The omens are not good with the increasing rate of insecurity nationwide. In this analysis, YUSUF ALLI, MANAGING EDITOR, NORTHERN OPERATION examines why Nigeria is on the edge – contending with Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast, bandits in the Northwest, kidnappers and sundry criminals everywhere else. Additional reports form BISI OLANIYI (South-south Bureau Chief); RASAQ IBRAHIM (Ado-Ekiti); MIKE ODIEGWU (Port Harcourt) and OSAGIE OTABOR (Akure).

In the beginning

Smarting from the abduction of 276 school girls by Boko Haram from Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, on the night of 14-15 April 2014, it was easier for Nigerians to buy into the security agenda of Muhammadu Buhari, who was presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the 2015 presidential election.

Buhari overstretched himself to reassure a depressed nation that he will secure the country. In his inaugural speech, he said: “Boko Haram is not only the security issue bedeviling our country. The spate of kidnappings, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle rustlings all help to add to the general air of insecurity in our land.

“We are going to erect and maintain an efficient, disciplined people – friendly and well – compensated security forces within overall security architecture.”

The APC campaign machinery had branded former President Goodluck Jonathan a ‘clueless’ leader to underscore his inability to tackle the myriad of challenges confronting Nigeria – especially insecurity.

The situation today

After being in the saddle for five years, it is becoming crystal clear to the president and his team that managing the security architecture of a nation is not a tea-party. Armed with his experience as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) in 1982 when he overran some Maitatsine fundamentalists and chased them to Chad, Buhari was optimistic of easily tackling Nigeria’s security problems.

But the paradigm has changed. Tactics have become more sophisticated and criminals more hi-tech than the military, the police and other security agencies.

Capturing the mood of the country, the Sultan of Sokoto and President of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, said: “We have security problems in the country. Bandits now go into people’s houses to kidnap and not on the highway anymore. In the last couple of days, they are going into institutions. In Zaria, they went to ABU and the polytechnic and took away people,” he said.

The Sultan said that in the Northwest, in particular, people can’t sleep with their eyes closed and lamented that even on Wednesday, a village was razed down in Sokoto but people don’t hear about such incidents.

“The insecurity in the North is so high that people are afraid of travelling from Funtua (Katsina State) to Zaria (Kaduna State); a journey of about 48 or 50 miles. This is not to talk of from Sokoto to Abuja or Kano,” he said.

The Buhari administration has had more than a fair share of security problems with the frontiers now extended to farmers-herders conflicts and banditry in states like Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Nasarawa, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Ekiti, and others. No state is immune to security stress but the magnitude differs from state to state.

According to data compiled from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a Washington D.C-based non-profit organization, there have been 47,000 deaths from ‘all’ actors, (Boko Haram, armed ‘bandits’ and ‘criminals’) from 2015 up to 31 January 2020).

But killings by the insurgents have assumed more dangerous proportion than any security threat. On February 19, 2018 at 5:30 pm, 110 schoolgirls aged 11–19 years old were kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents from Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC) in Dapchi.

Research by BBC Monitoring claimed that at least 967 people were killed by Boko Haram attacks in 2017, while 910 deaths were recorded in the previous year (2016). In its 2019 report, Amnesty International reported that Boko Haram carried out 31 attacks that resulted in at least 378 civilian deaths.

The group also killed at least 16 abducted civilians. It also reported that at least 96 people were killed in violent clashes between farmers’ and herders’ communities while not less than 570 people lost their lives, probably to banditry, in five states in the Northwest Nigeria during the same period.

Kidnapping has also become the norm with the nation recording a leap from a skeletal rate in 2003 to a jumbo level. ENACT, which is funded by the European Union, stated: “Niger Delta states – notably Delta, Edo and Abia – have long been the epicentre of kidnapping in the country. In the past three years, Kaduna has also become a hotspot.

According to a Nigeria-based security company Bulwark Intelligence, based on incidents reported in the local media from January 2018 to September 2018, states that recorded the highest numbers of incidents include Kaduna, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Zamfara, and Katsina.

“According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), using data from law enforcement agencies of member states, 277 kidnappings were reported in Nigeria in 2007; 309 in 2008; 703 in 2009; 738 in 2010; 600 in 2012; and 574 in 2013. No data were provided for 2011. In 2015, the Nigeria Police Force reported 886 kidnappings. About 630 people were reportedly abducted between May 2016 and May 2017.

