SIR: Two ugly incidences which happened last week proved the alarming rate of insecurity in the country. These are the attack on the president’s advance team in Katsina State and the Kuje jail break during which many inmates including hardened criminals and suspected Boko Haram members escaped.
Prior to these two simultaneous but unfortunate attacks, it had become evident that the level of insecurity has surged beyond lamentations with many parts of Katsina, Zamfara and Niger states under the firm control of rapacious bandits.
In Kaduna State, the farming communities of Birnin-Gwari, another no go area, had to cough up millions in illegal payments to the criminals for them to return to their farms. Also, within the period, there were reported abductions of clergymen across the length and breadth of the country with some of them losing their precious lives. The recent attack on innocent worshippers in Owo, Ondo State, points the frightening dimension that insecurity has taken. These are aside the havoc that the unknown gunmen continue to wreak in Southeast. Of course, the tales of insecurity bedevilling the country is endless with government looking helpless.
While the primary responsibility of government the world over is the protection of lives and properties, the reverse is the case in Nigeria. If the advance team of the president could be attacked and correction centre located within the nation’s capital breached, it has shown that nowhere is safe in the country.
The question begging for answer is, how did the country find itself in this mess? It is true that the security challenges are part of nation-building process which both developed and developing countries undergo. Even US and other advanced countries had faced similar problems in the course of their nationhood. However, at issue is how they managed the challenges to navigate the troubled waters. For Nigeria, billions or trillions of naira are said to have been spent to tackle insecurity. Sadly, instead of the security situation to improve, the country continues to plunge into deeper crises with bandits and non-state actors stealing the show. Our security personnel are left with obsolete equipment to face criminals armed with sophisticated weapons.
The recent directive by Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, to his people to apply for gun licences to defend themselves against bandits merely restate the obvious facts about government’s failure to protect lives and properties. Though, Zamfara State governor’s directive has received mixed reactions from Nigerians, including the Chief of Defence staff who kicked against it, he is not the first to make such a call. His colleagues, the governors of Benue and Katsina had times without numbers called their people to arm and protect themselves. If we can recall, the southwest governors floated a regional security outfit and codenamed it, Amotekum. Interestingly, amidst the brick-bats between the governors and federal government on the constitutional legality of establishing the outfit, Amotekum has since justified its establishment. It has waged and declared total war against criminals and complemented federal government security architecture.
There is therefore now the need for constitutional amendment that will guarantee state police. Our quasi-federalism should allow the adoption of multi-level police to work in unison with the federal security establishment towards addressing insecurity in the country. The success story of Civilian JTF in the fight against Boko Haram in Borno State and Amotekun in southwest proves the imperative of state police. The current security arrangements where the federal government has the monopoly over country’s internal security cannot work in the 21st century. Let state governments recruit own security outfit who have the knowledge of their terrain. By so doing, the rising cases of insecurity will be nipped in the bud.
- Ibrahim Mustapha,
Pambegua, Kaduna State.