Governors’ penchant for granting amnesty to organised criminal gangs is a dangerous method of combating criminality. At elaborate ceremonies, the gangsters submit their arms and seemingly renounce criminality. But events thereafter show that the hoodlums think far ahead of the governors and the police. It is a lethargic response to our security concerns that should change.
It is a weird strategy that has been practised in Rivers, Imo and Benue states, among others. The gangsters, as incarnation of mindless evil, are the masterminds of armed robbery, kidnapping, rape and assassination cases. About 2,000 of them surrendered their weapons to the Amnesty Committee set up by Governor Nyesom Wike, in Isiokpo, Rivers State, on October 22. On November 15, the chairman of the Rivers State Amnesty Committee, Ken Chinda, who is also a Special Adviser to the governor, in a report he submitted to his boss, said, altogether, 22,430 gang members and militants had embraced the amnesty programme so far. But those indifferent to the gesture were declared “enemies of the state.”
In Imo State, Governor Rochas Okorocha had in September received 1,000 criminal suspects, as they gave up their arms and ammunition. In Benue State, Governor Samuel Ortom had earlier granted amnesty to a notorious criminal, Terwase Akwaza, alias Ghana, who dropped 84 rifles after his “repentance.” No fewer than 135 other rifles and 770 rounds of ammunition were recovered from other hoodlums who had earlier capitulated.
The anxieties of these governors as Chief Security Officers of their states are understandable. But the modus operandi they have adopted in curbing criminality is patently illegal, and not in accord with Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution. The section grants a governor the power of prerogative of mercy, which he could dispense to criminals after they had been convicted or punished.
However, nothing in the mood of the hoodlums who gave up their arms at Isiokpo, smiling, jumping excitedly and waving their AK 47 rifles in the air, demonstrated penitence. This is why some critics, even in the state, have carpeted the governor’s action as a charade, or a politically inspired act. One of such, Emeka Amadi, said, “…the government is compensating the bad boys in the name of amnesty. Then, what happens to the families of those they murdered?” This is a question begging for an answer, not just in Rivers, but in all other states where this is in vogue.
Barely six weeks after Okorocha granted the gangsters reprieve, the state’s police boss, Taiwo Lakanu, paraded 40 robbery suspects, involved also in kidnapping and murderous activities. Ortom will ever regret being beguiled by Akwaza with his purported atonement. Some months later, the confessed criminal was alleged to have engineered the assassination of his Senior Special Assistant on Security, Denen Igbani, in his house, prompting the governor to declare him wanted since August, and a N5 million bounty placed on him. He is reported to have over 200 boys working for him – in criminal escapades across Benue and Taraba states.
State governors should stop falling for the chicanery of hoodlums surrendering arms and ammunition and falsely embracing the path of rectitude. As they provide state police commands with logistics – procuring hundreds of pick-up vans annually for patrol, communication gadgets, and other equipment for their operational efficiency – they should task the police to battle the criminals and bring them to justice in line with the dictates of the law.
What sense does it really make if a gangster turns in one AK 47 rifle, but hides a dozen others for his operations? A felon pardoned in the Imo, Rivers and Benue states style, who goes underground, is likely to go off the radar of the police. This will give him the carte blanche to inflict more havoc on the society and entrench an endless cycle of criminal violence. It is a lesson the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta should teach the governors and the police after billions of naira spent on an amnesty programme.
In dealing with this growing crime, its political cradle should not be forgotten. The confession of a reported millionaire – kingpin of the underworld, Zakeri Isiaka, from Kogi State, should awaken the Federal Government and all Nigerians to the need for a concerted action against it. He had volunteered that he would have been the Chief Security Officer of the state if Abubakar Audu had not died, given his hard work during the November 2015 governorship election. A daring suspected robber, assassin and thug, he was arrested on October 23, along the Okene-Akure highway and transferred to Police Headquarters, Abuja, where he opened up on his operations and funding.
Indeed, these hoodlums are creations and clients of unscrupulous politicians who want to capture power by all means. Therefore, the country should redefine its democratic process to avoid building an army of miscreants that undermine our collective security. Again, this menace is why state policing has become imperative, and for the government to exhibit the power to enforce its writ against criminality.