A report by Quartz Africa said: “Nigeria has one of the world’s highest rates of kidnap-for-ransom cases. Other countries high up on the list included Venezuela, Mexico, Yemen, Syria, the Philippines, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.”

Also, a recent investigation by Daily Trust indicated that 1,570 people were abducted in 11 months in this year alone. The kidnappers were said to have demanded N6.9billion but the victims could only pay N311million.

The worst violence was the massacre by Boko Haram of 48 rice farmers in Zabarmari, a few kilometres away from Maiduguri, Borno State capital.

Problems hindering fight against insecurity

A major setback is low or poor defence budget. Over the years, Nigeria had failed to prioritize funding of its defence because of its stable democracy. A World Bank report claimed that between 1999 and 2007, the nation’s defence budget was between $0.49b and $0.97billion. It was the same challenge Nigeria faced between 1985 and 1999 during the administrations of ex-President Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Ernest Shonekan, Gen. Sani Abacha and Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami. From $1.09b in 1985, defence budget shrunk as low as $0,1b in some years,

According to findings, there had been a steady increase in challenges without corresponding funding.  The World Bank report gave a breakdown of the nation’s defence budget in recent years as follow

• 2018 ($2.04b) a 26.02% increase from 2017;
• 2017 was $1.62B, a 5.92% decline from 2016.
• 2016 was $1.72B, a 16.57% decline from 2015.
• 2015 was $2.07B, a 12.39% decline from 2014.

A military source said: “With low defence budget, it means we have been experiencing depletion of armaments, coping with overused hardware and we became bare-handed over a long period.

“By the time multiple security challenges confronted the country, recession has made us vulnerable and we could no longer replenish our stock. Also, some hardware we ought to have acquired over the years became expensive and hard to get at the press of a button. And because of the crises at hand, we spend more on logistics than the equipment we need.”

Recourse to ad-hoc/ stop-gap operations

To tackle the security problems, over 40 operations were launched by the Army, Air Force and Navy. But the ad-hoc or stop-gap operations have overstretched all formations and affected coordination. A source said the measures had proved more costly than expected.

Although it was gathered that the stop-gap tactics were designed to get all the armed forces involved, the success rate has been low because of constant change of guards. Some of these operations include the oldest launched in July 2015 called Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Operation RATTLE SNAKE, Operation RUWAN WUTA I,II,III, Operation LAST HOLD(North-East);  Operations SHARAN DAJI,  HADARIN DAJI, HARBIN KUNAMA, DOKAJI,KARAMIN GORO and ACCORD(North-West); Operations HARBIN KUNAMA, SAFE HAVEN, NUTCRACKER, CAT RACE and WHIRL STROKE in North-Central, Operations PYTHON DANCE I, ATILOGWU, EGWU EKE(Python Dance II)in the South-East;  DELTA SAFE, IBAKA among others in the South-South. For the South West, there were Operation Python Dance III and Operation 777.

But during a weekly briefing, the Coordinator Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, said the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies “have continued their major operations across the country with dynamism”.

He said:  “The gallant troops made contact with the terrorists and effectively engaged and dominated them with According to him, in the North West, troops of Operation HADARIN DAJI and other subsidiary operations have sustained their operations progressively.”

Lack of continuity

In 2014, the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan floated some counter-terrorism policies including ,a multi-layer communication structure for implementing National Counter-Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST), which were later abandoned. Also, towards the tail end of his government, Jonathan engaged some foreign mercenaries to assist in curtailing Boko Haram. Despite the success of the mercenaries, the Buhari administration discontinued the policy and disengaged the foreign fighters.

PR Nigeria, which was an undercover propaganda machinery of the military during the Jonathan era gave some insights into how the mercenaries came about. It said: “During the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria had covertly brought in ‘military-technical advisers’ suspected to be mercenaries from South Africa and the former Soviet Union to take on Boko Haram ahead of the national election in 2015.

“Several regional security, defence and diplomatic sources were aware of the development at the time – including a tacit confirmation by President Jonathan that two companies were providing “trainers and technicians” to help Nigerian forces.

