In the last four years, the security situation in Nigeria has become a concern to many citizens. Increasingly, there have been calls on the Federal Government to stem the tide of the ugly trend.
With the kidnapping of 685 people and death of 1,071 people in crime-related cases across the country in the first quarter of 2019 alone, it is obvious that the security challenge in Nigeria is worsening as the number of victims is expected to double at the end of the year.
The development has made Nigeria to be on global spotlight for the bad reasons, especially with one of the world’s highest rates of kidnap-for-ransom cases, ranking with the likes of Iraq, Venezuela and even Afghanistan.
The ugly situation, which is growing out of hand even in the North-West region of the country formerly regarded as the safest in the country, has resulted in many outcries across the country.
It has also intensified calls for state police as many Nigerians appear to have lost confidence in the ability of the Nigerian Police to curtail the rise in crime rate. And it also seems that Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector-General of Police, has given up on the grounds of poor funding/logistics and lack of manpower.
Between last year and now, President Muhammadu Buhari has held a number of security meetings with security apparatchik inside the Aso Rock Villa.
However, the angry and helpless Nigerians are tired of the excuses by the security operatives, and insist that government is failing in its core mandate of providing security for the citizens.
The worse for some is that despite all the security and anti-corruption chants and clouts, President Buhari, who was re-elected on those grounds, seems to be hanging so much hope on his security chiefs that are still trying to figure out how to address the security challenges.
On two or more occasions, Kashim Shettima, governor of Borno State, the immediate past governor of Borno State, had cried to the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, to seek help from the presidency over the worsening insecurity in his state.
In July last year, a coalition of concerned Nigerians under the aegis of ‘Nigerian Citizens’ wrote an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari. In the letter titled, ‘Nigeria mourns and cries for security, peace and justice’, the group referred to Section 14(2)(b), 1999 Nigerian Constitution, which states that “…the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government …”
The group raised concern over the spate of killings in the first six months of last year, and indeed in the past three years, describing it as worrisome.
“In the first six months of this year alone, more than 5,000 Nigerians have been killed in violent attacks by persons or groups described in various places as‘armed pastoralists’, ‘rustlers or bandits’, ‘thugs’, ‘political opportunists’or any name they are given, but Nigerians are dying,” it noted.
According to them, “In some cases, these perpetrators have decimated entire communities and the little social infrastructure which these communities depend on, including schools, hospitals and places of worship. In nearly all of these cases, there has been neither arrest nor diligent prosecution.”
The group also stated that more “worrisome has been the lack of urgency and proactiveness on the part of government to end these killings and bring perpetrators to book. While the killings have been particularly pronounced in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, no region of the country has been spared from the spate of insecurity. From Benue to Kaduna to Ebonyi to Cross River; from Zamfara to Plateau to Adamawa and their frequency has escalated from month to month.”
Expressing their worry over the ugly state of affairs, the coalition said: “We as citizens are appalled by government’s failure to diligently protect lives and property. From community to community, the narrative of organised criminal groups attacking unarmed, vulnerable citizens and taking over their homes and communities has persisted. Without doubt, the festering impunity has emboldened these attackers who continue to expand their dragnet and the effrontery with which they attack these communities.”
As the President presents his four-year agenda on June 12, the Democracy Day, the Nigerian citizens expect to see well-laid out plans on how the new administration hopes to secure their lives.
They would want to hear from the President how he hopes to take the country to the next level, security-wise.
Akilo Angwe, a lawyer, wonders why the security chiefs are still in their positions despite “their below average performance” in the last four years.
“In a sane country, the Inspector General of Police will not be confirmed because things are falling apart under him and he has already given up”, Angwe said.
While no position has yet been taken on the creation of state police in the country, governors of the 36 states of Nigeria appear not happy because the Federal Government wishes to be in control as always.
While Kayode Fayemi, chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), thinks the issue requires consultations, Seriake Dickson, chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum, insists that the governors were in support of the state police and have told the President during their meeting with him at Aso Villa on Friday.
As the president prepares to present his agenda on June 12, many are offering security content of the agenda.
Chukwuma Okoli, lecturer/resident researcher, Department of Political Science, Federal University Lafia, calls for stricter measures, such as life imprisonment or death penalty, in dealing with the kidnapping menace. “After all, the crime of kidnapping is a maximum threat that requires an equally maximum deterrence,” he said.
Emeka Iduma, a security expert, says that the creation of state police will help to curb security challenges as each state decides on how best to fight crime and others will learn from the most efficient ones.
However, he thinks that no effort at fighting crime will address the challenge properly apart from sorting out the root cause, which is unemployment.
“As long as many youths are jobless and roaming the streets, they will find a way to exert their youthful energies and unfortunately, in the negative ways”, Iduma said.
Ebenezer Babatope, a former minister of transportation, said. “The security situation is becoming alarming and disturbing, may be the President has taken the right step by saying we should have state and local government police, that to me is a step forward and I appeal to those in charge to approve it.”
According to him, “The issue of state police was contained in the Constitutional Conference of 2014 Report; go and check it, but the current government people threw it away; the President must act fast or we are in danger.”
A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has urged government at all levels to take relevant actions or put in place enduring machinery to stem the tide of ever-growing spate of insecurity and impunity across the country.
Gift Omoniwa, executive director of Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID), who led other CSOs in the state to mark this year’s celebration of National Day of Mourning in Kogi State, said that the Nigerian society has had enough of the killings in many parts of the country, adding that since the rate of violent activities via kidnappings, armed robbery, banditry and ethnic clashes have reached the roof top, relevant stakeholders should increase their efforts and restore peace in society.
“Since we are still grappling with the level of insecurity and the growing spate of impunity, that necessitated the National Day of Mourning as a result of increased police brutality, armed banditry, Boko Haram, militia, herdsmen and electoral violence; we have been compelled to again draw the attention of government and all relevant stakeholders to live up to their mandate of protection of lives and property of Nigerians,” Omoniwa said.
OBINNA EMELIKE, INIOBONG IWOK and VICTORIA NNAKAIKE (Lokoja)
