Banditry: TETFUND researchers want FG to invest in technology

…suggest death penalties for bandits, informants

The federal government has been urged to invest more in technology such as drones, implementing satellite enhanced surveillance and monitoring of hard-to-reach locations to tackle banditry.

These were part of the research recommendations presented at an online validation workshop from university researchers who investigated armed bandits and banditry in Nigeria; the history, character and panacea, funded by TETFUND grant.

To reduce bandit attacks in communities around Nigeria, the researchers tasked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to charge his service chiefs to deepen the use of non-kinetic rather than kinetic approaches.

“While banditry has led to displacement, unemployment and poverty in some of the affected communities, the affected people want government to adopt non-kinetic alongside with kinetic approach by building community resilience through the provision of communication gadgets to community members for the purpose of gathering intelligence and reporting incidences,” the researchers revealed.

Led by Olajide Akanji, a professor and the principal investigator, the researchers (Rasidi Okunola, Bentina Mathias, Bukola Adesina, Nathaniel Danjibo, a doctorate degree holder, Adebimpe Adenugba and Oludayo Tade, all professors), argued that the absence of such gadgets has hindered evidence gathering, reportage, and investigation of perpetrators in communities.

They also called on the government to empower communities and individuals to be able to defend themselves rather than feel helpless when attacked.

The research participants also called for the creation of community policing to promptly attend to bandit attacks in local communities more effectively. More importantly, communities prone to bandit attacks need regular security awareness and sensitisation training.”

While speaking further, Akanji stated that participants called for strict penalties such as death penalty for bandits and their informants within the community to serve as deterrent to others.

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They likewise called for increased collaboration among traditional institutions, security agencies and community leaders to nip activities in the bud.

They found out that where reported success was made, interagency collaboration was used in the fight against bandits, hence they advised governments at the federal and affected states to ensure that adequate support for long term rehabilitation and resettlement of victims of banditry are made.

The researchers who collated data from the Northwest, Northcentral, Southeast and Southwest zones, noted that there was the need for regular deployment, monitoring and surveillance of communities prone to bandit attacks adding that data have shown that bandits attack communities very early or late in the night while others attack communities on market days with a view to hijacking food, kidnap and displace communities.

While noting that it was important for the government to prioritise the welfare of security agents who work in bandit affected communities nationwide, they noted that the government needs to invest in technology such as drones and implementing satellite enhanced surveillance and monitoring of hard-to-reach locations.

Participants argued that the absence of such gadgets has hindered evidence gathering, reportage, and investigation of perpetrators in communities.

The study also found lapses in the government responses to the fight against banditry to include the practice of releasing and returning arrested bandits back to communities, which have undermined trust in the legal and security frameworks, deterring individuals from reporting suspicious activities due to fear of reprisal.

Others are: lack of implementation of decisions reached during investigations, leading to disconnect between government promises and actionable results; poor and lack of evaluation and adaptation of governments’ responses to evolving banditry threats and delays in aid delivery to victims.

The validation workshop was attended by the representatives of the Nigeria Navy, Nigerian Airforce, Office of the National Security Adviser, UNDP and Amotekun from Oyo and Ekiti states, among other stakeholders.