- Brutal killing of security operatives by criminals in Imo is unacceptable
Nigerian security forces have in the last decade fallen ready casualties of insecurity in the country. The numbers of military, paramilitary as well as civilians affected are huge, and this has constituted a moral burden of sorts on the nation. On many occasions, the hunters of insurgents, kidnappers, bandits and other social miscreants have themselves become not just the hunted but sheer victims.
The Joint Task Force (JTF) was established as the primary organization for joint operations in a way that each unit brings its expertise and personnel in an effort to have a holistic grip on emerging security challenges in the country. The organization was formed in 2013 primarily to contain the Boko Haram insurgency that was at its peak in the North-East. However, while the JTF has recorded some successes in fighting the multiple social ills in the land, members have often become victims themselves. Across the country, many of the members have been killed in conflicts, ambushed or scared away by alleged superior firepower of criminals including Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, unknown gunmen and killer herdsmen.
The attacks on JTF squads have been more frequent in the North-East and the South-East in the past few years. The siege of attacks was at peak when about two years ago, troops of the National Presidential Guard were ambushed in Abuja and some of them killed. That incident signposted the grave danger of the proximity of the attackers to Nigeria’s seat of power. Few months ago, a military helicopter was shot down with casualties recorded.
The JTF has also come under attacks at various times in recent years in the South-East, where the notorious ‘Unknown Gunmen’ have mounted a spate of attacks to tyrannise the citizenry. The spate of killing in the South-East seems to defy explanation, because not a few citizens have been killed or abducted by faceless criminals in ways that have left the region in fear of their terror.
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A recent attack on members of the JTF was in Ehime Mbano local government area of Imo state. The security operatives were reported to be on patrol along Aba-Oriagu road when they were ambushed, with about seven of them killed and their corpses burnt beyond recognition. Following that tragedy, fear gripped the villagers, most of who fled their homes for fear of reprisal attack from other operatives of the security agencies. Luckily, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma seems to have played a role in calming the situation to some degree.
We condemn in the strongest terms the fate that befell the hapless JTF members. It is sad that men whose lives are about sacrifice and patriotism are so needlessly attacked across the nation. Government at all levels must find a lasting solution to this menace. The Nigerian military is so under- populated as it were, and the country cannot continue losing members that it took her so long and so much in financial terms to train across all the formations. Internal security ought not to so often ring the death knell for persons trained to protect the nation’s territorial integrity.
Government would need to take a more holistic view of causative factors of all the internal attacks and conflicts. We believe that while no nation has succeeded in totally stamping out insecurity, many countries have tried to minimize the circumstances under which social miscreants thrive. Good leadership is a panacea for stability in any country. Poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and fanaticism feed the population of social miscreants. Government must address the fundamentals. A hungry man is an angry man, and angry people commit crimes.
On the other hand, we implore members of the JTF to rejig their intelligence gathering in ways that the squads can work as a team where available expertise is harmonized for the objective sought. Members of the JTF are professional trained to fight, they should apply better intelligence to defeat the untrained. Most of the attacks often betray poor intelligence or operational inefficiency. Non-state actors dealing hard blows against state forces does not rub off well on Nigeria’s image, and the country cannot afford such at this time that we are clamouring for foreign direct investments. Besides, internal security has a way of predisposing citizens to great productivity. The suspects in this particular attack must be hunted down to show others the state has higher fire power.
