By Mike Kebonkwu
The intensity of insecurity is palpable across the six geopolitical zones of the federation with grave consequences that the ordinary citizens contend with on daily basis. The insurgency in the northeast is gradually paling into insignificance compared with the atrocious attacks and kidnapping on the roads from the north to south – again on daily basis.
The security forces and the police clearly are either overwhelmed or impotent or both in the face of the banditry that is commonplace even in the federal capital territory.
Five years going, over 100 of the Chibok girls are still in captivity in the northeast in the hand of the insurgents. Leah Sharibu has been left for a martyr of faith in her quest for knowledge and education in the midst of backward cultural and religious tradition that deny the girl-child formal education unless for the children of the elites.
In Zamfara and Katsina states, bandits and government officials hold round table talks with the security agencies in attendance and yet the carnage in these states has not been assuaged. Reports have it that Damaturu–Maiduguri road has become slaughter slab where the insurgents butcher travellers on daily basis and abduct others for ransom.
Kidnappers have virtually taken over Kaduna–Abuja roads till date. Abuja–Lokoja and Okene roads have become shared territory between armed robbers and kidnappers as they take turn on daily basis. Ekiti, Ondo and Ilesha roads down to Lagos have their fair share of the banditry and kidnappings.
The victims are ordinary Nigerians commuting from one place to the other in search of their daily bread. Truckloads of commuters are kidnapped and taken into the forest and subjected to agonising torture and some of them lose their lives while the kidnapers negotiate ransom with hapless relatives.
The security agencies are not able to track and rescue victims and instead in some cases wait to assist to funnel prize money to the kidnappers only to tell the public that no ransom was paid.
The peoples’ confidence is waning on the ability of the security forces and the police as well as the sincerity of the government in tackling insecurity.
People have tried to organize neighbourhood security watches in the form of vigilante in their domains to augment whatever little effort the state appears to be making which is uninspiring. Insecurity has therefore become the signature tune of the state under the APC-led government. What is to be done?
One of the indices of a failed state is not just absence of a central authority or government but inability of the state to secure its citizens and territorial boundaries. Sadly, this is the situation that stares us in the face today.
It is an incontrovertible fact that today, by every calibration, the bloated bureaucracy of government has failed to provide safe environment for people to engage in their day to day activities to earn a living. This is the situation we have found ourselves at home, in the work place, on the road and even at play.
Security failure is steering us in the face like a moving train anywhere you go. In the face of the unrelenting insecurity, some security agencies have decided to withdraw their personnel in some of the places where some concerned citizens are already appealing to the federal government to prevail on them not to do so for now.
Self-preservation remains the first law of nature. Where there is a social contract for the state to provide security for the citizens and the state becomes unable to fulfil that responsibility, it is not for the citizen to submit to men of criminal underworld, gangsters and hooligans that have carved territories for themselves.
One watches with chagrin the fixation and paranoia of some state officials and groups about the Southwest governors’ security initiative, code-named Operation AMOTEKUN.
Before we are consumed in inflammatory and divisive condemnation of this laudable initiative by whatever tag we may prefer to give it, whether ethnic militia, which it is not, regional police, which appears not within their contemplation, let us sit down and reflect on the burden and yoke of insecurity that the government has lost all initiative to deal with across the country especially, in that same southwest region.
Contrary to the magisterial declaration of the attorney general and minister of justice that Amotekun as illegal, I am not aware of any law that says that citizens as individuals and groups should not protect themselves when under siege when the government has not provided them with security.
If any such law by any means exist, then it is a bad law and citizens have no duty to subject themselves to such law.
We appear not able to appreciate the dire security situation in the country which ordinarily, a foresighted government should have declared a state of emergency in order to deal with it.
In a federal system, it is the duty of the federating states and regions to do whatever it can to complement the federal government to create an environment for people to go about their lawful duties without fear and attract investors through good governance.
I do not share the sentiment and legalism of the attorney general and minister of justice when he declared that Amotekun is illegal because he did not see any law creating it.
Furthermore, it is pedantic to also conclude that the constitution provides only for the armed forces and the police to provide security and so states cannot organize security outfit whenever the need arises to deal with a peculiar situation.
I do not wish to dwell on the initiative or draw parallel with some states that have one form of security outfit or the order like the Hisbah police, Civil Joint Task Force (JTF) which carries lethal weapons and operate alongside members of the armed forces which though it is true but quite a divisive distraction to the main issue.
Read Also: Finally, Tinubu clears the air on Amotekun
The southwest governors need not be bothered about the paranoia of government officials and a few misguided individuals and groups on Amotekun.
People can no longer afford to go and secure bank loan to pay ransom for kidnapped relatives or in some cases where their loved ones are killed because the ransom money did not get to the kidnappers in good time.
It is unacceptable for government not to be able to intervene in emergency security situation like rescuing victims of organized crimes whether it is armed robbery or kidnapping who are using phone and POS to get money from victims without trace or tracking to catch them in the act.
What the southwest governors need to do is to be more creative in the new outfit. They should immediately set in motion a legal framework for Amotekun so that in the event of any matter arising from their activities or operation it would not suffer judicial castration and members of the public could be protected from possible infractions from their activities.
It should be driven by people with good measure of security knowledge which abound even within the southwest and not left for touts and hooligans.
It is not just enough to roll out vehicles and uniforms and assume that is what security outfit should be all about. No. There should be proper structures across the local governments which they can afford. The personnel of the Amotekun should be given good training, well-equipped and highly disciplined.
On the issue of firearms; it should noted that as a government initiative on security of lives and property, the outfit should be armed not with the category of firearms borne by the security agencies. After all, at the moment across most states, we see vigilante groups armed not with repeater rifles but single barrel guns used for hunting.
How can you contemplate a security outfit to combat criminals who are armed with AK 47 rifles and you do not arm them; that would be a huge joke. Those who are arguing that it is creating state police through the back door are mischievous and divisive.
In any case, in the face of the current reality, is state police not an overdue issue? Nigeria is not about to break up if we have responsible leaders with initiative. If the government is able to provide Nigerians across ethnic divides with the needed security and basic infrastructure, we do not have problems with one another whether we come from north, south, east or west.
The truth is that we do not expect the security forces, including the police and other paramilitary organizations to support the initiative as it is a clear vote of no confidence on them to fulfil their constitutional and traditional roles. They will not only frustrate it but may even sponsor fifth columnists and infiltrate it with moles to sabotage it.
It is my humble view that the governors of the southwest should take a second look at the security initiative which they prefer to code name “Operation Amotekun”. Why Operation? In my view, using the catch word operation connotes transient ad hoc-ism.
They need not mimic the Nigerian security forces and the police with all the operations in the world from crocodile smile to puff adder to operation thunder storm which have obviously been more for propaganda and publicity stunt.
If anything is threatening the unity of this country, it is the poor leadership of the ruling class and failure of government across board. Amotekun is indeed an imperative and necessary intervention; we should not shoot it down.
- Kebonkwu Esq. writes from Abuja.
Leave a Reply