“Speaking to PRNigeria under the condition of anonymity, one of the facilitators of the “soldiers of fortune” bemoaned the humiliation, persecution and prosecution of foreign mercenaries along with their Nigerian counterparts who participated in the operation after the emergence of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said: “Some of our covert operations and activities of operatives in Nigeria including incurred casualties were exposed as working for mercenaries. Imagine that even highly classified and coded transactions for operational purposes were exposed as corruption.”

While noting that some of their payments for operations executed are still outstanding, he said, “It’s easier to confirm what we did because we were able to recover dozens of towns from Boko Haram from at least three states in Northeast at the time. This is an open secret.”

Rivalry among military chiefs

There has been suppressed intra and inter-agency feuds within the nation’s armed forces which at a point affected the consolidation of the gains against Boko Haram and other criminal elements. The rivalry bordered on refusal to share intelligence, solo military manoeuvres, each head of the defence arms seeking the attention of the President and Commander-In-Chief, ambition to become Chief of Defence Staff and taking credit for any successful operation.

But President Buhari and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin succeeded in addressing the cold war to a large extent. In February, Olonisakin was more forthcoming when he said: “There is no doubt that our security forces require synergy and effective collaboration to succeed in the discharge of the onerous task of securing the nation.

“The required synergy transcends the three services of the armed forces to the paramilitary and even NGOs and other stakeholders in our various theatre of operation. This synergy is essential and vital to achieving our common objective of securing Nigeria.

“It will also help in formulating policies and assist the armed forces in its operations. Therefore, you must all display maturity and jettison all the hindrances to synergy and cooperation, such as ego and rivalry.”

Lack of cooperation from neighbouring countries

Nigeria and its neighbours have been part of a strong Multi-National Joint Task Force to “checkmate banditry activities and to facilitate free movement”. The reality is that the neighbours have been patching their military collaboration with each nation striving to defend its sovereignty. In a blog post, Ambassador John Campbell of the Council on Foreign Relations in the United States wrote: “Further, the report finds that participating countries are reluctant to cede command over their own troops to the MNJTF, planning is poorly coordinated, and there is a shortage of funding.

“Participating countries often have different political goals. For example, Crisis Group suggests that the Nigerian government sees the MNJTF as a fig leaf to cover the Chadian military’s operations within Nigerian territory.

“Further, civilian oversight is weak and poorly funded. To that end, Crisis Group recommends enhanced intelligence coordination, establishing clearer lines of authority, and improving the human rights posture. Those participating in the MNJTF should approach the AU and the EU for increased funding.”

What next?

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) still believes the solution to Boko Haram insurgency and other security challenges is collaborating with neighbouring countries and state police.  Only the Southwest has introduced a pseudo-security apparatchik without the support of the Federal Government. But with the surge in insecurity, Nigeria may soon decentralize its security network.

Chairman of the NGF, Dr. Kayode Fayemi said: “I personally, as a security scholar, can see that our military is overwhelmed. Our military is no longer in a position to single-handedly tackle this menace effectively.

“It is not a criticism of our military, there can even be a coalition that will include our neighbouring countries who are probably more experienced in fighting an asymmetrical war. It will not be a loss of our pride as a country if that were to happen. This is certainly something that we, as your colleagues and brothers, will put before Mr. President.”

If things were tough battling insurgents who invade from outside Nigerian territory, the challenge is even worse now in the aftermath of the EndSARS protests that witnessed the killing of policemen and destruction of over 200 police stations across the country.

Today, police presence across the country is a pale shadow of what obtained in the recent past. In interviews with officers and rank and file, there has been a dramatic collapse in morale.

To make matter worse, in a state like Edo close to 2,000 convicts were freed in jailbreaks that occurred during the protests. Many of the inmates are still at large, wreaking havoc on hapless members of the public.

There is also the issue of the centralised control of the police which has resulted in growing frustration on the part of state governors who are ostensibly are chief security officers of their states.

Explaining the situation, Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai recently said: “We (governors) are all frustrated. I am frustrated in my state; many governors are frustrated in their states; we are called chief security officers only in name; we have no control over the army and the police. We are almost helpless. We don’t have a say in police operations, yet we fund some of their operations in our states.

“Some of us have more influence than others, but to a large extent, you ask the commissioner of police to do something and he has to clear with the Inspector-General of Police; this is the reality.

