Over the years, Nigeria has been bedeviled by intractable security challenges. As hopes of plausible remedy dips, 23 of Nigeria’s 36 states established their security outfits to combat the monster within their distinct boundaries. In this report, IBRAHIM ADAM reviews strategies and suggestions proffered by critical stakeholders, including governors and experts on how to tackle the country’s horrid security situation.
For so long, Nigeria and Nigerians have been under the siege of non-state actors who have unleashed intolerable harm on the citizens. Terrorists, bandits, robbers and secessionist agitators have become serious threats to Nigeria’s stability and national development.
While Boko Haram terrorists plagued the northern region, the complex security situation in the southern part is further compounded by some ethnic secessionist movements such as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the Southeast and the Yoruba agitation for self-determination in the Southwest.
Boko Haram insurgents have no belief in Western education as they regard it as a source of moral decay and corruption. A s a result of the group’s ruthless operations, the North has the highest number of killings, followed by the Southeast.
Added to this, many people have died during clashes among herders and farmers. The deaths are not limited to those suffered by the lowly individuals, there have been reported cases of traditional rulers in different geo-political zones that have been killed by the lawless non-state actors.
A 2023 Nigeria Security Report by Beacon Consulting, a security risk management and intelligence consulting firm revealed that no fewer than 78,148 Nigerians were killed across the country were killed by insurgents from 2014 to 2023.
The report indicated that 11,389 Nigerians were killed in 2014; 11,119 in 2015; 4,896 in 2016; 4,949 in 2017; 6,162 in 2018; 5,948 in 2019; 8,459 in 2020; 10,887 in 2021; 10,754 in 2022; and 3,585 in 2023.
According to the report, 16,644 of the victims were killed by terrorists; 8,475 by bandits and 1,897 during farmers’/herders’ clashes.
Similarly, recent report by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) revealed that between 2013 and 2023, 19,718 Nigerians were kidnapped across the country.
States with security outfits
When the Federal Government seemed to be helpless and the non-state actors such as Boko Haram, bandits and agitators for self-determination continued to terrorise subnational entities, some state governments began to ruminate the possibility of establishing security outfits to protect their people.
In the circumstances, therefore, between 2013 and this year, no fewer than 23 states had unveiled their security outfits. The moves were aimed at reducing the level of insecurity in such areas. Instead of the situation abating, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, robbery, cultism, vandalism and other forms of criminalities are on the increase.
Among the sub-nationals, Borno State, which was the epicentre of terrorism, was the first state government to establish a state-owned security outfit which it codenamed the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF).
Rivers State, in 2016 founded its security outfit called Service to maintain peace in some parts of the state. To increase the safety of people and property in the state, the state government also established a second security unit in 2019 codenamed Operation Sting.
In 2017, the Lagos State Government established the Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC) to support law enforcement and other security agencies in upholding the state’s law and order in the 57 local government and local council development areas.
The Kaduna State Vigilance Service was founded by the state government in April 2018 by law number 10 of June 2016, during the height of bandits’ activities in the state. Governor Uba Sani announced in September 2023 that the 7,000 vigilante members who were recruited and trained would be deployed to all the rural communities to help combat crime and criminalities.
The Ogun State Government established the Community Social Orientation and Safety Corps (So Safe Corps) in 2019 in an effort to combat robbery and cultism.
The Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), codenamed Amotekun was established in 2020 by the Southwest states of Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti, Oyo, Lagos and Osun to tackle banditry, robbery, and kidnapping. The Houses of Assembly in the six states approved the law back the establishment of the security outfit despite initial opposition from the Nigeria Police.
In Imo State, the Imo State Security Network was established in 2021 to halt the nefarious activities of unidentified gunmen as well as the incessant killings of police officers in the states.
Also in 2021, a unified security unit known as Ebube Agu (Wonderful Tiger) was established by the governors of the five Southeastern states with the goal of “flushing out criminals and terrorists from the zone.”
Also in 2021, the Niger Special Vigilante Corps was formed by the state government to combat killings and kidnappings perpetrated by bandits in several areas of the state, especially in the Shiroro Local Government Area.
In 2022, the Bauchi State Government established the Bauchi State Vigilante and Youth Empowerment Agency with the aim of thwarting criminal activities, particularly those of terrorists. While both Gombe and Benue state governments established the Benue Volunteer Guards (BVGs) and the Gombe State Security, Traffic and Environmental Corps (GOSTEC) in 2022.
In 2023, the Abia State Government founded its security outfit codenamed Operation Crush to address the ongoing abduction and robbery cases in the state. The governments of Akwa Ibom and Anambra states also established Ibom Community Watch and Anambra Vigilante Group respectively.
