There was spontaneous joy on Tuesday as the news of the release of kidnapped Commissioner for Higher Education in Delta State , Prof Hope Eghagha spread across the state and country. It had been an agonising and harrowing experience that was just few days shy of three weeks.
He was not the first in the state to be a victim of insecurity in the state or the country. It only highlights, rather graphically, the dangerous height and the unscrupulous dimension the challenges of insecurity have attained in Nigeria and how insecurity has managed to dwarf all efforts to curtail it and establish a saner society for all.
Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan, the Governor of Delta State, came into office fully prepared to tackle the security challenges facing the state. Indeed, the first of his Three Point Agenda on which he rolled into office in 2007 is Peace and Security. The other two are Human Capital and Infrastructure Development. Before he was elected in April 2007 as governor, Uduaghan had had the privilege of being in government since 1999, holding various top positions.
He had witnessed the systematic movement of vital companies, especially in the oil and gas sector, to neighbouring states on account of the spiraling insecurity situation in Delta State. As a matter of fact, when he was sworn in on May 29, 2007, the state was on the international news radar on account of four American oil expatriates held by a militant group in the riverine axis of the state. Providence, however, smiled on him as the American hostages were released 24 hours or thereabout after he assumed office.And without any waste of time, he proceeded to set up the Delta Waterways Security Committee (DWSC), a novelty which worked and helped in stemming the activities of militants along the state waterways.
It restored security in a way many never thought could happen. At the state level, the DWSC could be said to be a forerunner of the Federal Government-initiated Amnesty Programme. It engaged some of the activists involved in the struggle in the state and other professionals, saddling them with the security of the waterways. It paid off because it provided job opportunities for them. The DWSC as a government policy was an instant hit with the business community as about 28 oil, gas and shipping companies, operators and or investors in the Niger Delta region, led by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Chevron-Texaco, expressed their approval of the security measure by Governor Uduaghan in the state. This was more so as it drastically reduced the incidences of hostage taking and other criminal activities by militants in the state.
At a meeting he had with the oil companies in the state and other captains of industry at Government House Annex, Warri, barely 10 months into his administration, the then General Manager of the SPDC, West, Mr. Cor Zegelaar, admitted that there was indeed a time when staying in Warri was scary for investors but that the governor had done well, such that the SPDC had no plans to leave Warri.
But it has not been a win-win situation for the governor in his bid to tackle the scourge of insecurity in the state. Like every other state in the country, insecurity has burgeoned almost beyond everyone’s expectations.
There has been astronomical upsurge in cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, gruesome killings for alleged ritual purposes, rape and all sorts of violent crimes across the country with Delta State having her fair share. And like many a state executive also, Uduaghan has thrown virtually everything he is capable of into curtailing the scourge and creating an environment where lives and property are secured and where the pursuit of legitimate businesses are possible.
Two years ago, Uduaghan set up an anti-kidnapping task force in the hope that it would forestall the possibility of the state experiencing the ugly incident in Abia State where 15 school children were kidnapped.Inaugurating the squad at Government House Annex, Warri, Uduaghan warned that hoodlums planning to use the state as a safe haven to carry out their criminal activities would face the full weight of the law.
In his words: “The way Nigeria is, once something happens elsewhere, people tend to copy it in other places. This is a state that has zero tolerance for kidnapping. We have done it before and we can do it again. We achieved near zero tolerance but right now, it is like some persons outside the state who are into kidnapping have sneaked into the state and we are determined to fish them out, whether from this state or outside the state.”
He went on to promise that the security Joint Patrol Teams will drive kidnappers and other criminals out of the state and promised to keep the state relatively peaceful so that investors will have the conducive environment they so earnestly crave to do their business.
Investment in security
But in the last two years, notwithstanding the immense investment in security, insecurity has continued to be a major cause for concern. Governor Uduaghan’s response has been to re-double government’s support through the provision of essential logistics to security agencies in the state. In July this year, the state government donated 60 patrol vehicles and communication gadgets to the State Police Command.
