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Tag: INSECURITY

  • Insecurity: Lagos traditional ruler advocates for implementation of community policing

    Insecurity: Lagos traditional ruler advocates for implementation of community policing

    High Chief Kehinde Kalejaiye, the traditional ruler of the Otumara community in Lagos Mainland, Lagos State, has urged for the implementation of community policing to tackle insecurity within the state and across the nation.

    This plea follows the apprehension of several suspected robbers by officials of the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Agency (LNSA) within his community.

    Led by Sikiru Olaiya, also known as ‘50 cent’, the LNSA team arrested four male suspects aged between 18 and 22.

    The suspects were accused of using toy guns to unlawfully seize valuables from unsuspecting residents in the area.

    Kalejaiye said: “The suspects were arrested in Otumara following a complaint of phone theft lodged by a community member.

    “The LNSA officials swung into action. They visited the residence of the suspects where they recovered three ATM cards, ID cards, phones and toy guns hidden in the hole of the fence outside their residence.”

    While commending the officials of the LNSA for the arrest, the monarch also makes a case for establishing community policing, citing the successes recorded by LNSA officials as an example.

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    He added: “The successes recorded by the LNSA officials point to the fact that community policing is the solution to the challenges of insecurity in the country.

    “By community policing, I meant the combined efforts of the local police force to patrol streets within the community. Unlike state police who have state-wide functions to contend with, community police officers entail increasing presence of officers on the streets and in the community.

    “They are familiar faces within the community. They can easily identify strange faces and bust crime before it is perpetrated. In community policing, the local police play an active role in neighbourhood watch as is being done by officials of the LNSA with the arrest of the four suspected robbers in the Otumara community.

    “Before this day, we have had issues with cultism and robbery in Otumara but since I built a station for LNSA officers within the community where they resume and patrol the community 24/7, cultism and robbery have been eradicated in Otumara.

    “Also, while growing up in Ijebu-ode, we heard of local hunters patrolling the forest. They call them Forest Rangers. They patrol our forest for possible threats to the security of lives and properties. This needs to be replicated to curb kidnapping and other crimes. The solution to insecurity lies with us and that is community policing.”

  • Insecurity, hardship for a short period – Tinubu

    Insecurity, hardship for a short period – Tinubu

    President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the country without ceasing, adding that the insecurity situation and hardship being experienced is for a short period of time.

    Tinubu said this on Sunday, February 18, at the opening Session of the 2024 First Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria Resource Centre, Durumi, Abuja.

    He told the bishops that the country is relying on their unwavering encouragement of the Nigerian populace.

    The president said the Church’s engagement with Nigerians on matters of faith enriches the government’s responsiveness and strengthens the national fabric.

    Tinubu, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Goerge Akume said: “The season of Lent is an apt time to host this critical meeting as it is a period of profound reflection, prayer, fasting, and charitable giving which coincides with a challenging period of economic hardship in our nation which we are working to reverse as mentioned above While bold economic reforms have been undertaken by this administration, resulting in short-term hardships, they are borne out of a deep-seated commitment to Nigeria’s long- term prosperity and stability.

    “This administration inherited a daunting economic landscape, necessitating decisive action to alter our nation’s downward trajectory. With unwavering dedication, we are striving towards a prosperous, healthy, and globally competitive Nigeria. Given the critical situation, now more than ever before we must remain steadfast, renewing our faith in God’s provision and protection.

    “Amidst adversity, we must remain resolute, renewing our faith in God’s providence and walking in love as we support one another. This administration is steadfast in its resolve to enhance security, bolster the economy, and create opportunities for all Nigerians. We acknowledge the various hardships affecting nations across the world precipitated and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the escalating cost of living crisis. However, we draw strength from our collective hope and diligent efforts of government-private sector, religious organizations and others, trusting that through God’s grace, better days lie ahead

    “As spiritual leaders, My Lord Bishops, we rely on your unwavering encouragement to the Nigerian populace your commitment to upholding integrity, offering sound counsel, and fostering constructive dialogue is deeply appreciated by the government. The Church’s engagement with Nigerians on matters of faith enriches our responsiveness and strengthens our national fabric.

    “Both church and government are aligned in our shared commitment of a brighter future for all Nigerians. Through strategic policies, well-thought-out initiatives, and investments, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration aims to drive economic transformation, ensure security, enhance food production, harness natural resources, develop critical infrastructure, improve social services, foster economic diversification, and enhance governance efficiency. These efforts are geared towards building a prosperous, secure, and inclusive Nigeria for all.

    “Although the economic hardship and security challenges may seem daunting, let us continue to encourage one another in the Lord and pray without ceasing. Likewise, let us remember Galatians 6:9 which reminds us “not to become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

    President of the CBCN Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji said the reform agenda of the present administration has added to the plight of the citizens.

    He said with the end of the fuel subsidy regime and the unification of the foreign exchange market, there has been a significant increase in the pump price of petroleum products and a steep decline in the value of the naira.

    The Bishop said high-spiraling inflation has made it difficult for the average Nigerian to access basic commodities, including food items and medication

    He said: “The reform agenda of the present government has added to the plight of Nigerians. With the withdrawal of fuel subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange market, there has been a sharp increase in the pump price of petroleum products and a steep decline in the value of the naira. Indeed, there is a free fall in the national currency.

    “As a result of the government’s reform agenda, millions of Nigerians have been reduced to a life of grinding poverty, wanton suffering, and untold hardship as never before in our national history.

    “In a bid to survive, an increasing number of the poor have resorted to begging. With more than 80 million Nigerians living below the poverty line of less than two dollars a day, our country, according to the recent disclosure of the World Bank, is the world’s second-largest poor population after India.

    “While many impoverished Nigerians continue to suffer and die as a result of the hardship caused by the government’s economic reforms, the president has continued to urge the populace to make even more and more sacrifices with the assurance that brighter days lay ahead.”

    The CBCN president said as the government demands additional sacrifice from the struggling masses, Nigerians are expecting to see a drastic cut in the cost of running the government at all levels.

