- Retired Police, Army chiefs identify loopholes
- Seek collaboration with traditional rulers to connect insurgents – Monarch
- Don’t lose faith in security agencies, Police tell public
Nigerians have expressed anguish over ceaseless activities of terrorists, bandits, kidnappers across the country, lamenting that governments at all levels have failed in their constitutional duties of protecting them and their property.
They decried that even when the majority of the citizenry are wallowing in abject poverty and acute hunger, their lives are not safe. No thanks to worsening insecurity that has defiled all efforts by governments and security agencies to combat.
They said the duties of the government as contained in Section 2, Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, which states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government” have not been met.
Those who spoke in their separate interviews with The Point noted that other consequences of the growing insecurity across educational institutions is that the number of out-of-school children had grown in the past few years despite several efforts by governments and non-governmental organisations.
Lamenting the resurgence of kidnapping in the country, the spokesperson of the Labour Party Presidential Council, Yinusa Tanko alleged that the corrupt lifestyles of some politicians have been encouraging citizens to venture into terrorism, kidnapping and banditry, saying they political leaders have failed their followers.
Tanko, who was born and bred in Kaduna State, called on the government to interrogate the demands of bandits and terrorists, feel their pulse and get more connected with them if they would win an insurgency war.
Reacting specifically to the latest abduction in Kaduna, Tanko stated, “It is a serious and troubling concern for me and many Nigerians because out of the number of people abducted, about 280, possibly 300 pupils were taken from the school. A school is an environment where people are surrounded by people who buy and sell. The people that will come and kidnap these students either come with motorcycles or they come with vehicles and they don’t come silently, they come with violent announcements in that particular vicinity and yet they will cart away hundreds of students without anyone raising a finger to challenge that abduction and they would move in that number.”
“I think we should reduce our focus on the military for a solution in internal security. The military is doing the work which is not their constitutional role.”
Insinuating that the attack might have been organised with support from some powerful forces in government, Tanko added, “Even if they move in the thick bushes, somebody somewhere would have either heard the yelling of the students or they hear the rumbling of the vehicles and machines that are moving in that direction and yet, our dogged and capable security agencies, be it the DSS, Police or the Civil Defence or any form of security organization at all, did not hear them, did not see them, did not challenge them, it becomes a mirage for any sensible thinking human being to think that particular action is not a conspiracy, is not an arranged abduction, that has the hands of some people collectively to undermine the security efforts of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This, for me, is the most troubling situation.”
Taking security agencies to task, the politician said, “Can the security give us links to those behind the scenes or tell us the place where their groups are or inform stakeholders how to tackle this particular matter? Though controversial, Sheik Gumi said everywhere he went into bushes, he went there with police, DSS and other security agencies. That means the locations of these bandits are known. So, it is quite troubling to say the least that the government does not have a hand in this particular conspiracy against the people. Some of these bandits said that they don’t give birth to AK47 and that it is the government that gives them.
“So, whether the Jonathan government, the Buhari government or Tinubu government, there is a conspiracy within the system against the people and against the state. Either for maintenance of power, or enrich some other persons, using the security votes, or allocations to the security apparatus in this country, the money that is allocated for security in this country is enough to economically empower the citizens through unkinetic process; rather, they leave them to wallow in abject poverty. We use this particular money to buy weapons or assumed weapons because some of these weapons are not even being acquired as the case may be and so, we have so much humongous money for security which can be used to reduce these challenges by empowering the citizens for them to protect themselves and economically enhancing their standard of living. These are non kinetic processes that can help the security agencies in protecting the country. This must be looked into.
“Government has to come clean, both past and present, in how they allocate or conspire or assume to conspire against the state because information that is so much at their table, they are not letting us know. It is a crime because I know they have information on where the terrorists and bandits are, why are they not going after them? This is the big question.”
In his submission, a traditional ruler in Osun State, Oba Oyelude Makama, the Olowu of Kuta has called for more support and funding for the Nigeria Police to tackle insecurity.
Oba Makama said the current security challenges facing the nation would be a thing of the past if the government turned its attention to rejuvenating its police force.
The monarch said the government should be more generous in funding and providing logistics for the police, owing to the complexity of policing a country of over 200 million people.