Also, in 2023, Bayelsa State established the Community Safety Corps; Ebonyi with Ebonyi State Neighbourhood Watch and Enugu State came up with Distress Response Squad. Katsina State, a state in the Northwest devastated by terrorist attacks and banditry, launched the Community Watch Corps last year.
The Plateau State Government launched 600 Neighbourhood Watch operatives in December last year which it codenamed Operation Rainbow; the same month that the Sokoto State Government established its Community Guard Corps that same month to work with other community policing organisations to combat cross-border banditry and kidnapping.
In order to combat the killings and kidnappings committed by bandits in Zamfara State, the state government established the 2,645-member State Community Protection Guards in January.
Impacts of Boko Haram on vulnerable groups
In any form of catastrophe, women and children are hardest hit. In the wake of insurgency in Nigeria, thousands of women and girls have been seriously affected. Some of them have had their lives drastically altered by the activities of Boko Haram and other groups that have carried up arms against the State; forcing them into new responsibilities outside their homes.
Majority of the estimated 1.8 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Northeast are women and children, despite that men have been killed in proportionately higher numbers.
In 2014, the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok was the beginning of abduction of female students by Boko Haram; a symbolic imposition of its will on communities that opposed it, The group focused its abduction activities on Christians and later Muslim women.
At first, female followers and forced conscripts could move more freely in government-controlled areas as spies, messengers, recruiters and smugglers since they were not seen as threats. The same rationale led Boko Haram to start using female suicide bombers in the middle of 2014.
Insecurity in the Southeast
In the yesteryear, the Southeast was noted for its serenity. However, as insecurity spreads, the Southeast geopolitical zone became one of the epicentres of insecurity. Happily, security situation in the zone has improved tremendously due to the successful operations by the Nigerian Army and other security agencies. The armed individuals frequently targeted state officials, government facilities, and security personnel. In similar attacks, hundreds of people were killed or injured, even as the non-state actors had issued a sit-at-home order directing every one indigenous to the region to stay indoors on Mondays. Governors of the five states in the region have met several times in a bid to end the Monday sit-at-home usually enforced by IPOB.
In search of peace through PISE-P
Aside from several moves made by critical stakeholders in the Southeast region, including governors, a major project aimed at ensuring peace in the area was, on December 29, 2023, launched in the historic town of Bende, Abia State by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Okezie Kalu.
On what the project tagged “Peace in Southeast Project” (PISE-P) seeks to achieve, Kalu in his speech said that “PISE-P aims at promoting the application of non-kinetic (non-military) approaches to address the insecurity concerns in the Southeast and to facilitate peacemaking among communities and individuals impacted by past conflicts. The journey towards peace is not a destination. It is an ongoing process, one that requires our unflinching commitment and dedication.”
Vice-President, Kashim Shettima who represented President Bola Tinubu observed that: “The terror groups that have held the Southeast to ransom are not a creation of the people of the region, or of Nigerians from other parts of the country.”
Tinubu said: “The problem we are here to solve as a community, as Umunna is a creation of self-serving criminals who do not represent the interests of Ndigbo and Nigerians….”
The Chairman of the Southeast Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma praised the PISE-P project, even as he expressed concerns about the widespread insecurity situation in the region.
Ooni, Gani Adams, others proffer solutions
To address the lingering security situation, not only in the Southwest but also in Nigeria, critical stakeholders in Southwest met at a security summit held at the Ife Grand Resorts, Ojaja Arena of Ile Ife, Osun State,
No fewer than 200 traditional rulers were in attendance at the summit. Among those who attended the security summit were the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Aareonakakanfo of Yoruba land, Gani Adams and other prominent Yoruba Obas. They gathered to proffer solutions to the prevailing security challenges in Yoruba land.
Oba Adeyeye, who convened the Yoruba Security Summit, said the unity of all the traditional rulers in Yoruba land is crucial to the success of the region.
Oba Adeyeye also said that the security challenges in Yoruba land can be tackled with measures and approaches that are capable of putting an end to the scourge.
“We are concerned about the prevailing security challenges in Yoruba land and that is the reason for this security summit. All Yoruba Obas are united on this and I am sure we will salvage the situation in no long time,” he said.
Gani Adams, one of the keynote speakers said in his address with the theme “Kidnapping and Banditry: Overcoming the Twin Menace and the Yoruba Legacy of African Science, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” said he was deeply concerned about the protracted security deficit in the region.
Adams insisted that his concern formed part of the issues raised during his visit to the palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi in January that eventually led to the Yoruba security summit.
He also stressed the need for cooperation among Southwest monarchs in tackling insecurity in the region, even as he added that Yoruba traditional rulers should mount pressure on the state governors to engage local security groups to succeed in the fight against banditry and kidnapping in all the forests across Yoruba land.
Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi said it was important for the traditional rulers to protect themselves using the traditional means. He added that it is very important for traditional rulers to protect their subjects.
The Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye III said the best way to solve all the security challenges in Yoruba land is to restructure the country, adding that true federalism would take care of all the security challenges.
Former Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase said there was a need for a proper understanding of the best way to tackle the twin menace of banditry and kidnapping.
He said anybody who bears arms without proper licensing would bear the consequences under the law.
Northern leaders offer solution
For a quick solution to the intractable security crises in the country, Northern leaders have proffered what they called a multi-dimensional approach to tackling insecurity.
Vice-President, Kashim Shettima restated that ending insecurity remained top on the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration’s agenda.
A former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar said Nigerians must unite to tackle insecurity.
The leaders spoke at a two-day roundtable on insecurity, with the theme “Multi-dimensional Approach to Tackling Insecurity in Northern Nigeria” organised by the Coalition of Northern Group (CNG).
Abubakar said: “Investing in education and economic development can address the root causes of insecurity and ultimately foster long-term stability…”
Shettima, represented by his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Yusuf Adejia, said providing safety was one critical agenda of the government, hence the increase in budgetary allocation to security.
A former Minister of Agriculture, Dr Audu Ogbeh warned against the mix-up of the roles of the army and the police.
He said: “Because of insecurity, the army has to be called in. The army is not the police force. A country that abuses its army by using it as a police force is running a risk; you’re destroying that army. Soldiers are not policemen, and policemen are not soldiers; we are mixing the two up; that’s another danger we have to deal with if we can.”
Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Atahiru Jega said insecurity has been allowed to fester too long, hence the expansion of the activities of the insurgents.
He believes it was important to adopt a multi-dimensional approach toward tackling insecurity, even as he urged the government to take a very responsive role devoid of politics.
National Coordinator of CNG, Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, called for decisive action, as “speeches alone cannot secure the region.”
The Director of Publicity and Advocacy/Spokesperson of Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Abdul-Azeez Suleiman stressed the significance of bringing together critical stakeholders to address the security challenges that have plagued the region.
Success stories
Borno community free of Boko Haram control
After a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum said his state’s security situation had improved by 85 per cent, claiming that no community is under the control of Boko Haram.
Zulum said security agencies have almost completely rid the state of Boko Haram insurgents.
He said: “None of the 27 local government areas of Borno State is under the control of insurgents. The security situation in Borno State has improved by more than 85 percent. Economic activities are ongoing perfectly in Borno State.”
Army: ‘Terrorists have been degraded’
In apparent corroboration of Zulum’s assertion on improved security situation, the Nigerian Army has said that it has dislodged insurgents from various hideouts in the Northeast and Northwest geopolitical zones and in some areas of Niger State.
Kevin Aligbe, Commander, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) of the Nigerian Army in Niger State stated this at the 2023 West African Social Activities (WASA) in Minna, the state capital.
Aligbe added that the war against insurgency has progressed steadily and effectively in different parts of the country.
He added that despite these achievements, there were still pockets of insecurity in the country, especially in Niger State, as terrorists have penetrated parts of the state to carry out cruel acts.
Maj-Gen. Waidi Shuaibu, Theatre Commander of the Joint Task Force, Northeast Operation Hadin Kai also said terrorists operating in Northeast have been degraded and are avoiding confrontation with forces in the field.
Shuaibu made this known at the opening of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) awareness and detection training for the Civilian Joint Task Force in Maiduguri, Borno State.
How Nigeria can overcome insecurity, by experts
The world’s largest association for security professionals, ASIS International said tackling insecurity requires cutting-edge ideas, best practices and latest advancements in technology.
The Chairman of ASIS, Abuja branch 273, Edward Orim said during the association’s 2023 Annual General Meeting and Awards Night that the chapter was providing a platform for its members and other security stakeholders to produce cutting-edge technology, ideas and best practices with a view to addressing insecurity in Nigeria.
He described ASIS as an industrial security organisation and open to partnership with government agencies, particularly the office of the National Security Adviser.
He reiterated ASIS International’s commitment to advancing security professionalism in curbing insecurity through building partnership among leaders, experts, and security professionals in Sub-Saharan Africa.
At the event, the National Coordinator of Countre- Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser, retired Rear Admiral Yaminu Musa said there was need for stronger private sector participation in advancing national security.
Musa, who spoke on the theme, “Reflecting on 2023: A Retrospective View of Evolving Threats Landscape in Nigeria,” stressed the need for the private sector to embed national security values in their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes.
Also at a two-day symposium in Abuja on exploring effective strategies for tackling organised crime on the continent, the Coordinator for the Security, Violence and Conflict (SVC) Research Group at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Freedom Onuoha said the solution to most of Africa’s internal conflicts is constructive dialogues and not military operations.
Onuoha said many internal conflicts devastating the Continent could be forestalled with constructive dialogues other than the use of arms,” he said.
