President Muhammadu Buhari last week vowed again to end banditry, kidnappings, and killings in Nigeria. In a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, the president promised to respond fiercely against “those brutal and remorseless enemies of humanity.” He was reacting to a recent incident in Goromyo Local Government Area in Sokoto State, where bandits had killed 37 innocent people. He lamented “this frequent and large-scale killings of poor villagers by groups of mass murderers who must be met with the fiercest force the government can mobilise.” Troops have been deployed to the area, he said, and aerial security measures put in place.
A week earlier, the President had paid a sympathy visit to the victims of bandit attacks at the Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State where he assured the victims, “we are trying our best. I’m here to sympathise with you over the tragedy that befell us as a whole not you alone. All those whose activities are to kill people and saying ‘Allahu Akbar’ are lying because God is not wicked.”
He paid a similar visit to Barkinladi, Riyom and other parts of Plateau State in June 2018 to console victims of mass killings. Last month, he addressed the 1,000-strong force assembled at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport, Katsina, a force which included the Army, Air Force and the Civil Defence to whom he issued the order to help in tracking the activities of bandits.
Now if the President paid sympathy visits to all victims of banditry, kidnappings and all the senseless killings in the country, he would hardly have any time left for anything else. That is the true reflection of the frightening security situation now confronting the nation. It has left Nigerians with a great deal of anxiety, fear and an unprecedented sense of insecurity. The figure emanating from the surge of violence is still shocking. Between May 29, 2015 and May 29, 2019, the Nigerian Security Tracker (NST) recorded a total of 25,794 Nigerians killed in violent crimes, including terrorist attacks by Boko Haram, the terrorist cum communal attacks by herdsmen and extra-judicial killings by Nigeria’s security agencies. The NST is a computation by the Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington DC think tank on foreign policy with a reputation for objectivity. And as eye-popping as the NST figures appear, many Nigerians think it is conservative.
Nigerians are also troubled at another level because sooner or later the consequences of insecurity will reflect on our food supply chain. This is inescapable because in many parts of the country, farming communities are too scared to go to farms anymore because of the uncertainty of what might happen to them.
Insecurity has become an everyday concern of Nigerians. There are killings in the country on a daily basis. On August 22, a Catholic seminarian, Lazarus Nwafor, was killed by herdsmen at Ndiagu Attakwu Akegbe in Nkanu West Local Government of Enugu State. This happened a few days after an interim report of the commission of inquiry into the Nimbo massacre by herdsmen was submitted to the governor. The Attakwu community was invaded at dawn by more than 50 matchete-wielding herdsmen. On the same day, a woman was kidnapped from her farm by herdsmen at Nchatancha, Emene Nike in the Enugu East Local Government Area. She was found dead in a nearby bush. Community reaction led to the closure of the Enugu-Abakaliki highway for hours by irate Nike youths.
Last week, the member representing Denge/Shuni state constituency at the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Aminu Magaji Bodan, was kidnapped at 1.15 am. His brother spoke with the media. Hon. Usman Zannah, House member for Gubio, Magumeri and Kaje Federal Constituency, Borno State, told the press that “two local government areas of Gubio and Magumeri were overran by Boko Haram.”
The President should go beyond these vows and do something drastic to curb the rising insecurity. He should not let this promise be like those he had made before now. We think that not enough resources have been devoted to intelligence and the deployment of modern technology, including close circuit television which has worked wonders in many countries, tracking down criminals and bandits. Drones have been found useful in many situations where aircraft may not get to. We cannot emphasise enough the need to decentralise the police to be able to implement the community policing which the government has adopted as part of its strategy.