- Tinubu urged to expose, flush out bad eggs in upper security echelon, govt circles
- ‘How terrorists, bandits, other criminals cross illegal weapons using govt vehicles’
- Lawyers want Tinubu to increase 2025 budget for security to 20%
Security experts have said that there is a need for saboteurs among the military and paramilitary forces in the country to be fished out if the war against insecurity in Nigeria would be won.
They also argued that those sabotaging efforts at confronting security challenges in the country are not only limited to the security agencies, noting that some top government officials are culpable.
Tasking President Bola Tinubu to expose and flush out the bad eggs that have populated top security echelon and government circles, they stated that these highly placed individuals have been frustrating efforts at abating terrorism, banditry and kidnapping in the country.
Nigeria has been confronting escalating security challenges amid increasing killings and abductions of innocent citizens.
From widespread banditry and Boko Haram insurgency to rampant kidnappings and the persistent issue of oil theft in the Niger Delta, the situation grows increasingly dire. Nigerians are expressing their exasperation with the seemingly endless stream of threats issued by the Federal Government and security agencies in response to these crises.
Despite the frequent pronouncements from security chiefs vowing to crush these criminal elements, Nigerians see little tangible progress.
Just recently, the National Bureau of Statistics said that Nigerians paid N2.23 trillion as ransom to kidnappers in twelve months.
The NBS said the payments were made between May 2023 and April 2024.
According to the NBS’s latest Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey report published last Tuesday, 65 percent of households affected by kidnapping paid ransoms for the release of their loved ones from the abductors’ den.
“The average amount paid as ransom was N2,670,693, with an estimated total ransom of N2,231,772,563,507 paid within the reference period,” the NBS report read.
“There are some people that may have regional sympathy for them (criminals) and there are some people who just have sympathy for them because they don’t want anything good for this country.”
Reacting to the dire situation in an exclusive interview with The Point, a security expert of international repute, Jackson Lekan Ojo, challenged the Nigerian government to weed out and expose those who amass wealth and take over political positions through investments in insecurity in the country.
Ojo also revealed how terrorists, bandits and other criminals cross illegal weapons using government vehicles and others owned by highly placed individuals in the country without being checked at military checkpoints.
The executive protection specialist, who is a Fellow of International Institute of Professional Security, asked governments to monitor the phone calls of security personnel and others in the security sector in order to fish out those working against the interest of the nation.
Insisting that there are saboteurs among the rank and file of military and paramilitary forces, he said, “There is a very simple thing that nobody is taking seriously and that thing is? Both the Chief of Defence Staff, the National Security Adviser, Ministers of Defence, senior and junior, which are also administrative defence men, we are not taking seriously and taking cognizance of are saboteurs in the system. We are not taking cognizance that there are some people who have religious sympathy for all these people (terrorists and other criminals). There are some people that may have regional sympathy for them (criminals) and there are some people who just have sympathy for them because they don’t want anything good for this country.
“So, anyone that is going to make Nigeria uncomfortable, they are very happy to work with such persons. So, we are not taking cognizance of saboteurs. If we are taking cognizance of saboteurs, I think there is nothing wrong if we monitor the phones of all the military and paramilitary men. Monitor their numbers and know who they are speaking with and know when they are talking. Why is it that it is when our troops are moving from one place to the other that some people will just go and block roads?
“For example, something happened in Yobe State the other time when Boko Haramists people were fighting, and when the troops were going there to combat them, they now discovered that the amoral of the Nigerian Army was part of them fighting for them, and they got him arrested and they said when they brought him back to camp, he escaped; till tomorrow, he is not found.
“So, Nigerians should take cognizance of the internal and external saboteurs in the military, among the intelligence agencies. We are not taking cognizance of this. If we don’t take cognizance of this, definitely, our information is not safe and when our information is not safe, every of our plans will be leaked to the opposition and that is why we cannot succeed.”
He added, “These saboteurs we are talking about, they are in the top echelon of the military or paramilitary. There was a president; I don’t want to mention names; that was quoted as saying that, “I know there are some Boko Haramists in my government”. A president said something like that some time ago. That means these people that are sabotaging, the saboteurs, they might be politicians, they might be military and they might be civilians. Some people are using Boko Haram and banditry to achieve political reasons; some people are using them for business reasons. Where are these miscreants that are not looking well-fed, how can they afford the kind of weapons that they are handling? How are these weapons getting to their hands and getting to the country?”
