On Monday 16 August 2021, the sight on CNN of an American military aircraft C-17 taxing on the tarmac of Kabul Airport with several Afghans, some hanging, clinging and running alongside for a possible boarding out of the country, is one that will linger for years to come.

Of course, examples abound of such historic and memorable sights on television; the killing of 12 US soldiers and dragging of their bodies through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia in October 1993 and the toppling down of Saddam Hussein’s effigy in Firdos Square in Baghdad after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 drew global attention and remains indelible in our memory.

Not a few watchers of events in Afghanistan were surprised at the turn of events that led to the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan’s political capital back into the hands of the Taliban. The blitzkrieg fashion with which the Taliban seized every important town around the capital was no doubt exacerbated by the actions and inactions of some of the global powers, particularly the US.

Observers would recall that in his remarks on the drawdown plans on 8 July 2021, President Joe Biden was emphatic that the US mission in Afghanistan will conclude on 31 August 2021. On that occasion, Biden stated clearly that ‘we did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build, ….it is the right and responsibility of the Afghan people alone to decide their future and how they want to run their country’.

This statement was obviously not lost on the Taliban as events after that would reveal. By the second week of August, Taliban fighters have surrounded Kabul and claimed key towns of Aybak, Kunduz, Taluqan, Faizabad, Maidan and Jalalabad, the fifth largest city in Afghanistan just about 130 km from the capital Kabul.

Suddenly, all the foreign intervention has come to nought, and truly Afghanistan has been left in the hands of not the legitimate government but the Taliban who have fought for nearly 20 years since it was ousted in 2001. As at now, there is great uncertainty in the country and no one is sure of the future.

One question that keeps begging for answer is, what has been the impact of all the assistance offered to the Afghan government by the US and its NATO Allies for the past two decades? From account, the US and NATO Allies including their partners have trained and equipped over 300,000 current serving members of the Afghan National Security Force, not including hundreds of thousands trained in the past two decades who are no longer serving. Apart from this, the Afghan security forces have had the opportunity of training and operating with the US and its Allies providing them with intelligence and many of their military officers trained in some of the best military institutions in the US and UK.

There is no doubt that the Taliban takeover will have some global implications. Firstly, it will present some human rights problem going by its antecedents while it held sway from 1996-2001. In the past, the Taliban has been known for carrying out public executions of its perceived opponents, denying education to women and persecution of minorities. There is also the issue of Afghanistan becoming a safe haven for extremists and a likely astronomical increase in the growth and trade of illicit and hard drugs. Afghanistan currently stands as the third largest producer of opium in the world. Worst of these fears is the likely domino effect on other extremist groups in Asia, Middle East and Africa and the spill over of weapons through illegal means to countries with extremist networks such as the Al Qaeda, ISIS and ISWAP.

What lessons therefore are there for Nigeria to learn putting into context the activities of ISWAP and the Boko Haram Terrorists in the North East and also the incessant calls for government to seek international assistance in the counter insurgency operations and other threats across the country?

Events in Afghanistan have zoomed home to all Nigerians that as a nation, our destiny is in our own hands. Now and then, Nigerians are quick to call on government to seek international assistance anytime there is a little setback in the military’s campaign. Of course, government has never shied away from seeking assistance but the divergent point remains the extent of such assistance. Since 2015, there has been a renewed synergy among countries around the Lake Chad basin. The Armed Forces of Nigeria has continued to operate with forces from Chad, Niger and Cameroon, all Nigeria’s neighbours along the North East under the Multi National Joint Task Force. Outside the region, it continues to receive assistance from countries such as the US, UK, France and Germany in areas of training, provision of equipment, logistics support and intelligence sharing. The notion of having international forces coming to operate in Nigeria is an illusion that would be inimical to Nigeria’s national security and the events in Afghanistan should discourage it now and in future.

The collapse of the Afghan’s security forces like a pack of card in the face of the advancing Taliban fighters reflects a serious lack of popular support. Many Afghans have always perceived the foreign backed Afghan security forces as appendage of the invading western forces. In spite of the foreign support in training, operational vehicles, equipment, logistics and intelligence assets, the foreign backed Afghan security forces could still not sustain the legitimate government of Ashraf Ghani in place as they do not enjoy the popular support of the people. Securing and gaining local support is a critical success factor in counter insurgency operations such as we have in Nigeria’s North East. This factor underscores the efforts placed by the Armed Forces of Nigeria at winning the hearts and minds of the people. It thus beholds on the populace to reciprocate the efforts of the military by providing useful information to security forces and shun any assistance of any means to insurgents. The act of using the social media to denigrate and disparage the military only serves to emboldened the insurgents. The Armed Forces of Nigeria deserves all the support it could get. It has shown courage and resilience and has never failed in its constitutional role of ensuring the territorial integrity of the country.

Since it fled Kabul in 2001, the Taliban regime’s use of vast mass of ungoverned areas across Afghanistan provided it with the enabling conditions to sustain its military activities. It continued to expand its control such that by July 2021, the Taliban controlled an estimated 54 percent of Afghan districts. The lesson for Nigeria on this is the need for government to spread development and dominate barren and ‘uninhabited areas’ across the country similar to ungoverned areas. Thankfully enough, the military has identified the importance of this given the recent decision of the Nigerian Army to conduct exercises in Falgore Forest, a game reserve located about 150 km from Kano city. Similar uninhabited areas exist in some parts of North West which provides safe haven for bandits. We also have the wide space between Shaki and Nigeria’s border with Republic of Benin running up North through West of Kwara and Niger States, as well as several others within the states which could offer abode for bandits. Leveraging the efforts of the military, government may need to design a comprehensive strategy to integrate all the relevant MDAs responsible for border security and forest/game reserves, the military, police and other security and para military agencies for the sole task of ensuring presence and monitoring of all remote uninhabited spaces across Nigeria.