    He said: “On the contrary, it is worrisome to watch top government functionaries live by the sweat, toil, and tears of the poor. They continue to spend huge public funds on ostentatious and luxurious lifestyles and seem incapable of feeling compassion for the outcry of the poor.

    “It is no less worrisome to note that corruption among many public servants has gone beyond scale and measure. Corruption is a complex reality involving moral rottenness, defilement, and loss of integrity.”

    On insecurity, the bishop said that despite the huge sums of money appropriated monthly as security votes, communities have continued to experience persistent insecurity.

    He said recently that there has been an upsurge in kidnapping for ransom and increasing incidents of senseless bloodshed across the nation.

    The CAN President said: “Unarmed citizens are brutally slaughtered on our highways, in their homes, and even in the sacred precincts of places of worship. Killer herdsmen, bandits, and unknown gunmen seem to be on the rampage.

    “Many communities across the nation have been taken over completely by criminals. Families have lost their ancestral lands to armed invaders and land-grabbers. The social and economic lives of communities have been paralyzed due to insecurity.

    “Schools have been shut down, and children can no longer continue their education. Farmers are unable to access their farms out of fear of either losing their lives or being kidnapped,” he noted.

    The President of Christian Association Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop Daniel Okoh, said in his remarks that the theme of the Plenary, ‘Synod on Synodality: Areas of Concern for the Church in Nigeria’, is quite unique and interesting for those who follow the conversations in the Catholic Church for the purpose of learning and growth.

    He said that, as leaders of the church, they acknowledge the multifaceted challenges faced by churches on a daily basis.

    “From a deliberate attempt to edge out Christianity in certain parts of the country through denial of Right of Occupancy for churches that want to erect their worship places to targeted serial attacks, arson and kidnapping of clergymen for ransom that have now become a daily occurrence

    “The high level of insecurity, runaway inflation, and hunger are areas of serious concern as well. I am confident that the state of our nation will be exhaustively discussed with sincerity and humility at the plenary as usual.

    “It is my hope that you will be guided by the Holy Spirit to come up with ideas that will truly make a positive difference in our nation and that God will make those in governance listen to the prophetic voice of the church.”

    Also the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, blamed the high inflation rate in the country on so much liquidity in the market.

    He argued that, in spite of all the difficulties, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and the effort by the federal government to remove the subsidy on fuel will contribute towards a more positive outcome.

    Cardoso noted that, as a result of some of the recent reports from the CBN, over the course of the last week, about $1.8 billion came into the markets, adding that as long as the country can sustain a positive trajectory, Nigeria will get out of its economic woes and the foreign exchange market will begin to moderate itself.

    The CBN governor observed that in another week, the CBN will have the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, where very critical decisions will be made to continue making the economy more investor-friendly.

    Cardoso pointed out that an attempt to merge the outside rates with the official rates and the black-market rate has been made, adding that the difference between the two is now significantly lower.

    He stated that there is a positive outlook on that, adding that the positive outlook comes from the fact that a series of reforms have been made by the federal government and the central bank, which are now paying off in such a way that international investors are coming back in again.

    Also present at the plenary were the former governor of Anambra State and Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in last year’s presidential election, Peter Obi and the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma

  • Developing border communities will tackle insecurity, poverty’

    Developing border communities will tackle insecurity, poverty’

    The Katsina State Government has described the development of border communities across the country by the federal government as the way out to tackle poverty and growing insecurity in the land

    Governor Dikko Umar Radda said this during a visit to the Executive Secretary of the Border Community Development Agency, Captain Junaid Abdulahi, in his Abuja office.

    He commended the agency for their achievements so far in the state from 2015 till date.

    He lamented that poverty was rife in several border communities in Katsina and other parts of the country.

    He said: ‘’It is regrettable that border communities in Katsina who are benefiting from regular economic faces are battling with poverty. And this unfortunate situation has made them porous for the illegal movement of illicit drugs, arms and ammunition, thus compounding the menaces of banditry and kidnapping in Katsina.

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    “There is free movement because of the connivance of the border communities with the criminals, so the development of the border community is one of the major priorities. And I think this agency need to be funded because of its significant importance to the economic and bilateral relationship between our country and our neighbours.

    “We know what positive effect establishing a good relationship within the border community would bring to the country and the security of our nation.”

    He also thanked the agency for sighting the zonal office of the agency in Katsina, noting that it was a great honour done to the people of the state.

    According to him, the state was spending much of its budget to tackle insecurity and as such appreciates the agency’s efforts to assist in developing Katsina.

  • Insecurity: Southwest security group condemns killings of three Obas, vows to resist further attacks

    Insecurity: Southwest security group condemns killings of three Obas, vows to resist further attacks

    The Southwest Security Stakeholders Group (SSSG) has condemned, in strong terms, the rising spate of insecurity across the southwest, saying the killings of the three traditional rulers in Ekiti and Kwara state and the abduction of the school children also in Ekiti portends grave danger to the region.

    Rising from its monthly meeting on the state of the nation, prioritizing the present security situation in the country, the SSSG in a statement signed by the publicity secretary, Ireti Adewole said it is time to rescue the situation before it is too late.

    The foremost Yoruba security outfit said the southwest is presently boiling with various security threats and challenges that make the region volatile for residents.

    The group, however, urged the federal government as well as the governors of the six states in the region to urgently address the security deficit before it is too late.

    It said: “With the spate of killings and kidnappings in recent times, it is no doubt that the southwest has witnessed the worst in its long years of history. People can no longer sleep with their two eyes closed as a result of the sharp rise in the number of kidnappings and indiscriminate killings in the region.

    “These ugly narratives prompt urgent concern from various groups, and individuals and we are concerned about the government’s failures and inability to protect its citizens. It must be stated also that the alarming incidents of kidnappings and killings have left in its wake, a trail of high-profile victims, such as traditional rulers, innocent school children, teachers, farmers, drivers, politicians, and travellers among others.