“We are not in control of the police, I don’t determine who gets posted to my state as Commissioner of Police and if I give him directives, he can decide to flout the directives. So, we are all frustrated.”

How politics, criminality heighten insecurity in Edo

Edo, a hitherto relatively-peaceful state, has been in the eye of the storm in the last few months over insecurity, leading to loss of lives of many innocent persons and destruction of valuable property.

Politics and criminality have heightened insecurity in the South-south state, with sophisticated arms and ammunition now in the hands of hoodlums, who are currently terrorising residents across the 18 local government areas, with Benin, the state capital, and its environs, being the worst hit.

During the campaigns and the September 19 Governorship Election in Edo State, it was an open secret that politicians gave guns to thugs to assist them to dominate the electioneering and have upper hands during the poll, which was “won” by Governor Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

While the campaigns and the bloody election were ongoing, guns from political thugs were booming across the state, thereby heightening tension, with panicky residents running for cover, to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

With the crucial election over and the winner announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), politicians found it extremely difficult to withdraw the arms, ammunition and other dangerous weapons from the thugs, which they later started using for armed robbery, kidnapping and cultism, with members of rival cult groups openly brandishing guns in Edo, in supremacy battles.

Shortly after the September 19 election in Edo State came the nationwide peaceful #EndSARS protests, which were later hijacked by violent hoodlums, who shot guns sporadically into the air, without being confronted by security operatives, leading to lawlessness.

On October 19, the hoodlums that hijacked the peaceful #EndSARS protests opted for criminality by looting and razing seven police stations in Edo State, carting away large cache of arms, ammunition, police uniforms and other valuables, while also burning vehicles, including police patrol vans, parked at the police stations, thereby leading to total breakdown of law and order.

The AK-47 rifles, other weapons and ammunition stolen from the invaded and burnt police stations were mostly used by the hoodlums to attack the Maximum Correctional Centre (White House) on Sapele Road and Oko Medium Correctional Centre on Airport Road, both in Benin, freeing 1,993 inmates, including many condemned/hardened criminals, who immediately returned to crime.

While speaking on the increase in criminal activities in Edo, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Babatunde Kokumo, said that officers and men of the command were working within existing limitations to restore normalcy to the state, while assuring that all the criminals would soon be arrested and prosecuted, to serve as a deterrent to others.

Kokumo said: “Is there any magic that we can do without vehicles, without arms and ammunition? How do you expect things to be normal where almost 2,000 inmates escaped?

“Just imagine what it means that three police stations along Sokponba Road, Benin were destroyed and burnt, patrol vehicles were destroyed in many other parts of Edo State. All the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) and other police officers and men in the seven burnt police stations now operate from the state police headquarters (in GRA, Benin).

“The peaceful #EndSARS protests were hijacked by hoodlums. The protests took a violent turn in Edo State, with inmates of the two correctional centres in Benin City set free. So, what do you expect?

“Some of the escapees have been sending threat messages to policemen, who investigated and prosecuted them. One of the escapees, who was convicted for murder, went that same day (October 19 this year) and he killed the prosecution witness in his village, but he was immediately rearrested.

“Everybody must be part of the restoration of sanity to Edo State. People who know the escapees should avail us information about them. I am assuring you that we are not sleeping, but with what has happened to the police in Edo State, some of these hitches are expected, but we are not sleeping and we will continue to work.”

Edo Police Commissioner also urged residents of the South-south state not to panic, but to go about their lawful businesses, while assuring them of adequate protection of lives and property.

Kokumo stressed that police officers and men of the command were trying their best, in spite of the challenges.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, later during his working visit to Edo State, while addressing police officers and men at the state headquarters in Benin, after inspecting the seven looted and razed police stations in the state, asked policemen not to leave the public space open for criminals to take charge, while directing them to occupy everywhere.

In order to restore the confidence of Edo residents in the security agencies, members of the Joint Security Taskforce in the state are now storming the notorious Upper Sokponba axis of Benin and other hot spots in Edo, leading to the arrest of suspected kidnappers, cultists,  armed robbers and other criminals terrorising the state. The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Anthony Omozoje, who is leading the Special Joint Security Taskforce in Edo, assured the state’s governor, Godwin Obaseki, that the South-south state would soon be rid of criminals, for the residents to sleep with their two eyes closed.