This brings the number of donated vehicles to security agencies to 150 Hilux patrol vehicles, including Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) since 2007. Indeed, the state government has consistently assisted the security agencies in the state. And the government made it clear that the pick-up vans it was giving to the security operatives was to enable them effectively tackle security challenges in the state.
It was a follow-up on its resolve to give maximum support to the security agencies in the state. Governor Uduaghan, who made the presentation, said his administration was doing all within its capacity to curb the incessant security challenges in the state and ensure that lives and properties are secure.
The governor explained that in like manner, vehicles had been provided to the Army, Immigration, State Security Service (SSS) and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), to meet their requests to enable them function more effectively in the state.
”We will not give criminals breathing space in this state. We are fighting them from the grassroots. This is to ensure that lives and property are protected in our communities”, he stated.Governor Uduaghan disclosed that the state government is expecting more Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), adding that once they are available, they would be distributed to security agencies in the bid to build a crime-free state.
Yet, investing in security in Nigeria has come to be an exercise akin to the proverbial act of pouring water into a basket. The state has witnessed an upsurge in kidnapping activities. Some of the high profile victims of kidnap in the state include Nigeria international, Christian Obodo; a High Court judge and lately, the Commissioner for Higher Education, just to mention a few.
The sabotage theory
The deficit the state recorded in the effort to tackle the scourge of insecurity in the state has not been because the government lacked ideas as to what to do or have played the ostrich in matters of securing the lives and property of the people of the state.
The theory of sabotage has been bandied about in the state. It is not a secret that at a point, top officers of the squad saddled with the sensitive job of preventing kidnapping in the state were fingered as actually aiding and abetting the dastardly act. Those so accused were not only arrested but kept in detention pending thorough investigation. But the same people were released to the consternation of the governor and well-meaning citizens of the state. Not long ago, Governor Uduaghan had to openly express his concern over the release from custody of the police officers allegedly linked to the incidence of kidnapping in the state.
The governor, who voiced his concern when the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, paid a courtesy visit to him in Asaba, said his worry became necessary because their release coincided with the resurgence of kidnapping in the state.
According to him, there was a drastic reduction in the incidence of kidnapping during the absence of the police officers when they were apprehended and taken to Abuja , but stressed that soon after their release, the crime has peaked.He said that Deltans have been agitated by the development and were requesting that the matter be re-visited and thoroughly investigated to ensure that justice was done.
”The people of Delta State want me to send a message to you on the recent happening in the state and even the State House of Assembly deliberated on it. Few days ago, some persons, your police officers, suspected to be involved in kidnapping who were earlier apprehended, were released.
“What is bothering us is that their release coincided with the recent upsurge in kidnap cases in the state. So we want you to have a second look at that issue”, he had complained to the IGP.Without doubt, Governor Uduaghan has made tremendous investment in ensuring the safety and security of Deltans and other investors in the state.
But can the state say it has had commensurate dividend from its investment in security? The answer is in the negative and naturally, critics would follow it up with the why question.
In an attempt to answer the question, an obviously equally concerned Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Comrade Macaulay Ovuzorie, put it in perspective thus: “We are investing in security. But the governor does not have a troop of his own. The SSS is not under the governor, the army is not, the police are not.
“And, so, it is laughable for one to say that the governor is the chief security officer of the state. But what we can do is to provide them with logistics, and you remember, recently that the governor gave the police vehicles and that is just in addition to those given to the Army which is over 25. The SSS got theirs and generally we have been investing heavily in security matters, rendering sundry logistics assistance.
“For us, we have done what is expected of us. But to answer your question, we expect more reward for our investment in security. We want a state where if you are driving along the road and your car develops a fault and you can’t fix it, you should be able to park it and come back the following day and find it in the right spot and as you left it.
“We want a state where I can wake up at about 1 am and drive to any place for my engagement without the fear of night marauders. That is our goal and the government will continue to work at that till we achieve it”.
Perhaps, state police is the answer.
