qaeda\u2019s West African affiliate \u2014 announced it had taken control of a Beninese military post in Basso, a town disturbingly close to Nigeria\u2019s border. While some may dismiss this as just another skirmish in the Sahel\u2019s long-burning fire, the implications are far more urgent and dangerous. This is not a distant warning. This is a knock on Nigeria\u2019s northern gates \u2014 loud, clear, and deliberate.<\/p>\n

Just 15 kilometers from Nigeria\u2019s Babana, Basso is perilously close to Kainji National Park, a vast and under-policed expanse that includes one of the country\u2019s most critical assets \u2014 the Kainji Dam. This dam isn\u2019t just another piece of infrastructure; it powers our homes, waters our farmlands, and symbolizes the very backbone of national productivity. That JNIM is now operating this close to such a vital national asset should alarm anyone paying attention.<\/p>\n

It is no coincidence. This is a strategic movement \u2014 and Kainji, with its energy and irrigation capabilities, is the ultimate prize. Yet, as has become worryingly routine, Nigeria\u2019s security response seems reactive at best, and dangerously negligent at worst.<\/p>\n

We have been here before. The Abuja-Kaduna train bombing of 2022 was not a surprise. It was forewarned as early as September 2021 by credible security alerts, notably from NSCDC in a leaked internal memo.. For months, the warning signs piled up: intelligence on militant movements, warnings about soft infrastructure targets, and the convergence of terror groups in the region. Nothing meaningful was done. The train was attacked. Nigerians were killed and kidnapped.<\/p>\n

Are we really going to let that mistake repeat itself?<\/p>\n

The resurgence of JNIM and its growing confidence must be met with more than condemnation or press statements.<\/p>\n

Nigeria has the capacity \u2014 militarily and economically \u2014 to be proactive. We do not need more tragic hindsight. What we need is preemptive strategy. Surveillance, border fortification, counter-intelligence operations, rapid response deployment, and international coordination must now be top priorities. We need strong action \u2014 not after the fact, but before the next blow lands.<\/p>\n

The idea that this is merely \u201cbanditry\u201d or \u201cspillover\u201d is a dangerous simplification. These attacks are ideological, ethnoreligious, strategic, and well-funded. The perpetrators are organized. The funding channels are real. And the geopolitical agenda \u2014 the destabilization of Nigeria and its key assets \u2014 is clear.<\/p>\n

This is not just a security threat; it is a national development threat, a food security threat, and an existential threat.
\nIt is telling that even Nigeria\u2019s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has admitted that instability from Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso is now seeping into Nigeria. The recent killings of 70 Beninese soldiers in April are not isolated events. They are the prelude to a wider war for influence and territory \u2014 one that Nigeria must never allow to reach full-scale within its borders.<\/p>\n

Yet, we are distracted. The national budget and public discourse are more focused on megaprojects like coastal roads than securing our hinterlands and food-producing rural communities \u2014 the very areas now under siege. What good are coastal highways if the farmers who feed the nation cannot step into their fields without fear? What good is economic reform if millions are displaced and terrorized into silence and poverty?<\/p>\n

Security must be the singular top priority \u2014 not because it’s politically expedient, but because it is existential. Without security, every other ambition \u2014 economic, social, political \u2014 will collapse like a house of cards.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to stop waiting for tragedy to justify action. Nigeria\u2019s security leadership must act now \u2014 and they must act with clarity, urgency, and resolve. We have the intelligence. We have the means. What we seem to lack is the political will and coordination.<\/p>\n

The Nigerian people are not asking for miracles. We are asking for responsibility. We are asking that those entrusted with our collective security take that mandate seriously \u2014 and act decisively, proactively, and transparently.<\/p>\n

Our prayers must not be a substitute for action. They must accompany civic pressure and national demand. Let the President, Governors, National Assembly, and security institutions know that this is their first job. Not after a crisis, but before it.<\/p>\n

Because if Kainji falls \u2014 literally or symbolically \u2014 it won\u2019t just be a military loss. It will be a national catastrophe.
\nThe time to act was yesterday. The second best time is today. Nigeria cannot afford to wait until tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\u25cf Gbaja, a reverend gentleman and commentator on public affairs, lives in Abuja.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Polycarp Gbaja On June 12th, JNIM \u2014 Jama\u2019at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, al-Qaeda\u2019s West African affiliate \u2014 announced it had taken control of a Beninese military post in Basso, a town disturbingly close to Nigeria\u2019s border. While some may dismiss this as just another skirmish in the Sahel\u2019s long-burning fire, the implications are far […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5782],"tags":[7151,2283,336],"class_list":["post-94044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-opinion","tag-dam","tag-kainji","tag-terrorists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}