He said doing this would not only complement the efforts of the military which is usually called upon to stand in the gap in internal security but would also remove the toga of redundancy from the Nigeria Police.
According to him, the police are constitutionally mandated to provide internal security, hence the need to equip and re-train them in line with emerging security threats facing the nation.
The monarch said, “I think we should reduce our focus on the military for a solution in internal security. The military is doing the work which is not their constitutional role. We should rather call on the Federal Government to equip and retrain the police to carry out their statutory responsibility.
“The constitutional mandate of our military is to prevent external aggression and protect the territorial integrity of the country. But now, the military is being overstretched in providing internal security, which is not right.”
Oba Makama who lauded the efforts of the military in fighting banditry and insurgency in parts of the country, urged the Federal Government to motivate men of the Nigeria Police to take over the role from the military.
The monarch noted that a conscious and deliberate policy of providing logistics, innovation and funding for the police would help the force tackle 21st century criminality.
He lauded the Federal Government for its zero negotiation stances with bandits but urged it to be more precise in unleashing state power on all enemies of the state.
He also advised the government to recruit more men into the police and establish more police posts, especially in ungoverned spaces where criminal elements make their hideouts.
Oba Makama also called on the Federal Government to look towards improving the remuneration package of the military and the police, anchoring his argument on the saying: to whom much is given, much is expected.
According to him, “The resurgence of banditry and insurgency is worrisome. That the Federal Government is not ready to pay ransom to bandits and it is a good one because the more you pay them, the more they are using the fund to arm themselves.
“We support the position of the President, all that remains is to walk the talk, hence they have made it a policy statement that you are not paying ransom.
“No negotiation without giving something in exchange, so what would anybody negotiate for if the Federal Government said it is not paying ransom, except if the negotiation is in lieu of patriotism as Nigerian that would not involve exchange of money for the release of the abductees so as not to somersault the policy decision of this administration.”
He added, “We are not short of intelligence in the country but those who will turn the intelligence into actions. Much intelligence without action will just be wasted when there is no manpower to get there or there is no logistics to pursue the intelligence supply.”
Meanwhile, despite alerting citizens of looming attacks on schools and rural areas, The Point’s findings showed that most schools in the affected states are yet to be secured even after the abductions.
To this end, a security expert, Olatunbosun Abolarin, has called on Nigerians, parents especially, to take full responsibility for their protection and that of their children.
Abolarin said it was disappointing that the Safe School Initiative of which the sum of $20 million was injected during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari did not make any significant impacts in securing schools.
He said, “If our forests and roads are not safe, I don’t think our schools will be safe. The $20 million that was invested in Safe School is one of the money that has gone down the drain and I would not want the government of the day to rely on that as any form of achievement. Talking about the government of the day, I am not basing it on the Federal Government alone, what are the state levels doing about making the school and the general environments safer? What are the local governments doing to make their environment safer? All those questions need to come into play while trying to answer your questions.
“We should not leave the safety of our schools to the government alone because when this thunder touches down, it is not really the government that faces the brunt, it is the family on ground and that brings me to the issue of how much we have prepared members of the community to be ready to protect themselves. This kidnapping is about the third one; it is happening under every government. During the time of Jonathan, we had Chibok, under Muhammadu Buhari, we had Dapchi, and now under Senator Bola Tinubu, we have another one in Kaduna. Is it going to continue? No!”
“Parents and members of the public around the school area need to be prepared. Don’t forget that the schools we are talking about are not just isolated structure or entity sitting down on its own, there is a police post, civil defence post, in every local government we have the DSS representatives there, we have the Peace Corps, we have the Amotekun, we have Hisbah in the North. Why create all these and they are not making impacts? They were on the ground and almost 300 students were carted away as if they were cattle. Something is terribly wrong somewhere strategically and I think parents and members of the public may need to realise that these strangers have not gone away and they need to organise themselves. Members of the public need to take issues of security seriously,” he maintained.
A former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Idada Ikponmwen retd, blamed corruption for the security woes of the country.
“I do not think we should continue to look like a joker country. There must be synergy among people, security agencies, and government. All arms of government must be committed to eradicating corruption or reduce it to the barest minimum. There is nowhere there is no corruption but when corruption becomes the order of the day, then you can practically say there is no government.
