Nigeria must urgently collaborate with partners to tackle poor economic growth and socio-economic inequality, especially in the North to check worsening insecurity in the country, a report by the Nigeria Economic Summit has said.
The report published in October is titled ‘steaming the tears ‘a pragmatic approach to solving Nigeria’s security challenges.’
It highlighted the security challenges in the country and why security agencies had failed to check the situation over the years. It advised the Federal Government to leverage local intelligence, increase collaboration between the local population and security agencies to aid their success in the offensive in the North-West and other parts of the country.
Nigeria’s military was advised to strengthen its ability to execute coordinated attacks and defend peace while waging the war, adding that troops should not abandon vulnerable communities even if the terrorists had been left.
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The report identified climate change as the major cause of farmer-herder conflicts in the Northern region, blaming this desertification and inadequate rainfall which had led to shrinking grazing lands and scarcity of water.
“Nigeria’s military should strengthen its ability to execute coordinated attacks. This recommendation is difficult given resource availability. The military has not encircled and demobilised the bandits as the latter can slip through unmanned spaces and avoid capture,” the report added.
It further revealed that banditry was the leading conflict type in Nigeria in terms of number of incidents (606 or 68.1 percent), number of deaths (2,470 or 65.2 percent), number of injured (211 or 62.1 percent) and number of persons kidnapped (2,487 or 97.8 percent).
According to the report, none of the geopolitical regions is spared the pains of the violence, while in the 12 months under review; the North-East region, the hotbed of the 12-year Boko Haram insurgency recorded the lowest number of incidents (74 or 8 percent).
The report added that the South-South region with its militancy and maritime piracy issues had 100 violent incidents (11 percent), while the North-West region became the most violent part of the country with 274 incidents (31 percent).