    “However, it is also very important to say that bandits and kidnappers are determined to wreak havoc on the Southwest region. This is their plan, and the reality of the situation is that there is a looming danger ahead across Yorubaland.

    “The killings of three traditional rulers from Ekiti and Kwara states and the abduction of school children in Ekiti within a week were nothing but strange. It was a pointer to the grave threats to the lives and property of the people of the Southwest. It is time to urgently address the ugly narrative.

    “Moreso, as a group that is ready to protect Yoruba land and salvage the situation, we have resolved to tackle the prevailing winds of insecurity across the Southwest, even as we call on the six state governors in the region to involve us in securing our region against unknown gunmen that are ravaging the southwest.

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    “Going forward, we have mapped out a holistic strategy and approach to combat the security scourge. We have an existing template and structure that can take care of the security operations across the Southwest and we have resolved to support the Southwest government by participating fully in any effort that will help in flushing out bandits from Yoruba land.”

    Meanwhile, the convener of the group, and the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Abiodun Adams had led other leaders of the 13 security groups to discuss possible solutions to unraveling the security challenges in the region.

    Also present at the meeting include leaders of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) Agbekoya Society, Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), Professional Hunters, Vigilante Jahun, Agbekoya Peace Movement, Agbekoya Solidarity Movement, COMSAIC, Isokan Ile Oodua, Egbe Obinrin Oodua Agbaye, Omo Oduduwa United, among others.

  • How to tackle insecurity in Nigeria

    How to tackle insecurity in Nigeria

    The media thrives on bad news but, hardly can one find the media celebrating good news anywhere in the world. A dog biting a person hardly finds a place in newspapers but when a man bites a dog, it will be screaming headlines in newspapers. Outbreak of war or violence are welcome occurrences to journalists but hardly can one find a newspaper screaming headline saying “peace has broken out” somewhere in the world. This makes one sometimes doubt the authenticity of some news especially in these days of “fake news”.  We must take with a pinch of salt all exaggerated piece on violence reported in our newspapers and electronic media. Of course it is a well-known fact that Nigeria is ravaged by insecurity, manifesting as armed brigandage, kidnapping, armed robbery, forceful entry, car snatching and many other unexpected gangsterism. Everyone knows that there must be reasons for these sordid occurrences.

    If I am to put one cause to all this, I will say it is the bad economy besetting the country. We have not had before this terrible economic situation that we have had in the last decade. We have a situation of total misery and mismanagement of the economy in which corruption ruined the country while the people in charge appeared not to care a hoot about the consequences of the effect of a pilotless country. The tragic situation piled up one upon the other until the situation became almost irredeemable.

    There was so much money in the economy that the CBN decided to adopt unusual policies of peremptorily changing the currency without adequate preparation by printing a fraction of the currency in circulation and then arbitrarily asking people to ration whatever currency notes they could get and then fixing a date after which the old notes would be of no legal tender. The result was that irrespective of what one had in the bank, everybody suddenly became poor because they couldn’t get their money from the bank. It became so bad that it became a matter of brawling and strength to collect whatever little money banks were disposed to give their customers.

    While this was going on, the government announced dates for new elections and a new census. Many of us thought everyone in government had gone mad. In spite of court judgement, the government refused to change until it became clear that there was going to be a revolt unless government moderated its stance. There was complete disconnect between the government and the governed. Even after some moderation, the scarcity of currency has still not abated. If government cannot handle mere currency change or renewal, the question of running a modern economy must be like performing neuro-surgery! With this economic impasse, it is no wonder that the economic mess in our economy is showing off in galloping inflation, shortage of foreign exchange and all round shortages in an import dependent economy. On top of this, the violence in the rural areas of the country which has led to farmers running away from their farms because of the problems of transhumance and primitive animal husbandry. It is common to find cattle eating crops of farmers some who are armed and ready to resist. This has led to rural pre-peasant revolution!

    I bought some gari over the weekend and when I asked the lady selling the gari why it was very expensive, she answered that there was no more cassava on the farm! Rice which in recent years has become a staple in Nigerian homes has also become unaffordable, yet we are always told about huge harvests of this same crop! Who is fooling who? Yams are also not within the reach of ordinary people because of poor salaries not just of poor artisans but even that of the déclassé middle classes. The way things are in Nigeria, we may have to depend on charity to feed our teeming population which is becoming a time bomb unless there is a policy to control its explosive growth. This huge population has become a cause of the insecurity in the country.

    In the 1980s one could drive safely from Lagos to Maiduguri or Sokoto with no molest on the road but now only an intrepid driver will do that without being waylaid and killed on the road. The size of our country and its huge population, have become a disincentive to its citizens or to investors because capital would go to where there is peace not just to huge markets.

    Within the context of this essay are its solutions. The route to peace is embedded in finding a solution to the economic problems facing the economy. Without development, there can be no peace. Depending on a mono economy in which export of crude petroleum and gas take preeminent position and yet subject to the vagaries of gyrating fall and rise of prices will get us nowhere. We must have a mixed industrial economy in which we can build up our forex and have a stable currency guaranteeing our future.  Those of us who are elderly have discovered that we have been robbed because inflation and the collapse of the value of the Naira have made the plea to save money a useless advice. This is not the way to encourage savings and foreign direct investment. If we have good economy, the current insecurity will be dissipated. Whatever insecurity we have in a situation like that will be manageable. If we have a good economy we will have resources to have great security and armed forces that cannot be easily overwhelmed. A good economy will lead to peace and concord in which the destructive forces of ethnicity and tribalism will gradually disappear. Example of this is evidenced in China and it is also happening in India despite its multitudinous languages, population and religions. Building a developing economy will not be easy;  it will require a strong government that will lay more emphasis on development than on democracy!