Ojo, a Certified Golden member of International Security Association, Switzerland, claimed that many government vehicles and cars of some high placed individuals in the country are being used to convey illegal weapons for terrorists and other marauders across the country, urging military and other security agencies to always ensure they subject government vehicles, including convoys, to checks before passing them.
According to him, most of the coffins that are being conveyed are for smuggling weapons, admonishing military checkpoints not to be carried away by emotions upon sighting caskets, as their contents might be arms and not corpses.
“On our highways, these people (criminals) are fooling us. How? Some people will be traveling by road, they will carry a coffin, and they will put posters and others, and immediately when they get to the checkpoint, they will say “go, may his soul rest in peace”. Inside those coffins, most of the time, it is arms and ammunition they are crossing like that. Then, there is respect for high profile vehicles in Nigeria, when somebody is coming and he tags the number plate, “Government House”, our military checkpoint will just throw salute, whereas, these are the high profile vehicles that are loaded with weapons. All these high profile vehicles are above the law in Nigeria, but they are not above the law in other parts of the world. Not until we correct all these things, we may not be out of this insecurity soon. When it comes to the issue of security, nobody is above the law. But in Nigeria here, all these tinted glasses with State Government House insignia, military will salute them, not knowing they are using all those things to pack arms and ammunition,” the expert alleged.
Meanwhile, the Office of the National Security Adviser is the nation’s top security and intelligence position.
This is the seat where the buck stops, as regards to all problems of terrorism and insecurity in the nation.
The position is a statutory member of the National Security Council and Federal Executive Council and chairs meetings of the Nigerian intelligence agencies.
Historically, appointment to the office has been held by senior police officers, and, the top brass of military officers up to, and, including three- and four-star generals.
In Nigeria’s security architecture, the military is also seen as being superior to other security agencies, so there are questions about whether the service chiefs will report to the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, a former policeman who retired with a lesser rank than theirs.
There are mounting concerns about whether a former policeman-turned-politician can succeed where multiple generals have failed – in tackling insecurity.
However, Ojo said Ribadu only plays an advisory role to President Tinubu on security but lacks power of command and control.
“We cannot continue dancing in circles in this country or keep gathering for tales by moonlight each time we have national emergencies like this. We have played too long in this country and we must wake up.”
Ojo clarified that the NSA can only give advice to the President and not give orders to the military, staying that there could not have been any deliberate attempt to frustrate the NSA in discharging his responsibilities.
“The position of the National Security Adviser is not the position of command and control and the NSA is not in charge of command and control. In the Nigeria Police, the power of command and control is in the hand of the Inspector General of Police, in the Nigerian Army, the power of command and control is in the hand of Chief of Army Staff, the same thing in Air Force, Nigerian Navy, Department of State Services, National Intelligence Agency and others.
“Then, all the military will now report to the Chief of Defence Staff, which will collate all their reports and send it to the office of the National Security Adviser. Then, the office of the National Security Adviser will be the one that will advise Mr President who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on what to do.
“So, there is no way the Army, the Navy, Air Force, the DSS, NIA, and Civil Defence will sabotage the efforts of the NSA. NSA is just a security advisory office to the President. He is not in the field and he has no men on the field. So, the principle of command and control is in the hands of the Chief of Army Staff, Naval Staff, Air Staff, and the Inspector General of Police. And when you talk of intelligence gathering, that is why we have the DSS, the office in the Army, Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), all these people are supposed to directly be in charge of operations and at the end of the day, they will report to the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Defence Staff will collate all the reports and send them to the office of the National Security Adviser whereas the office of the NSA will study the reports holistically and he will advise Mr President on what to do. So, there is nothing like sabotage.
“He is the National Security Adviser to the President, it is a security advisory role, he is not in charge of command and control. The NSA cannot command the Chief of Army Staff, he cannot command the Chief of Defence Staff, he collects their reports and he will study them holistically and advise Mr President. The office of NSA is an advisory role,” he explained.
However, a legal practitioner, Tunbosun Oladipupo, has suggested more funding of security, noting that the N4.5 trillion budget for security in Tinubu’s 2025 proposed budget is insufficient.
Oladipupo, in an exclusive interview with The Point, advised President Tinubu to increase budgetary allocation for providing security to 20 per cent of the total budget.
He also favoured the creation of state police as one of the means of tackling banditry, terrorism and other criminal tendencies in the country.
