BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Security experts have argued that insecurity would continue to fester in the country despite fresh directives issued to security agencies by President Muhammadu Buhari to put an end to killings, abductions and mayhem experienced across the nation.
Bihari had last week had a four-hour National Security Council meeting with Service Chiefs. At the first council meeting, President Buhari issued fresh directives to security agencies to rescue all those in captivity across the country and advance the acquisition of intelligence.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Munguno, had said that the President was not happy with the prevailing security situation and has remained a very sad man following deteriorating security in the land on account of the failure of the military and other agencies to tame the menace.
According to him, the last straw was the recent attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train leading to the killing of some passengers and kidnapping of scores.
He said insufficient technology and human intelligence, particularly from the wider society, has led to the persistent war and unless this is defeated, the war might become insurmountable.
Joined by the Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi (rtd) and the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, Monguno said the President cannot be happy when people are being killed left, right and center on a daily basis.
Conveying President Buhari’s demeanor, the NSA said, “A lot of lives are being lost, how can the President be happy in a situation when people are dying? If 10 times something happens, 10 times he will be unhappy and as the father of the nation, he has to express his displeasure.”
However, the NSA said President Buhari has ordered the immediate rescue of all kidnapped persons unhurt using the train attack as a basis. Monguno stated that the President alone cannot completely receive the blame for insecurity in the country as his part (President) is to make strategic decisions, which he has been doing.
“You know, he is just at the managerial level, he gives us instructions. And his displeasure is probably because he feels enough is not being done. So we can’t put this thing on his shoulders completely. He’s at the strategic level, he takes the decisions, but when these things become endless, he has to express concern. And that’s just what he did.”
Fielding a question on why it was difficult to deploy technology, especially in some areas where the military has been having problems, the NSA said, “One, technology is expensive. Technology takes time to acquire since we do not produce this very delicate equipment.”
The NSA criticised the Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, over his comments on security, saying that the governor’s comments could compromise security. He criticised el-Rufai for being a loudmouth, adding that he could indirectly help terrorists re-strategise and in turn, endanger those in captivity.
He said this while responding to a question on el-Rufai’s claim that the military failed to act despite intelligence reports made available to them early enough on the hideout of bandits and planned attacks.
“El Rufai’s comments could compromise the security situation as the bandits can relocate to other destinations if they know that their current hideout is known. The governor spoke about the security agencies knowing who they (bandits) are and where they are. Again, that is dangerous.
“When you start talking too much. You give away a lot. Now, even if they say we know where they are, that in itself is already a problem. Because once you say it, whether it is true or false, the person who has your people in captivity will move to another location. So, sometimes it is best to just keep silent, mum is the word,” the NSA said.
Reacting, a terrorism and security expert, Rev Fr Anthony Adebayo, said Buhari and the service chiefs lacked the will to surmount insecurity adding that the moment the government resolved to bring an end to insecurity, there won’t be further killing and kidnapping across the country.
Like Monguno, Adebayo said the service chiefs are underperforming adding that Buhari himself laid the foundation for the ineffectiveness and deficiency of the service chiefs. He said the moment Buhari honoured Tukur Buratai, a former Chief of Army Staff after retirement, a signal was sent to other service chiefs of the need to be docile and inactive while in service because they would be celebrated for it.
The expert said, “The president, himself, actually laid the foundation for the ineffectiveness and deficiency of the service chiefs. And why am I saying that? These ones have not performed better than the other ones. During the time of Buratai and all those other service chiefs and there was an outcry from Nigerians urging the President to change them. The president took a lot of time before he changed them and removed Buratai and others.
“Even after they left service, the president awarded them with ambassadorial positions. So, when you do that, you have laid the foundation that others coming behind them do not need to perform. So, I don’t blame this set of service chiefs for not performing. Because, if I give you a job and you are not doing the job well, and the next thing is that I now reward you with another appointment that is of national significance and importance as well, then, what I am simply saying is that even though you have not done well, it doesn’t matter, you can take up a higher appointment so that anybody coming after you is at liberty to do the same thing as you did.
