Nigerians have accepted insecurity as part of life – TheNigerialawyer

Azuka Onwuka

It has become obvious to most Nigerians that criminals have
overwhelmed the Nigerian security architecture. A number of things
happened last week to make this message stronger. Governor Aminu
Masari of Katsina State met with representatives of the bandits in
his state. At the meeting, Masari, who is the governor of President
Muhammadu Buhari’s home state, showed his unhappiness that the
commanders of the bandits did not attend the meeting. He therefore
directed the secretary to the state government to fix a meeting
between him and the bandits’ commanders in the forest this
week.

An old picture was used to illustrate the helplessness of
government in the face of insecurity in the country. In the
picture, a gun-wielding bandit was flanked by Governor Masari and
an army officer. The message that could be interpreted from the
picture was: Overwhelmed, the government is begging criminals to
drop their arms as the only way for security to return to
Nigeria!

Last week too, some residents of Borno State wrote an open
letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, complaining about the
repeated attacks from Boko Haram and the incapacity of the military
to counter the attacks.

Puncturing the oft-repeated statement that Boko Haram had been
defeated, the letter, which was signed by Hassan Boguma, a
traditional ruler, noted: “You are either fed with false
information, or raising hopes of technical defeat of the Boko Haram
which is far from the truth.” It added: “The recent systematic
attacks on Gubio, a strategic battalion, and forcing them to
withdraw, is not only a shame but a slap on the face of our armed
forces and a smack of mockery and abuse on the strength and
professionalism of our armed forces which was once a formidable
force in Africa.”

The letter went further to state:

“Your Excellency, while lauding the efforts of the Nigerian Army
for their gallantry in other parts of the state, much is needed to
be done in areas around MMC and Jere and in recent attacks on
Nganzai, Gajiganna, Gubio, Magumeri, Amurwa, Kalali Abdul, Wanori
and yesterday, Dalori villages. The incessant and daring attacks by
BHT are becoming a source of great concern to citizens living in
the two local governments and five villages simultaneously attacked
for three days without any countermeasures or even a response to
distress calls from the locals.

“A country’s armed forces are supposed to be proud and patriotic
defenders of both the nation’s territories and its citizens, but
our today’s men of the armed forces are either overwhelmed by the
desire to amass wealth by all means and, on the blood of innocent
Nigerian citizens, or have been compromised by theories of
conspiracy and collaboration by deserting their formations in the
face of attacks by the insurgents.”

The same last week too, pictures and videos of a huge crowd
trying to buy tickets at the Kaduna railway office for the journey
to Abuja were shared. It was alleged that tickets were usually sold
for some 20 minutes and the officials would say that tickets had
been exhausted. Because of the desperation of people to buy train
tickets, the officials hoarded the tickets and sold them at
exorbitant prices to those who would be willing to pay. The reason
for the huge crowd was because of the fear of kidnapping on the
Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.

Similarly, commuters along the Benin-Sagamu Expressway, the
Ibadan-Ife Expressway and other highways travel with anxiety
because of the fear of highway kidnappers. Those who can afford air
tickets have abandoned road trips. Many who cannot afford air
travel or those who are afraid of it only travel when it is
absolutely necessary.

The usual message from the Presidency whenever a prominent
attack occurs that this administration would bring the criminals to
book is seen as a cliché repeated for the sake of saying something.
Many have reached the conclusion that the Buhari government has no
solution to the insecurity in the land.

This year, the violence from the Boko Haram sect clocked 10
years. For the past 10 years, Nigerians have been bearing the brunt
of the violence of this terrorist group, with over 20,000 people
killed and hundreds abducted. Nobody imagined that their menace
would last this long. There is also no sign that it is about to
disappear from the scene. Similarly, kidnapping for ransom seems to
have become a part of us. Nobody knows when it will stop or if it
will stop at all. Everything about the security of Nigerians has
been left in the hands of God. Ironically, Buhari is a retired
major general of the Nigerian Army, who was seen as someone who
would use his military expertise to curb the insecurity in the land
when he came into office in 2015.

Sadly, Nigeria is being compared to countries that don’t have a
stable or recognisable government like Afghanistan, Iraq, and
Yemen. News of killings never surprises most Nigerians anymore. In
addition to the deaths caused by criminals, there are also
perennial killings caused by communal or ethnic disputes.

Some days ago, a priest was killed and burnt in his car while he
was engaged in peace efforts between the warring Jukun and Tiv in
Taraba State. The Rev. Fr. David Tanko was on his way to Takum from
Amadu when he was attacked and killed in Southern Taraba.
Similarly, two students and a member of staff of the Federal
University, Wukari in Taraba State were also killed, prompting the
university authorities to shut down the institution. There are
several other hot spots where ethnic crises occur intermittently.
Whenever they occur, most Nigerians look away because they are seen
as “family affair.”

Having seen that the Federal Government is incapable of solving
this insecurity problem, states are adopting different measures.
Last week, in the South-West, the governors obtained an approval to
float a joint task force named Western Nigeria Security Network. In
the South-East, the governors reached a decision not to allow
herdsmen to move around with guns and machetes. The communiqué also
said: “We also agreed that we have to put measures in place to
restrain movement of herdsmen and their cattle from one state to
another which is a source and point of conflict with the natives
and farmers.”

Insecurity in Nigeria has reached a frightening level that the
people have become helpless, having seen that the Federal
Government is helpless. There are three things that have become
apparent. The first is that the inequality displayed by the current
administration in its handling of the affairs of a diverse country
like Nigeria is fuelling insecurity in the land. The second is that
the administration’s poor handling of the economy, which is making
the people poorer, is also fuelling insecurity. The third is that
the Federal Government does not have the capacity to fully control
the security challenges facing the country. Therefore, the states
need to be empowered to take charge of the security within their
territories, to make the work of securing the people and the
country yield more results. This is a reality that Nigerians have
to face.

–Twitter @BrandAzuka

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!