He also gave an assurance that he and the personnel of the taskforce would halt the sudden rise in criminal activities in Edo State and support the efforts to re-arrest the 1,993 fleeing inmates of the two correctional centres in Benin.

The GOC, who also met with heads of security agencies in Edo, stated that there was the need for synergy among them, so as to bring down the crime rate in the state.

Maj.-Gen. Omozoje said: “Troops of the 4 Brigade, Nigerian Army, are on clearance operation at the hideouts of suspected kidnappers, cultists, armed robbers and other criminal elements. The taskforce is focused on ensuring a reduction in crime in Edo State.”

The GOC, who is closely working with the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG), Zone 5, Benin, Sholla David, and the Commander, 4 Brigade in the Edo State capital, Brig.-Gen. U.M. Bello, urged Edo residents to provide the taskforce with useful information on criminals in their midst, while assuring that identities of the informants would be adequately protected.

The security agencies and their personnel need to be alive to their responsibilities, especially with Christmas and New Year celebrations fast approaching, thereby ensuring the safety of lives and property of residents.

Rivers battles pirates, cultism, kidnapping, others

Prior to the EndSARS protest, security agencies and the Rivers State Government had intensified their efforts to tackle common security challenges, such as kidnapping, cultism, armed robbery, rape, murder, among others.

But the violence, which occurred following the hijack of the protest by hoodlums identified by security agencies as members of the Indigeneous Peoples of Biafra introduced a different dimension to the security issues in Rivers.

The hoodlums destroyed all the police stations, including an Area Command in Oyigbo Local Government Area of the state. They burnt over 50 vehicles, including an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), killed four policemen and six soldiers. They also burnt courts and privately owned hospitals in the area.

Fear gripped most residents in the state when the government confirmed that the hoodlums looted 50 AK47 rifles from the soldiers and the police. Though the military commenced an operation to recover the rifles and arrest the hoodlums, there have been pockets of criminal activities across the state.

Security agencies have been battling with the menace of pirates along some major waterways in the state. Major operating routes of the hoodlums are the Port-Harcourt-Bonny waterways, Bile in Degema and some waterways in Andoni Local Government Area of the state.

Recently, pirates killed one person and abducted two others during an attack on a passenger boat along the Bonny waterways. A source, who narrated the frequent attacks on commercial boats by sea robbers, said: ” A new boat with new engine was hijacked at Isaka area, that is the latest mode of crime on waterways, when they see new boats with new engine, they attack it and offload the passengers at the creek; so as usual, the passengers were dropped at the creek while the hoodlums whisked away two people believed to be rich among them.

“The reoccurrence of pirates attack has been a source of concern; we are no longer safe and the saddest thing is that nothing is being done by relevant authorities to stop this menace.

“On Sunday, November 29, 2020, pirates also attacked passengers at Owokiri/Opopo Riser, and whisked away one person. These hoodlums are known. They are highly connected with top contractors working with multinational oil companies in the state but nobody seems to care.”

The source said one of the suspects had been arrested and urges security agencies to intensify surveillance in the coastal communities.

But the Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, said the police were taking drastic actions to contain the wave of attacks on waterways.

Omoni: “We have only five gunboats in the state to cover the coastal communities. We are utilizing them judiciously to cover such areas but we need the cooperation of the communities to achieve optimum security.

“We need information from them and the earlier they share the information with the police, the better for us, security of the waterways should not be a one-way traffic; it needs adequate collaboration between the police and the communities to fight such menace.”

Rivers has also been dealing with its fair share of cultism. The police in partnership with local vigilant group have been confronting cultists, who often engage in supremacy battles, causing panic in some suburbs of the capital city such as Mile 1, Mile 3, Diobu, Borokiri, popularly called Town and other areas.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, recently imposed a 24-hour two-week curfew around the Okoro-Nu-Odu flyover in Rumuokoro, Obio-Akpor Local Government Area following upsurge cult violence.

The governor also warned that government would deal appropriately with anyone disturbing the peace and security of the state

Wike explained that the Rivers State Government was seriously disturbed by the recent upsurge of cult activities, related violence and killings around the affected areas.

He said: “Again, we wish to warn that community leaders that allow cultism and related activities to thrive unabated in their communities would be treated as collaborators to the resulting crimes and dealt with accordingly.