“All these security agencies are practically ill-equipped, practically ill-motivated because their welfare is not adequately taken care of; their number is inadequate and as I said before, there is hardly any visible coordination between the locals and the government at every level. “When Boko Haram struck Chibok and carted away people, an American reporter at that time said they had information and that security agencies were informed 24 hours before they struck. The attack was carried out, human beings were carried away, and up till today, we have been looking for some of those who were carted away.
“Nigeria must have a team of government that is committed to moving this country forward and I must say that one of the greatest encumbrances to security in this country is corruption, when we hear of embezzlement and the amount involved, it is so mind-boggling that it gives the impression of a nation that is not serious. “How can you just appoint a minister and in less than six months, billions have been carted away either alone or in conjunction with others? We need the government to rededicate to the issue of security.
One security issue is connected to the other and they are all a network.”
Suggesting a way out of the security problem in the country, a former DSS Director, Emmanuel Ejiofor, said, “Security agencies should be motivated concerning incentives and monthly salaries; appointments of heads of agencies should be based on merit and not on political, religious, and tribal sentiments; and inter-agency liaison should be strengthened among sister agencies.
“Areas of discontent should be addressed by the Federal Government; adequate logistics should be provided for officers and men in the theatre; and political will by governments of the day is a major factor.”
On his part, DIG Udom Ekpoudom, retd, who decried the security situation in the country, said, “Let me speak on my constituency, the Police Force. You cannot buy experience. They should do what late President Musa Yar’Adua did. Yar’Adua loved the security of this country and immediately he came in, he set up a committee to look into problems of the Police. Then, I was the Force Secretary in the Police Force.
“One of the things he did was to insist that Inspector Generals of Police were appointed only from among the DIGs because of experience. But immediately Yar’Adua died, and another government came in, that changed. They will now go down to pick someone without enough experience. What do you expect? That was when the problem started.
“So, I am advising that the government should pick IGPs from among the seven DIGs because security is not like any other sector. It requires experience. I am happy the present President, I think, will be changing that system because of the last IGP he appointed. So, my advice is if the Federal Government wants to change the Inspector General of Police, it should forget about politics.
“Two, the equipment they give to the Police is not enough. You see a policeman having just five bullets, in a country that these bad boys have taken over. The Police force is meant for internal security. If you do not equip them very well, forget about it.
“All these security agencies are practically ill-equipped, practically ill-motivated because their welfare is not adequately taken care of.”
“From what I am seeing, they do not equip them well, which is not good. You cannot compare the kind of sophisticated weapons and ammunition these bad boys have with that of the police in particular.
“The problem of insecurity in the country cannot be properly addressed if we do not establish state police. The country is too big for a single police force. Why do we have unitary police? “The Federal Government should go along with other forms of police as they have in other climes- the US in particular, where you have federal police, you have state police, and also the local government police, which we see as community police, to take care of all nooks and crannies of the country. We are not going to succeed in tackling crimes headlong unless we create state police.”
On his part, another retired DIG, Taiwo Lakano said, “The security must be perfect. It is also an upshoot of our problem that the economy is not doing well. And I would say the Federal Government will need to work harder to provide needs for the Police to make them very effective.
“When you talk of security, you talk of intelligence. We must have a robust intelligence team that must know what is happening. The function of the DS, NIS, and CIA, all of them must come together. Sometimes, they work at cross purposes.
“If they work in isolation, they cannot achieve results. They need to come together and define a role. The police, apart from being the first contact, should be well equipped and made to be very effective. That will make the police very effective. Then, you have also noticed that the Army is biting more than they can chew. The military boys are everywhere. They have taken over the functions of the police. They are in charge of internal security. And when they are in charge, you provide the need.
“We need technology; we need equipment to tackle crime; we need a lot of recruitment that will make the police very effective. It’s not creating other competing agencies that will make the police effective.
“I am not talking about only the police; the thing is a tripod. One, welfare of police, provision of logistics, and, of course, you need to organize men to work. Policemen are not well taken care of. The salary of a retired CP is under N100, 000. When they are in service, they are more interested in getting more money so that retirement will be peaceful. Retired policemen should be taken care of. So those retiring will know their fate.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Osun State Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, asked members of the public not to lose faith in the security agencies, saying, “We are on ground and ready to protect our schools and children.”