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    I know as a matter of fact that all present democracies started as oligarchies, before over time, they became one form of democracies or the other. The oldest democracies like Great Britain and the United states went through monarchies, aristocracies, oligarchies, liberal democracies before finally becoming representative democracies. France went from monarchy to revolutionary democracy and back to liberal democracy. America was a slave-owning democracy. It was only in the 20th century that women there were granted the suffrage. Germany and Japan were monarchical dictatorships before becoming military dictatorships and now democracies. Development in most of the OECD countries took precedence over democracy ab initio. After development took place in China and the Russian Federation and most of the countries in Eastern Europe, those countries now practice some kind of democracy in which members of the propertied class have some kind of democratic rights. This is so at least in case of Russia and the countries formerly behind the Iron Curtain.

    Even America practises what one can call armed democracy in which ownership of guns for protection of it is a democratic right. This is why some members of the middle class in Nigeria have been seriously advocating possession of firearms to protect themselves, their families and their properties. We can have the democracy we can manage in which nobody would be a prey to others without a chance of self-defence. I don’t think we have reached that stage yet! But we need to be careful because armed populist governments like those in our neighbouring countries pose danger of simple answers to serious economic and security problems like those we have in our country.

  • Still on the ravaging insecurity

    Still on the ravaging insecurity

    • By Goodluck F.T. Uguoji

    Since the beginning of the year, the country has come under renewed attacks by bandits. Since the New Year began, kidnappers have ramped up their nefarious business within Abuja and many states across the country. With the monster of insecurity of every shape and description assailing the citizens, the country can truly be said to be sailing in perilous waters. Let the truth be told, there has been an increase in criminal activities in recent times, resulting in the loss of lives and property.

    The country has been reeling under terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, and these have taken a turn for the worse. With the recent killing of more than 200 people in Plateau State during the Christmas season in addition to the rampant abduction of citizens, the victims are now forced to look for tens of millions of naira in cash to pay off ransoms.

    The reality is that kidnapping for ransom is already creating fear all over the country. Those who engaged in the kidnapping have turned it into a huge industry, operating as a syndicate. They allegedly work with local informants and politicians and in some instances, with banks and money deposit institutions. The Nigerian state continues to stagger from one self-inflicted crisis to another.

    On January 2, , kidnappers struck the Zuma 1 Area in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and abducted members of the Al-Kadriyah family. The killings and events that followed the abduction have diminished hopes of any respite through security intervention. More than 27 people were said to be kidnapped from the council area in one fell swoop. Some policemen who tried to thwart the abduction lost their lives in the process. The Al-Kadriyah family also lost two persons: one in the process of foiling the abduction and the other for failing to meet up with the deadline for the payment of the N60miillion ransom.

    The kidnappers also killed four of the abducted victims in a very callous manner, apparently to drive home the point that they meant business, in addition to raising the ransom for the Al-Kadriyars to N 100 million with a further threat to kill the remaining girls should they fail to meet the next deadline.

    Similarly, Monday, January 29, was sorrowful for the people of Ekiti State as they united in grief to mourn the loss of two traditional rulers. The monarchs were murdered in the Oke-Ako community in the Irele Local Government Area of the state. Soon after, the abduction of six primary school pupils followed. The six pupils, three teachers and the driver of the school bus conveying them were kidnapped on their way back from school.

    These tragic incidents again speak to the challenges of insecurity in our country. The killing of the traditional ruler, seen as a sacrilege and to that extent, very distressing for the people of Ekiti State and Nigerians in general, is seen as a dangerously new twist.

    Expectedly, these attacks have elicited criticisms from all quarters, renewing questions about the government’s ability to deal decisively with this menace.

    We commend the Inspector General of Police Olukayode Egbetokun for implementing the presidential approval to upgrade the Force Intelligence Bureau to a department with the posting of 54 Assistants Commissioners of Police (ACP) to head Force Intelligence Departments at Zonal and State levels across the country. It is a decision in the right direction. This is in view of the importance of intelligence gathering as a major weapon against kidnapping and sundry other crimes. Police area commands and divisions should also have officers dedicated principally to intelligence gathering. Such a department should collaborate with the intelligence organ of the military and quasi-military agencies, like the Army, DSS, NSCDC etc.; to synchronise intelligence gathering. The new department must eschew unhealthy competition with the security departments of the other institutions of government as obtained in the past, but rather, synergise with them for the benefit of Nigerians, because without co-ordinated intelligence gathering, the security agencies would be working at cross purposes.

    While the prevailing situation calls for anger, unless our anger impels us to get our acts together, unless we can put our house in order and stand on our feet, I fear that the anger is bound to remain the anger of the cripple. If we must win this war against kidnapping without chasing shadows, it must be fought at all levels of government – federal, state and local – with uncommon intensity.

    The situation we find ourselves in today demands that we go beyond mere agitation; we must be determined to resist whatever stands in the way of our peace and happiness. We should be a society where everybody will be a policeman, saying something each time we see something unusual; where everybody will be a soldier ready to defend the lives and property of the collective; where everybody will be security-conscious.

    Let no one be deceived; when the chips are down, it is the ordinary fellow who will bear the brunt. Therefore, tough measures are required to stem kidnapping in Nigeria. If the federal police cannot provide adequate security services for the federal capital, there is no doubt that remote parts of the country, at state and local levels, will require local police manpower to stem the ugly trend.

    Of course, the fundamental duty of government anywhere in the world is the protection of the lives and property of its citizens and the best way to go is by moving policing from an exclusive list to a concurrent list in our constitution where every state can take control of security situation in their respective domains.

    With the prevailing situation, the establishment of state police is the panacea and idea whose time has come.

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    The government has a very tough task in its hands; perhaps the highest of them is how to stop the kidnapping epidemic that has continued to defy the security agencies as cases of kidnapping are still being recorded in various parts of the country daily. The level of sophistication, planning and execution that go into banditry, terrorism and kidnapping these days is way beyond the ordinary; it is increasingly clear that there are powerful individuals behind the cycle of insecurity that has put the country on edge. Therefore, the challenge posed is how to evolve new strategies to rescue abductees without putting their lives in harm’s way.