“We urge all citizens to be part of the efforts to curb cultism in the state by reporting any suspicious cult activity, including gatherings and initiations in or around their neighbourhoods to the security agencies for immediate action.”

Kidnapping and murder have also posed serious challenge to security agencies in the state. Though there has been decrease in the number of kidnap cases in the state, that cannot be said of gunmen’s killings in suspected cases of assassination.

Unknown gunmen recently shot and killed an engineer from Agana in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Michael Ebirien-Agana.

The police also recently launched a manhunt for the gunmen, who kidnapped and murdered a former Rivers State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Ebenezer Kalabo Amah. Amah was whisked away by unknown gunmen, who laid ambush at his residence on Precious Chukwu Street in Woji, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, and was found dead the next day.

There has also been an ongoing war between security agencies and IPOB members. The police recently linked the attack on the Christian Universal Church International belonging to the father of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to IPOB. But IPOB has denied involvement in the incident.

Hoodlums numbering about five sneaked into the Christian Universal Church International on 25 Azikiwe Street Mile 3 Diobu, on a Saturday night and detonated explosives suspected to be dynamites.

How insecurity worsen in Ondo

The aftermath of the ENDSARS protest brought another nightmare to residents of Akure and environs as armed robbery, kidnapping and other crimes assumed a sickening dimension. Absence of policemen in the street worsened the situation as the carnage caused during the ENDSARS protest led to the burning and looting of over eight police divisions across the state.

Towns where Police Divisions and stations were attacked were Okitipupa, Akure, Ondo town and Ore. Two policemen were killed in Ore, Odigbo Local Government Area and Ondo town, Ondo West Local Government Area. One of the policemen was mobbed while the other one was burnt alive inside his car.

Absence of police patrol in the street and highways in Ondo led to series of kidnappings, armed robbery and outright killing in Akure and other parts of the state. Several persons, including traders, have been abducted along the Akure-Owo-Bénin highway and the Akoko area. Traders and local government workers abducted last month were made to part with N5m.

Within Akure metropolis, three persons were shot dead while others lost valuables to various armed robbery attacks.

Among the many robbery and kidnap victims were Deputy Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Ayodele Oladimeji, Speaker of Ondo State Youth Parliament, Smith Ikumapayi, HRH Oba Isreal Adeusi, who was shot dead; wife of the Chief of Staff to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Sade Ale, amongst others.

Worried by the spate of incessant robbery attacks, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu announced restriction in the operation of commercial motorcycle riders also known as Okada within the hours of 6am and 6pm.

Akeredolu warned that the motorcycle of any Okada rider found flouting his directive would be impounded.

He also placed a ban on all vehicles with unauthorised tinted glasses from plying the roads. He said any of such vehicles without a duly certified permit issued by a relevant security agency would be impounded.

Akeredolu also promised to provide all necessary support in terms of both human and logistics aids to security agencies to ensure the safety of residents. He also urged all security agencies to come out and confront what he described as abhorrent development, saying security reports at his disposal deserved serious attention.

At a meeting with leaders of the Okada riders, Special Adviser to Governor Akeredolu on Special Duties, Dr. Doyin Odebowale, urged them to obey the directives as it would help government fish out the criminals among them.

Odebowale stated that many of the robbery incidences were linked to motorcycle riders.

Ondo Commissioner of Police, Salami Bolaji, said the meeting was organised to seek the cooperation because of rise in crime rates, especially the use of Okada.

“We want them to assist us on information to help us to arrest those using Okada to rob or kidnap. We believe the criminals are not Okada riders. It is for the peace and tranquility in Ondo.

The killing of Oba Adeusi however jolted security agencies to action, including the Ondo State Security Network, known as the Amotekun Corps, to increase patrol on the highway and take the fight to the criminals’ den.

Ondo Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Eweka Edenabu, said the state of insecurity in the state would not be unconnected to the #ENDSARS protest and the recently held governorship election.

“Those two factors contributed to the insecurity but we have put in place lots of measure. We have beefed up security around national assets across the state. We also deploy our men for intelligence gathering.

“All our operational vehicles have been deployed to all parts of the state. Security has been beefed up on the highway. We are doing constant patrolling of the highway. All the black spots in the state are being raided. We will ensure a crime-free Yuletide celebration in Ondo State.”

