A report by the human rights organisation, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Inter-society), that 950 Southeast locations are occupied by bandits, herdsmen and kidnappers, is, besides being alarming, a reminder of how vulnerable and unpoliced communities are across the country. It is also a clarion call on the government to step up activities to reclaim the swathes of ungoverned spaces terrorists and criminals have illegally annexed, and thereby put a stop to ravaging criminality, including kidnapping and banditry.
The report, a private initiative of Inter-society, revealed that the 950 locations are spread across more than 800 communities, which represent about 40 per cent of the 1,940 communities in the zone. The report said these communities are “gravely under bandits and herdsmen” and that it is from these locations the terrorists launch their banditry, kidnapping and other criminal activities around the Southeast.
Although the report in issue concerns the Southeast, there is no doubt that many other parts of the country are similarly occupied by criminal elements perpetrating the same atrocities. There are enough news reports on this to attest to the fact, and when it is juxtaposed with millions of unsupervised and unregistered motorcyclists being used presumably for commercial purposes across the country, the danger upon which Nigerians sit is unmistakable.
Government needs to be reminded that its foremost constitutional responsibility is the security and welfare of the people. Sadly, the reality regarding citizens’ daily existence is insecurity, manifesting in mass killings and destruction of properties by terrorists and bandits in the six geopolitical zones. Whereas the government at the federal and state levels swore on oath to uphold the provisions of the Constitution, there is an undeniable failure on the part of the operators of the Constitution to secure the people. Nigerians, daily, witness needless killings and terrorists’ disruption of economic and social activities in communities. Many communities have abandoned farmlands and homelands to terrorists and are cramped in internally displaced persons’ camps, the safety of which is often not guaranteed, because terrorists are known to raid the camps. The highways are no longer safe. The statistics are worrisome.
In April and May, at least 270 people were reportedly killed across 10 local government areas in Benue, indicating that hundreds of communities have become vulnerable and have no presence of security agencies. That is not acceptable.
In May, gunmen launched deadly attacks on the Munga Lelau community in Karim Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State, killing 30 people and razing houses and food stores running into millions of naira. Apart from Benue and Plateau, Taraba is another hotbed of repeated, targeted and random killings veiled as farmers/herders’ clashes. The civilised world has since moved on with modern livestock keeping methods, but sadly, Nigeria is stuck with the ancient open grazing of animals. We challenge governors to invest in modern ranches and enforce a ban on open grazing.
In Kogi State, kidnappers are on the prowl for victims. Between April and May, reports indicated that 28 persons were abducted in 25 days, in addition to occupants of three commercial passenger buses travelling through the state at the time.
The situation in Kogi is grimmer on account of terrorists’ resort to bestiality. Reports indicated that kidnapped victims suffer the double jeopardy of having their limbs chopped off by terrorists, a sinister dimension to the insecurity nightmare. Many victims have died in the den of terrorists, after ransoms had been paid. A retired Army Major, Joe Ajayi, was found dead after he was kidnapped from his home in Odo-Ape, Kabba Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State, despite a ransom of N10 million paid for his rescue. The spokesperson of the Kogi State Police Command, Williams Ovye-Aya, confirmed this incident.
In some other states, kidnappers killed dozens of their victims after collecting huge ransoms from their relatives. The dastardly action is presumably to prevent the identification of the criminals by their victims, and/or failure to respond to the ransom demand. Everything points to outright failure of the government to protect the people, turning the country into one big jungle where only the fittest or the best armed survive.
There are numerous other incidents across the country portraying the heartlessness of the criminals. The government needs to be more decisive to stamp them out. The terrorists deserve no mercy, given the enormous casualties they have inflicted on security personnel.
In particular, the government should follow up on the Inter-society report and comb the Southeast and other forests using technology and modern warfare to complement efforts of the army, police and forest guards, as well as local vigilantes working to protect their communities. Government cannot claim not to know how unsafe the communities have become. After all, the government has the mandate, authority and resources to defend the territorial integrity of the country.
President Tinubu is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. In states, governors are the Chief Security Officers of their states. According to Inter-society, governments in the Southeast are aware of the insecurity in the region. The NGO blamed governors and traditional rulers of the Southeast for ceding away community lands without requisite security checks. Let the process of land management and acquisition be sanitised and accountable.
Government at the state and federal levels should take security far more seriously than they have done. This is the time to devolve policing to states and communities. Government should make intelligence gathering at the community level a priority. Security, like governance, is local, and it will help to allow the communities to sort out their security challenges.
This is the time for authorities to rethink strategies for combating terrorism. Previous efforts have not yielded positive results despite increased defence budgets. Something is amiss, and decentralising the police system, through real federalism, may help plug the loophole. Other federal systems have layers of policing – federal, state, municipal, council and county. Nigeria cannot be the exception. The application of true federalism is the most visible solution to tackle insecurity in the country. Let this government be decisive to reclaim the forests and communities. Let the impact of the newly formed Forest Guards be felt across the country.
