Burdened by a virulent crime wave, state governors in the South-West are putting aside their political differences to confront the monster frontally. Already, the governors of Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Ogun and Ekiti states have advanced in their project to establish “Operation Amotekun,” a regional security initiative targeted at cutting the rampaging criminals to size. First, the concerned governors have started building the super-structure with the provision of infrastructure, including patrol vans, motorcycles, communication gadgets and the recruitment of personnel. With proper funding, motivation of personnel, transparency and skilled leadership, the outfit could open the door to the devolution of Nigeria’s policing architecture.
Through the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria Commission, the governors put in motion their intention to tackle the menace. Essentially, each of the five states will provide at least 20 patrol vans and high-capacity motorbikes to the pool. As for the personnel, they will come from the ones the Federal Government has already deployed in the states. Although this is not ideal, the region has to make do with the current federal arrangement. Nevertheless, this should not hinder the project. In this light, the governors have to make Operation Amotekun a success, so that its efficacy might trigger the decentralisation of the country’s policing structure.
Truly, Nigeria is in the midst of a dangerous security crisis, although the South-West had been largely spared the militancy in the Niger Delta, Islamist terrorism and the bloody Fulani herdsmen onslaught that have defined the Fourth Republic. The Buhari administration’s half-hearted approach in tackling the herders’ terrorism and kidnapping has allowed the problem to become entrenched. In this, the Senate admitted last April that 4,000 Nigerians were in kidnappers’ den. The United Nations said 1,400 persons were killed in the first half of 2019. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, said 1,071 were killed and 685 kidnapped in the first quarter. For a country that is not at war, these are grim statistics.
With these crimes dispersing, the region was somehow caught napping. This was evident in the series of dastardly incidents on the highways in the region, which were linked largely to the bandits displaced from the North-West and sometimes the Niger Delta militants. Currently, no part of the region is deemed safe anymore. Just last month, bandits suspected to be Fulani herdsmen hijacked a commercial bus on the Akure-Ilesa Expressway, abducting more than half of the passengers between Otan-Ile and Imesi in Obokun, Osun State. It took the initial efforts of local hunters, vigilantes and O’odua People’s Congress members and later the police and State Security Service to secure their freedom.
On the same expressway, dare-devil bandits attacked the convoy of Ondo Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, in June. Not too far away from the Akure-Ilesa Expressway, the bandits bared their fangs in May when they abducted a professor of medicine at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Olayinka Adegbehingbe, on the Ibadan-Ife Expressway. According to the surgeon, he was forced to cough up N5.05 million to secure his release. Similarly, three people travelling between Lagos and Ibadan suffered the same fate last July. It took days for them to regain their freedom. In Ondo and Ekiti states, other high profile kidnapping incidents, particularly on the Sagamu-Benin Expressway, made the headlines. As expected, these breaches raised fear and tension, compelling the governors to activate Operation Amotekun.
To institutionalise the fight against crime, the conveners of the outfit should put efficient leadership in place. This way, the coordinator will collaborate with the local security groups, who know the terrain better, to identify the flashpoints where kidnapping and other violent crimes are rife. The leadership should also be able to interface with other security agencies. At periodic intervals, the governors should assess rigorously the operations of the outfit to ensure that it does not stray from the set goals. Currently, corruption has marred the image of the federal police. Operation Amotekunshould not descend into that abyss, where its officers could be deployed to parties or settle family/personal feuds. Technology should be a priority: helicopters, drones, CCTVs and other tech gadgets deployed in surveillance, which some of the governors have promised. This will aid the predictive policing trend that is becoming the norm elsewhere. A mechanism to monitor the officers should be established.
Perpetrators should be held to account as crime is blind to political affiliation. There should be prompt and diligent prosecution of suspects to tackle the widespread crime. Governors in the different regions, no matter their political parties, should come together in the interest of their people and peace. This way, they can find specific local solutions to their security issues. On his own, Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has taken the lead in this respect by reportedly recruiting 1,000 special local hunters to fight the Boko Haram terrorists in the state. Other state governors in the region should join forces with Zulum to deepen the arrangement. The governors in the North-West, where bandits have turned kidnapping for ransom into a lucrative business, should proffer a regional solution through such partnerships.
Ultimately, Nigeria needs to reform its security structure. The current set-up anchored on a single police system, is a recipe for insecurity. Across the world, federal systems are unique for having decentralised policing. There are more than one tier of policing in the United States, Australia, Canada, Belgium, India, Germany and Brazil. Proactively, the United Kingdom, a unitary polity, operates decentralised policing, having 43 police forces in England and Wales.
Without toeing this line, the current chaos will intensify. Therefore, the Nigerian leadership should stop living in denial of the best global practices of federalism. The Presidency, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the National Assembly and state assemblies should urgently amend the constitution to decentralise the Nigeria Police Force.