– This piece was contributed by Johnson Olawumi, a retired officer of the Nigerian Army, Abuja.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has revealed how Ramon Abbas aka Hushpuppi, acquired a Richard Mille wristwatch which he wore in a picture he shared on Instagram where he’s seen as a celebrity.

Hushpuppi recently pleaded guilty to fraud charges a year after he was arrested in the United Arab Emirates and extradited to the United States of America.

His operations were revealed in an affidavit issued by the United States Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.

The affidavit showed that Hushpuppi and his co-conspirators engaged in Business Email Compromise schemes with which they defrauded a Qatari businessman of more than $1.1m.

The affidavit stated that Hushpuppi used $230,000 gotten from the victim to purchase a Richard Mille wristwatch “which was hand delivered to Abbas in Dubai and subsequently appeared in Hushpuppi’s social media posts.”

According to the affidavit, “After Abbas joined the conspiracy that month, Juma and Abbas received and laundered additional funds in a variety of ways with the assistance of other co-conspirators. Agbabiaka and Fashola were among the co-conspirators who assisted Abbas in receiving and laundering funds.

“Among those payments, Abbas convinced the Victim Businessperson to make wire transfers of $230,000 to a Wells Fargo bank account of a luxury watch-seller and $100,000 to a Capital One bank account of Agbabiaka in late December 2019.

“Abbas used the wire transfer of $230,000 to purchase a luxury Richard Mille RM11-03 watch. Abbas arranged for the watch seller in Florida (the “Florida Watch Seller”) to ship the watch to the New York metropolitan area, where Agbabiaka and Fashola picked it up and ultimately delivered it to a coconspirator, who was a relative of Fashola.

“Abbas then directed that person to transport the watch on a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (“JFK”) in New York to the U.A.E., where that person hand-delivered the watch to Abbas on about January 4, 2020. Abbas posted a photograph of himself on Instagram wearing the watch, with the hashtag “#Rm1103,” on January 13, 2020.”

A look at Hushuppi’s Instagram page with 2.5 million followers shows him wearing the wristwatch in a photo posted on January 13, 2020.

“One of the best things I learnt that keeps me going is to “Never take criticism from people I’d never go to for advice” #Gucci #RichardMille #Versace #Rm1103,” he captioned the photo.

Armed men suspected to be bandits have attacked the Kurar Mota community in Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State, killing at least 13 police officers

DAILY POST gathered that the incident occured on Sunday when the assailants invaded a police formation and gunned down officers on duty.

A residents who identified himself as Kabir Dansada, told Daily Trust that the armed men had earlier attempted to invade Magami, a community located 50km south of Gusau, the state capital, but were repelled by soldiers.

“They withdrew after they were overpowered by the soldiers there. They then rode to a community along Magami – Dankurmi – Dangulbi road and killed one person and torched four shops.”

“Thereafter, they moved to Kurar Mota community and attacked the police formation near the township clinic. The criminals then dashed into the forest”

“The slain officers and the injured ones were conveyed to Gusau in a convoy of police vehicles this afternoon. I saw several police vehicles move towards the area,” he said.

When contacted by DAILY POST correspondent, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Muhammad Shehu said he would inquire and revert.

Over twelve shallow graves have been uncovered in the compound of Mr. Uduak Akpan, the suspected killer of one Miss Iniubong Umoren, a graduate of philosophy in the guise of offering her a job in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The suspect who is now cooling his feet at the police station in Ikot akpanabia, Uyo was alleged to have lured late Umoren to his place at Nnung Ikono Obio in Uruan Local Government Area of the State, raped, killed, and eventually buried her in a shallow grave in his father’s compound.

The youths of the community enraged with the news stormed the compound, and vandalised the building, using pebbles after setting ablaze the security house of the one storey building.

It was gathered that the vandalization started since on Tuesday night and its still ongoing as at press time even as it was alleged that the youths carted away property in the compound and handed the boy’s father(whom they accused of being an accomplice) to the police.

When some correspondents visited the scene, Wednesday evening, about twelve(12) shallow graves were seen in the large compound and a skeletal bone suspected to be that of a child lying on the floor was also seen. Also old sag bags were seen scattered near the graves as the youths who conducted journalists round the compound claimed that they were used for packing human parts they buried.

The youths said the suspect and his family are strangers living in the community as their real community is Nnung Ikono Ufok in Uruan LGA.

One of the youths identified as Akpan Shadrach James told journalists that the family of the suspect erected the building about four years ago and do not live there permanently but only come occasionally since they have another building in Uyo town and nobody actually knew what they do inside the compound.

“People thought that they were living here, they don’t, they only come and go. They are from the next community. They don’t have friends in this community as their gate is always closed and they wrote the notice, ‘beware of dogs’ on their wall. We didn’t know that such a thing was happening here.

“We want government to investigate this matter and bring justice to that slain orphan. We are grieved with this incident and we don’t want this matter swept under the carpet.”

Also speaking, the youths President of the community, Etubom Sunday Essien said the youths were disappointed over the act, adding that such offence is not condoned in the community.

He said, “there is nothing happening apart from the one you have already heard. It’s not good for the boy to kill his fellow human being. We don’t know that, that is what he has been doing. We, the youths will never allow such things to be happening in our community. That is the reason we took this action.

He, however, exonerated the chairman of the LGA, Mr. Iniobong Ekpenyong saying he played the role of a Chief security officer of council by calling on the police to arrest the culprit.

The Chairman of the local government had earlier issued a press release, distancing himself from insinuations of being party to the incident, stressing that he only did his job as the chief security officer of the local government by fishing out the suspect and handing him over to the police.