“So, I think it is us Nigerians who are actually bothered. The government is not bothered. When you rewarded Buratai and his cohorts with ambassadorial positions, what do you expect? And the most important thing in crime is deterrence, and so, when you remove deterrence from crime, you have simply said crime is acceptable and it’s to go on the way it is.
“So, his meeting with service chiefs is a good one but he (Buhari) actually caused the problem. If he had punished or removed the former service chiefs and put them insignificance in the national consciousness, then, these other ones will buckle up and perform. When you reward those who have done nothing, other service chiefs will expect a pat at the back even after their failures.”
The security expert fingered the lack of political will to fight insecurity as a major enabler of crimes and criminalities in the country. “Our major problem is the political will to fight these bandits. We have given the armed forces more than enough to fight banditry. We have spent too much money on banditry and all this stuff.
“If you (government) create a system that multiplies criminals, and you are also saying, let’s see if we can multiply soldiers, and police. What you should be doing is to deter criminals and when that happens, we don’t need so many people to now begin to fight crime. But when we continue to increase crime, that means we will keep increasing their fighters and that will now take a toll on our finances. So, that means the money that should go to education, health, infrastructure, and work will now begin to go to unnecessary spending on crime and crime prevention. So, under crime prevention, we have deterrence.
“Let’s come back to the political will. Sheik Gumi has been to the bandits several times and he is not hiding it. He is saying it. How can Gumi visit the camp and the soldiers don’t know the place?
“The other thing that baffles me is that when these bandits are going, they go with about 200 motorcycles; how can they go from village to village without anyone monitoring them and no one asking them questions. Until the government makes up its mind that insecurity must end, it will not end
“
“The federal government has no excuse to be wasting our money since they know where the bandits are. Nigeria is not a rich country and we are wasting so much money. When we say we have oil, Saudi Arabia has 8million barrels of oil per day and the money to prosecute the oil, for them is like digging a borehole and they are making so much money. Here we are, with 2million barrels per day, we know how much money we use in prosecuting it. Are they saying the bandits are more than the Nigerian Army. Get Gumi and he will take you there.
“Boko Haram people have been rehabilitated and freed but many of them have returned to crimes. There is a social identity theory in criminology, that is the ‘we against them’. All we need to do is to decimate the ‘we against them’ through diligence prosecution. If you want to discourage criminality, you punish those who are already in it. But, when you are not doing anything to them, then you are sending a signal to others to be emboldened.
“If you are freeing those who are caught in action, what are you telling others? The government should demonstrate readiness to fight these people. Already, we are spending too much on insecurity. The money for insecurity in the last budget was more than the one for health, infrastructure, and others. If you are sincere in fighting them, go to where they are. Why do we have technology? With GPS, you can locate anything wherever. These guys are not in tunnels, they are not underground, those who were kidnapped from the train were in an open place in the forest.
The government lacks the will to get these people and we keep borrowing every day for insecurity. All of them together, Boko Haram, unknown gunmen, are less than ten thousand and are so insignificant for the armed forces to quash if there is a will for it.
“The argument by NSA that the government doesn’t know the place to get technology or how to is lame. Sometimes, this government talks as if they are talking to fools. It’s a matter of preference and priority and not that technology is expensive.
“If they (government) want to end it, they will. The world has gone beyond the lame excuses. Bandits are collecting bags of rice and motorcycles every day. Who is sending these items to them? The other thing that baffles me is that when these bandits are going, they go with about 200 motorcycles; how can they go from village to village without anyone monitoring them and no one asking them questions. Until the government makes up its mind that insecurity must end, it will not end,” he said.
When asked if the security forces in the country are overwhelmed, Adebayo said, “I don’t believe the security agencies are overwhelmed. These terrorists have their base. From their base, they go to some directions. Attack their base and you would have attacked their ten different directions with one base. Go to their base, from where they take off before they go to different directions.
“Make their hideouts difficult for them and capture them. Once these criminals see that there is superior power, they will run. The terrorists and bandits are not as trained as the Nigerian military. The military is not ready to combat the terrorists,” the expert added.