    How to neutralize the bandits before the abductees are freed, as an armed confrontation with the bandits cannot be a viable option as it could harm the abductees too. Our security architecture needs credible intelligence to unmask the powerful sponsors of the ravaging insecurity before they make the country ungovernable.

    •Dr Uguoji writes from Akute, Ogun State.

  • Insecurity: The way forward

    Insecurity: The way forward

    • By Damilare Adeleye

    Sir: Truth be told, all is not well with the country. Criminals are feasting on our fatherland. Bandits are reigning like wild fire. Kidnappers are having a field day. Gunmen are ravaging. Terrorists are on rampage killing, maiming and destroying our homes. As it is, it is dangerous to sleep with one eye closed. All eyes need to be open to be on the alert. Nigeria is bleeding. The people are pleading!

    Throughout last week, hardly was there a day without report of killings and abductions. On Monday, unknown gunmen reportedly invaded a community called Gbauzokoyako located after Ketti in the Kuje Area Council of Abuja where father and son were said to have been killed. This was even as the assailants reportedly abducted five residents in the same community. The same day, armed men assassinated two traditional rulers in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State. This came at the same time when some gunmen abducted students, teachers, and a driver of Apostolic Faith Group of Schools in the Emure-Ekiti area of the state.

    Similarly on Tuesday, reports emerged that 11 farmers were killed in Firgi community, Pulka Ward of the Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State after stepping on Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

    On Wednesday, gunmen reportedly abducted two teenage sisters from Guita community in Chikakore, located in Kubwa, Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This was as 15 persons were reportedly killed after suspected herders attacked Ugboju community in the Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State. On Thursday morning, unknown gunmen terrorizing Nigeria’s capital city also kidnapped a director at the Federal Housing Authority in the Federal Capital Territory, Aondo Ver. Later in the day, armed men attacked Koro community, in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, killing the community’s traditional ruler, Olukoro of Koro, General Segun Aremu (rtd), and abducted his wife, alongside two others. Same day, a policeman was killed in Ebonyi State when gunmen attacked and engaged a police patrol team in a gun battle around Ngbo-Effium axis in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the State. Yet on the same day, gunmen beheaded a police officer identified as Inspector Osang.  On Friday, reports emerged that gunmen abducted 30 women escorting newlywed bride in Katsina. This happened along Gamji Road in Dandume Local Government Area of Katsina State on Thursday night. Similarly, Police in Borno State confirmed that four of its men were killed by insurgents during an attack on its quarters.

    All these happened in one week!

    The security agencies seem to be overwhelmed. Perhaps, they too also have suffered many casualties in these attacks. Many approaches including changing the security chiefs have been implemented to curb the menace, but none has proved to be effective enough. Therefore, it is time to take radical, novel actions.

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    I have two propositions to the government. First is the implementation of community policing. The need for state police cannot be overemphasized. Debate has been going on over the potential good and bad of such security structure. But, the truth is that it is the only way to go. The Federal Police system is overstretched, overburdened, making it losing its grip on the security situation. Starting with number of foot officers, equipment, arms and ammunition, one can tell that the federal policing system cannot longer help provide adequate security for our communities. Only the state police would work as each state would be responsible for the security of its territory. Each state would have capacity to recruit, arm and deploy security operatives as it deems fit within its territory. With security vote and security trust fund, the state governments can properly fund state policing system.

    The era when orders can only come from Abuja to all the 36 states of the federation is long gone.

    My second proposition is that the government needs to be more aggressive towards these bloodthirsty insurgents. They are enemies and internal aggressors, trespassing the Nigeria’s sovereignty. They do not mean well for the country, and so, they should be decisively dealt with. The trend of arresting these callous non-state individuals without proper prosecution is not helping the situation. The security agencies must up their game by ensuring speedy investigation and diligent arraignment in courts.

    We, the citizens, also have our responsibilities. We must help the government and security agencies with intelligence. With our support and faith, the security agencies can get rid of these bad elements within us to make the country a haven for everyone to live.

    •Damilare Adeleye,

    Lagos.

  • Insecurity, Forex: Tinubu’ll have to go for broke

    Insecurity, Forex: Tinubu’ll have to go for broke

    In one dizzying week, the Bola Tinubu administration has experienced probably its most challenging moment so far. Last Monday, gunmen believed to be kidnappers killed two travelling Ekiti State traditional rulers, while a third escaped the dragnet. On Thursday, the outlaws, but perhaps a different set, also killed another monarch in Kwara State, not too far from where the first set of killings took place. The killers acted like sleeper cells activated by remote control. They seemed to be saying that if other abductions and killings in different parts of the country would not ruffle the feathers of the president, these latest killings should. Hatred for the eight-month-old Tinubu administration is gradually ossifying in the North, while the Southeast has really never been placated, and the South-South remains unsure. With minor exceptions, the Southwest had remained a bastion of support for the administration; but now the killing of monarchs and abduction of schoolchildren may begin to stir passions.

    In the same horrendous week, foreign exchange dealers took their speculative lunacy to insane heights thus making Nigeria’s puzzled monetary authorities frantic about the plunging naira which fell to an abysmal low of N1,482 on Tuesday and N1,435 on Friday against the US dollar. Before the week ended, exchange rate for cargo clearance, which had been about N952/$ in December rose to N1,356/$. By last week, the news on the economic front was virtually apocalyptic, sending dangerous signals about an impending economic disaster. In addition, last Sunday, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic announced their exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) without the mandatory notice. To complete his nightmare, President Tinubu is the current chairman of the regional body. But there is no need to placate the three military regimes. Just develop the remaining 12 contiguous member states, and make them a regional showpiece. Despite the security implications, the errant three which replaced French hegemony with Russian oligarchy simply lack the smartness to appreciate the implications of their actions.