The Ondo Amotekun Corps, which launched the Operation Clean Up last Tuesday, said over 20 suspects were arrested within two days. Commander of the Amotekun Corps, Adetunji Adeleye, said the Operation Clean Up was meant to rid all nooks and crannies of the state of all criminal elements.

Ekiti caught in the throes of insecurity

For the people of Ekiti State, the last six months have been tough as crimes of different dimensions, such as killings, armed robbery and kidnapping, have become a reoccurring decimal in the state.

The state, which was hitherto known for its peaceful atmosphere, with maximum protection of lives and property, is now a hellhole for travellers and residents alike, many of whom have suffered in the hands of bandits, killers, kidnappers and perpetrators of other forms of crimes.

The deteriorating situation of security in the state has instilled palpable fear in the residents with both the rich and the poor now finding it difficult to sleep with two eyes closed.

The spate of kidnapping in the state has made people to become security conscious and mindful about where when, and how to travel, as highways have become den of kidnappers and killers. Igbara Odo- Ikere, Aramoko-Erio-Efon, Efon-Iwaraja, Akure-Ikere, Ado-Ijan, Ise-Ikere routes are now firestorms for kidnappers.

The growing crime wave in the state has become a thing of concern not only to the residents of the state but to visitors and even those using the state as transit route to their various destinations. Ekiti State shares boundary with four states, namely; Osun, Ondo, Kogi and Kwara.

In the last few months, no fewer than 10 people have been gruesomely murdered in the state while many were kidnapped by suspected herdsmen.

On January 4, a retired principal, Mr. Femi Ayeni, was gunned down by some gunmen in Emure-Ekiti, the headquarters of Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti State. The incident occurred at about 10:30pm at his residence located along Ise-Ekiti road in the community.

On April 27, between Governor Kayode Fayemi’s hometown, Isan-Ekiti and Iludun Ekiti, herdsmen killed a councillor with Ilejemeje Council Area and abducted the Ekiti State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Folorunso Olabode, with a woman, Mrs. Taiwo Bosede on their way to Iye-Ekiti.

The abductees were later released somewhere in Kwara after spending nine days in kidnappers’ den after paying an undisclosed sum of money as ransom.

On September 15, unknown gunmen shot dead a Director in Ekiti State Local Government Commission, Mr. David Jejelowo, in his house at Igirigiri area of Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.

Barely two days after, a retired United States of America’s Major Jide Ijadare, was kidnapped in his palm oil-producing factory located along Ijan Ekiti-Ise-Ekiti road in Ijan-Ekiti, Gbonyin Council Area of Ekiti State. In the process, one person was shot dead.

On October 3, a pastor working for All Christian, Mr. Kayode Ogunleye, was gunned down in a forest along Aramoko-Ijero Road in Ekiti State. Ogunleye, who was also a farmer, had gone to his farm to harvest plantain when the incident happened.

Two weeks later, a 62 -year -old security guard with the Federal University of Oye Ekiti, Mr. Matthew Malik, went to his farm and never returned. He was murdered by some hired assassins on his farm at Oye Ekiti in the Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

On November 4, tragedy struck Dalimore area of Ado Ekiti, the state capital, when a young trader, Mr. Olanrewaju Oladapo, was shot dead by unknown gunmen. The incident occurred around 9.45pm when the assailants trailed the deceased to his house behind Jone-Jane Hospital in Ado metropolis where he was ambushed and killed at the main entrance.

On November 27, gunmen kidnapped a Chinese expatriate working with the Civil Engineering Construction Company of Nigeria Ltd handling the construction of the new Ado-Iyin road. The victim’s police orderly was shot dead in the ensuing fracas.

The expatriate, who spent four days in the kidnappers’ den, was later released along Ado-Ilawe road after a whopping sum of N100m was paid as ransom.

A day earlier, the Presiding Pastor of Solution Baptist Church, Ikere-Ekiti, Rev’d Johnson Oladimeji, was shot dead in his car along Igbara Odo-Ikere road on his way from Osun State to Ekiti State.

To stem the tide of insecurity, Governor Fayemi has inaugurated a joint patrol comprising operatives of the military, Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. The taskforce operates on 24hrs, moving across the 16 local government areas of the state; patrolling not just for visibility policing but to also raid black spots.