“What the government should do is to quickly pass the law so that we can have state police. Every security is local and if anybody is posted to Osogbo and he does not know the terrain, how will he perform his security work well? But, if there are locally recruited policemen, they will know where criminals live and they know how to flush them out and get them arrested. The government should go for state police and there should be synergy between the federal police, state police, Amotekun and whatever security agencies that are working to protect us. Then, let the government employ more security personnel.
“There are ungoverned places in our country. If you are traveling from Osogbo to Ibadan, when you get to Ikire expressway, anything can happen on that road because there are few places that you see policemen. We need policemen to be everywhere or the government should employ what we call artificial intelligence to monitor everywhere, every part of the country. If these happen, then we can say we are on our way to better security.
“Another important thing is funding. If the government is actually committed to tackling insecurity, it requires a lot of money. If the government will employ more security personnel, install CCTV cameras to strategic places, it requires a lot of funds.
“In the budget for 2025, about N4.5 trillion was budgeted for security. That is too small for a population that is going to 250 million. That is very small. So, the government should look for a way and even involve private citizens to contribute their quota so that we can have good and better security in our country. Security should take about ten to twenty percent of our money because without security, there is nothing we can do. You are saying people should come and invest in a country where they are killing people? Look at what is happening in some parts of the country now because of rice. More than 35 people were murdered in Ibadan, ten in Abuja, 35 in Anambra because of rice. Government must do something about poverty because an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
“How you fight poverty is that when you employ more people, you pay them. In that manner, you will be fighting poverty and at the same time, fighting insecurity and with this, the economy will be strengthened,” the lawyer stated.
A senior lawyer, Clement Iloh, said about the increasing kidnappings, “I wonder why we are surprised that the rate of kidnappings and other vices have increased astronomically and Nigerians are looking for who to blame.
“The increase was expected. And the tragedy of the situation is that this is just the beginning. If the situation is not dealt with now, next year will be bloodier – but God forbid!
“We cannot continue dancing in circles in this country or keep gathering for tales by moonlight each time we have national emergencies like this. We have played too long in this country and we must wake up.
“I also saw the statistics released by the NBS. I have stopped believing the bureau on the figures they release. They are 90 percent of the time not correct.
“So, even if I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, the holy truth is that kidnapping for ransom is underreported in Nigeria.
“The true figures are far more than what we are reading on the website of the NBS. Who are they kidding?
“How about the instances where families involved don’t report to the police? I can bet my salary that cases not reported to the police are more than cases that were reported. But we pretend like all is well in the country and move on.”
Iloh also said that there are no deliberate attempts to frustrate Ribadu by preventing him from discharging his responsibilities.
In his opinion, the economic situation is the “force” fighting Ribadu’s success.
“I know that many Nigerians are thinking that there are deliberate attempts to frustrate Ribadu in his capacity as the National Security Adviser. But I beg to disagree.
“The real force working against him is the poor economic situation of the country. It is working against his success and I will explain.
“But before I do so, I want to say that whenever anyone is doing something well, commendations and praise should be in order.
“The Federal Government is doing well in the area of counter-insurgency and they should be commended for that.
“There is no longer any safe place for most of the terrorists in the country. I am talking about terrorists who used to smoke in the open and move in convoys of motorbikes as they ransack communities.
“The military is flushing them out of their enclaves and many of these terrorists have now taken to kidnapping.
“It is the only way they can make ends meet. Kidnapping for ransom is now their meal ticket.
“So, whether there are attempts to frustrate Ribadu, I don’t think so. The poor economy is actually at the root cause of the huge ransoms paid and if it (the economy) doesn’t improve next year, kidnap kingpins will have more foot soldiers at their disposal.
“We must not forget that their nefarious activities have become an industry in the country and instead of us, or Ribadu himself, wondering who is the enemy of progress, we should sit up and face this fight squarely.
“And one more thing, the rank of the individual occupying the office of the NSA does not matter. It doesn’t matter, too, whether he or she is a police officer or in the military.
“I believe that even a well-educated police sergeant can do a good job there. And if those who should be his subordinates try to rubbish that individual, let’s show them the exit door immediately,” Iloh said.
However, a public affairs analyst, Austine Uche-Ejeke, said Ribadu should leave politics alone and stop being the poster boy of President Tinubu.
“Ribadu should stop doing the work of the Minister of Information, publicity secretary of the ruling All People Congress or a presidential spokesman. He should face the onerous task of providing adequate security for the entire country,” he said.