    However, it is when things look dark that the true character of a man shows through. The economic/forex crisis had been simmering for decades unattended to, and the insecurity crisis has lasted for more than 15 years. The crises were expected to get much worse before the country turns the corner. However, because there are really no social safety nets, and the nets hastily cobbled together in the past few months had been poorly executed or even exploited by both elected and appointed public officials, the discontent among the poor may be threatening to boil over to the streets to the satisfaction of disaffected opposition forces. Worsening the crises are powerful elites and regional interests, many of them still hoping that somehow the whole democratic experience could be scuttled or truncated. Clearly, President Tinubu does not have the luxury of time. He needs to act now both to save his presidency as well as to deliver the country. He had tried to mollify the opposition, trodden gingerly over complex economic and social issues, and spoken cautiously to the powerful and highly connected, perhaps with an eye on future elections. Now, he will have to go for broke if insecurity and forex speculators are not to break him. Those angling for a collapse of the system foolishly think that once the process is triggered it can be controlled like specimens in laboratories. They are unrealistic.

    Read Also; Tinubu’s quest for living wage for Nigerian workers: 37 to the rescue

    Firstly, the president must convince himself that the economic crisis, particularly the Forex logjam, has been handled with dexterity and the best expertise available in the country. Does he have a group of economic experts and advisers, other than appointed officials, with whom he meets minds and debates the dominant themes of the economy? He needs to rejig his staff. At first view the panaceas applied by the administration, including palliatives, have been eclectic, reactive and often incoherent. The panaceas give the impression of a lack of surefootedness. Yet, the problems ought to be profoundly understood and clearly enunciated, and the solutions affirmed beyond a shadow of doubt, regardless of the maliciousness of economic exploiters and saboteurs implementing the scripts of opposition forces. The president must be keenly aware already that the economic condition of the people is indeed very dire, and he has a little time to remedy the problem. Yes, it must get worse before getting better, and it is also true that he is trying to grapple with issues and decisions evaded by his predecessors for decades, predecessors who opted for the low hanging fruits while jauntily passing on the rest of the nuisance to successors. President Tinubu wants to be different. That should be lauded; but he must let wisdom direct him as he calibrates what the people can absorb without threatening the safety of his administration and the stability of the country.

    Secondly, he has the more pressing and far more difficult job of stanching the flow of blood as a result of insecurity all over the country. Here he must really, really go for broke. He has to break tables and break eggs. In fact, he has little or no choice, for should the situation continue for a few more months, he will not only lose respect, even the myth of his invincibility will be shattered and the stability of the country threatened. One, a rash of informal state police imitations are springing up in many states in response to unremitting insecurity. President Tinubu should retake the initiative and kick-start the constitutional process of devolving state policing powers. This measure is urgent and cannot wait for comprehensive restructuring deals. Regional emotions are still too fragile and combustible, especially in the midst of economic storm and silly arguments about relocations of departments of federal agencies and ministries, to be added to the far more complex and sensitive restructuring process.

    Two, while the state police devolution measure is being worked out, the president needs to assemble a tactical mix of police and military squads in all the states and designate them as rapid deployment forces to fight kidnapping. Previous measures have become impotent. He should also put the legal machinery in motion to enable him and state governors activate a statewide lockdown when kidnappers strike in order to hem them in and fish them out. Had this system been in place, when kidnappers took the schoolchildren in Ekiti or killed monarchs, Ekiti would immediately have been put on lockdown, and squads in surrounding states put on red alert patrolling Ekiti boundaries until the abductors are fished out. This process must not be terminated even after the release of the captives; it must continue until the kidnappers are apprehended. The president should also consider the legal imperative of setting up special courts to try kidnappers, a trial that should terminate at the Court of Appeal, while the cases must be disposed of in a few months, say three months. This process should be applied to Plateau, Nasarawa and Benue where gunmen have continue to rampage and carry out ethnic cleansing. Lock the states down when killings occur, and the government must not rest until the perpetrators are fished out, even if it takes weeks. If former administrations were fond of sending condolences and promising to rebuild destroyed communities, the Tinubu administration should toe a completely different line.

    The president should also set up a panel to resolve why big-time kidnappers who keep captives for months and negotiate with victims’ families endlessly could mystify and wrong-foot the intelligence and security services. Are security agents complicit? There should be no excuses. The kidnappers are known to communities which replenish them, some out of fear, others out of financial inducements. The Tinubu administration should be interested in why the intelligence services have proved both inept and impotent in the face of such open challenges to the peace and stability of the country. The president should be tired of playing the rule book of his predecessors who summon security chiefs to Aso Villa when preventable tragedies occur. He should sit with them, formulate ironclad plans, task new and old agencies with arresting the situation, local hunters included, and saddle communities with the responsibility of overseeing their forests. Failure is not an option. It is time to stop the madness. With devolved policing, states should take part of the blame for insecurity. Old measures have clearly proved nugatory; it is time for a bold and innovative administration to find and apply new weapons of lifting the siege to which the nation has been subjected by nomadic criminals and their local accomplices. It is time for the president to fiercely combat the menace and set a six-month or one-year target to impose peace.

    Wike’s difficult and imposing dilemma

    Former Rivers State governor and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike, will sooner or later have to face and resolve the terrible dilemma that has dogged his path since he opted to side with the All Progressives Congress (APC) in last February’s presidential election. He was a natural Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) man and politician, not to say leader and financier when others played ducks and drakes with the affections of the opposition party. But he threw his weight behind the APC in 2022 when a few PDP hierarchs led the party to renege on its unwritten presidential zoning formula and for effect cap it up by emasculating him. That weight tilting, it must be admitted, was crucial to the success of the APC last February. But that tilting has also put Mr Wike in a quandary, unsure how to proceed politically and how best to hedge his electoral bets in the turbulent months and years ahead. He is a ministerial appointee of the APC-led federal administration, but his roots are still firmly, as far as the eyes can see, in the PDP. In short, he is the classical personification of the idiomatic expression of running with the hare, and hunting with the hounds. How far he can walk that tightrope remains to be seen.

    For Mr Wike, a part of the problem is that the APC in Rivers State is still embroiled in some kind of leadership and identity crisis, though they have invited him to defect to the party and assume leadership. Since the APC is still crisis-ridden in the state, becoming a member or assuming its leadership is fraught with a lot of uncertainties. Should Mr Wike defect, there is no proof he can quieten the storm raging in the party. Former governor Rotimi Amaechi is a part of the storm, and he still breathes down the neck of the party despite defecting to the PDP and was outmanoeuvred by Mr Wike. Mr Amaechi’s men are, however, still in the APC and are fomenting trouble and waiting for an opportunity to revenge the humiliation of their mentor. They sense that Mr Wike cannot walk the tightrope forever. They believe that he cannot stay as minister in an APC government and be fighting guerrilla wars in the PDP. They assume, with plenty of common sense, that he cannot have his cake and eat it. But the boisterous Mr Wike may soon discover that proving an idiom wrong is far easier than proving his bilious enemies wrong. The reasons are legion.

    One, a titanic battle for the soul and leadership of the PDP is afoot. At the centre of that battle is the party’s former presidential candidate, the geriatric Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and footloose party defector. Alhaji Atiku is a vicious and vengeful political fighter who brooks no opposition, despite his geniality, nor gives quarters, despite his glib talk. Notwithstanding his age and baffling lack of substantial investment in advancing the cause of the PDP, not to talk of inspiring the refinement and reformation of the party’s essence and modus operandi, the former vice president seems bent on reusing the PDP as a special purpose vehicle for his sixth or seventh bid for the presidency. Mr Wike was his nemesis in the last election, probably the main reason he lost, if the spoiler role played by the upstart Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) is discounted. Alhaji Atiku is eager to demand his pound of flesh from Mr Wike. Fighting the former vice president off while remaining a minister in the APC administration will be difficult for Mr Wike. Indeed, Alhaji Atiku will make it doubly difficult for the fence-sitting former Rivers governor to get a foothold in the party to fend off his enemies.

    Two, Mr Wike will find it somewhat comforting that the main opposition to Alhaji Atiku is constituted by the former Group of Five (G-5) governors who broke rank with the main PDP before the last presidential election as well as those who sympathised with the power shift argument which Mr Wike and the G-5 advocated. Led by Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, who is himself interested in running for the presidency sometime in the future, the anti-Atiku group is determined to neutralise the influence of the former vice president. They have labeled him a serial presidential election loser and harbinger of bad luck. In addition they do not see him as an inspiring and refining force in the party, nor do they see him as a committed democrat and ideologue capable of rebuilding the party into a formidable electoral machine. Eager to rebuild a party that has now been thrice defeated in the polls, the PDP governors have had it up to their necks with the kind of politics and ideas Alhaji Atiku represents. Importantly too, the opposition governors know that Mr Wike has no interest in contesting the presidency on the platform of the PDP, and would probably lend a helping hand in their fight against the former vice president. In short, Alhaji Atiku’s enemies in the party, who are beginning to rouse themselves, are many, implacable and regicidal. Decapitating him is cakewalk.

    All things considered, Mr Wike is perched precariously on the horns of a dilemma. He will have to make up his mind whether to defect to the APC or stay put in the PDP. But staying in the PDP is becoming more and more untenable, as his unseemly fights in Rivers State are indicating. If he keeps his PDP membership, how would he play his politics in 2027? And if he leaves the PDP, how would he keep Rivers upon within his orbit? Mr Wike is not in an enviable position at all. Not taking the ministerial appointment would have opened him up to a terrible drubbing by the tactless Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State. Indeed the former governor’s dilemma would have been largely inexistent had he turned down the FCT appointment; but his hands would have correspondingly been weakened. Are his friends and enemies underrating his political skills? Perhaps. Maybe the feisty politician is after all more ambidextrous than most people guess.

  • Senators, Reps seek urgent action against insecurity

    Senators, Reps seek urgent action against insecurity

    The Senate will meet President Bola Tinubu next week on the spate of insecurity after a parley with security chiefs, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said.

    Also, House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas urged the President to make tougher decisions to halt the killings.

    Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde said the time for state police has come.

    He dismissed fears of abuse, saying states that can maintain them should be allowed to set them up.

    According to him, Amotekun was formed due to the Federal Government’s refusal to approve state police.

    He got the backing of Southwest Speakers, who visited him in Ibadan, the state capital.

    Also yesterday, House spokesman, Akintunde Rotimi, broke down in tears over the killing of two monarchs and abduction of six school children in Ekiti State.

    The country has been reeling under serious terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, which have taken a turn for the worse.

    In a renewed wave of crime, kidnappers have killed their victims, while huge ransoms have been paid.

     Akpabio said the meeting with the President has become expedient.

    The motion on insecurity was sponsored by the entire 109 senators.

    Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said: “The Senate notes with sadness the rising spate of killings, kidnappings, banditry, and other criminal activities in the nation.

    Makinde said Southwest governors were forced to set up the Western Nigeria Security Network Agency (Amotekun) after the Federal Government rejected calls for state police.

    He believes it was time to revisit the matter.

    According to him, the state police is an idea whose time has come.

    He dismissed fears of abuse, saying they were unfounded.

    Makinde said: “A lot of people may not know that before we launched Amotekun in this state, some of us went to the Federal Government.

    “We asked to be allowed to set up state police for our various states but we did not get that approval during the time of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “I disagreed at that particular time and still disagree to date that the states are not in the position to maintain state police.

    “I have never seen where the Federal Government went to a particular state and gave the police everything they needed. So, the states are already maintaining the police.

    “Give us the responsibility first and see if certain states will be able to maintain it or not. But since we could not get state police, we settled for Amotekun.

    Read Also: Insecurity: Senate to meet Tinubu after session with security chiefs

    “All the state assemblies in the Southwest passed a common law for its establishment.

    “So, we have to be pushing for state police, and you lawmakers have a role to play to make that a reality.”

    Lawmaker weeps

     House spokesman Rotimi broke down in tears while presenting an urgent motion on the killing of two traditional rulers in his constituency in Ekiti and the abduction of some school children by gunmen.

    Presenting his motion in an emotion-laden voice interrupted intermittently by tears, Rotimi told the House how the monarchs were killed by bandits, leaving several others with life-threatening injuries.

    Another member approached the Ekiti lawmaker to console him, while the Speaker told him to “take it easy honourable”.

    Rotimi said: “There has been an increase in criminal activities in Ekiti North 1 (Ikole / Oye) Federal Constituency in recent times resulting in the lost lives and properties.

    “The constituency is exposed to peculiar security challenges due to the nature of our forests and topography, and more painfully because Ekiti Federal roads are some of the most dilapidated in the entire country.

    “On Monday, these criminals carried out a dastardly attack in the Oke-Ako area in Ikole Local Government Area resulting in the death of two traditional rulers…and leaving a host of others with life-threatening injuries.

    “This is not an isolated event, as in the past few days alone, a commercial driver was killed between Ayedun and Ayebode by armed bandits, and just yesterday (Monday), a school bus load of students were abducted in Emure Ekiti and their whereabouts is still unknown”

    He said one of the slain monarchs, the Olumojo of Imojo, Oba Samuel Olatunde, “was an intellectual and highly intelligent historian and orator who always spoke truth to power”.

    The other monarch, the late Elesun of Esun, he said, Oba Babatunde Ogunsakin, was “a peace-loving king who was very hands-on in the development of Esun-Ayedun communities”.

    He added: “Because of the topography of the area, and the bad roads, there has been an incursion of murderous elements who parade themselves as herdsmen leading to heightened insecurity.

    “The entire people of Imojo in Oye Local Government and Esun in Ikole Local Government and the entire state have been thrown into mourning on account of the loss of our highly revered traditional rulers who were forces for community development, peace, and stability in the constituency and the entire state.

    “The Nigeria Army has a military outpost on the road, which has been non-functional, as they only patrol on Tuesdays, leaving the communities exposed for the rest of the days”.

    Following his motion, the House asked the Chief of Army Staff to redeploy military personnel to the outpost along the Oke-Ako area to enhance security and forestall a repeat of the killings.

    The House also urged the Inspector General of Police, the Commandant General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), and other security agencies to deploy more men to Ekiti North 1 and ensure that the killers are brought to justice.

    It asked the Ministry of Works and the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to immediately rehabilitate the Ayedun to Irele road and others in the constituency.

    The House asked security agencies to do everything to rescue the pupils and teachers.

  • On the worsening insecurity

    On the worsening insecurity

    SIR: Any honest review of contemporary security situations, value for human life and dignity of human person in Nigeria, would reveal the reality that life in Nigeria is brutally solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, reflecting the human condition that social contract philosophers referred to as “living in a state of nature”. 

    As was the case in Hobbes’s state of nature, Nigerians live and suffer from constant fear of violent death, helplessness. Might has become right; even with Nigerians surrendering their full freedom to the government in exchange for protection and security, which in most cases never happens, it is simply the case of “woe to the conquered”. 

    According to Beacon Report, 4,067 persons were abducted and 9,734 killed by gun men in 2023. In some communities, bandit now invade villages in broad daylight, demanding levies, kidnapping, killing, destroying homes, properties and farms. To the lucky victims of our security crisis, who are alive to tell their terrifying stories in the cold hands of the criminal elements, they simply ”do not pray that Nigeria happens to you”, as there is usually no indemnity to those shattered by our broken social and physical security systems. 

    The problem is not just about the failure of the state to secure the life and property of the people, it is the sustained culture of lack of responsibility and impactful results from those entrusted with the mandate to provide public services for public good. Hence, from the nights of April 14 – 15, 2014, when 276 Chibok girls were kidnapped in Chibok community, to the horrify killing of Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar on Friday, January 12, amongst other millions of Nigerians that have lost their lives to various forms of violence and insecurity, the government for over a decade has failed to secure any serious conviction against any serious suspect connected to the lingering security crisis. No government official has ever resigned for the failure of the state on security, no official of the government has ever been sacked as a result of inability to secure the lives of the people, nor has the devastating spate of insecurity abated. 

    Read Also: ‘Declare state of emergency on insecurity’

    Perhaps, our predication is worsened by the fact that governments at all levels have failed in their approach and commitment to solving the root causes of the insecurity. Insecurity enablers such as unemployment which is currently at 4.2% as at the Q2 of 2023, with 133 Nigerians that are multi-dimensionally poor, inflation expected to peak at 29% in the Q1 of 2024, lack of basic infrastructure and enabling environment for small and medium enterprises to thrive, have only further deepened our security crisis. 

    To summarise our situation is to understand that Nigeria currently faces two epidemics – corruption and insecurity. These two factors are intertwined, as corruption undermines the capability of public officials and public institutions to discharge their duties in securing the life and property of the people. 

    Policing in Nigeria has become but an institution in need, as the police force itself is in need of security in some cases, while some divisional stations close every evening. Officers of the Nigerian Police Force seems to be a police service institution for the elite alone – out of 400,000 police officers, more than 150,000 of them are attached to VIPs and unauthorized persons. 

    For the avoidance of doubt, Nigeria is not isolated from the current global landscape of complex crisis and conflicts. The difference, however, is the grace and dignity in government response, responsibility and sincere commitment to public safety. In our clime, it is almost like Nigerians are existing without an overseeing authority. 

    If you measure how many kilometres that have functional presence of government, you will be disturbed by the fact that nearly 60% of the Nigerian territory is ungoverned and only witnesses the presence of government during elections. 

    President Bola Tinubu as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces must give definitive order to the Service Chiefs, with timeline on when to end this widening level of insecurity. Governors as members of the Nigeria Police Council must understand their role in ensuring that the police force works for all Nigerians. Subnational governments must ensure that security votes are productively utilized for non-kinetic measures of social security, as a system for empowering citizens against insecurity. 

    We must further empower and strengthen our local government system for efficient public service delivery at the grassroots. 

    • Ekpa Stanley Ekpa, Kaduna.