No one can contradict the notion circulating around the country that the spate of insecurity is not abating but getting worrisome and  unfortunate. The notable crime that is gradually enveloping most of the northern part of  Nigeria with the staccato mode of operation by  marauding bandits is kidnapping.

Most of their operations expose the fact that they might have experienced retired security agents among them, like in the Boko Haram group. Kidnapping is all about instilling fear in the community and  obtaining  financial  ransom from victims’ relations or friends. The bandits raided Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State, with no inhibition and over 300 schoolboys abducted.

Sequel to the well-publicized abduction, Zamfara State government don shut down 10 schools after the much-talked-about 2019 “best acted abduction of 344 students” by motorcycle-riding, AK-47 rifle-carrying bandits who rode on the highway from Katsina into Zamfara forests while awaiting government officials and security personnel to resue the boys without any ransom nor exchange of gunfire.

The question then arose, why would the bandits waste their time and fuel without collecting an atom of ransom? Were they only interested in the publicity or did they see the abduction as a forest game? It looked like a classical film production. More interesting was that, a few days after the epoch-making abduction production, the Inspector-General of Police, whose tenure is winding up, paid an official visit to the scene of what is regarded as a staged abduction to address the police in the state assuring them that it would be the last of  such abductions anywhere in the country. Unfortunately, the bandits boldly returned in a renewed gusto to abduct four people and stole a dozen cows when they ran into 84 schoolchildren returning home from a celebration and abducted them.

Katsina State Police Command’s spokesman, Gambo Isa, who confirmed the abduction, said last Sunday morning that the police and a local community self-defense group  were able to rescued the 84 children from the bandits after a gunfight. He added that all the 12 rustled cows were also recovered.

Dandume, an area bordering the northern part of Kaduna state, is one of the region’s hot spots for banditry and kidnapping. Despite  what looks like grandstanding by the police boss, kidnapping has continued unabated, sprawling into states like Oyo, Imo and other southern states. There is a dark cloud in the firmament across the Nigerian space, an ominous cloud that has existed over the years sequel to the inability of the Nigeria Police to live up to its full responsibility of internal security that the constitution placed on their shoulders. 

Unfortunately, since the advent of IGP Mohammadu Adamu, the rate of internal  insecurity has heightened, giving the impression that the police is overwhelmed. How can the police claim to be overwhelmed when there are no proper security strategies in place?

A time was in this country when armed robbery held sway and there was palpable fear in the southern and eastern parts of the country. It took strategic planning and understanding of the situation by IGPs like Aliyu Attah, Tafa Balogun, Mike Okiro,M.D. Abubakar, Gambo Jimeta and Solomon Arase. They all helped to bring armed robbery to a halt in the country. One had expected the introduction of foresightedness by the present IGP in ending banditry and kidnapping in the country. Instead, what we see is the frequent invitation of the military to tackle every internal upheaval. 

ecurity expert and owner of online security magazine, The Global Sentinel, Senator Iroegbu, believes that, whenever the military is deployed, we “have a false sense of security”, that’s why “anytime there is unrest, by deploying the military, you’re killing our security, you are removing the attention that should be paid to strengthen those our internal security operators.”

“Military is supposed to play a supportive role when it comes to internal security,” he said.

Even at that, the police, under IGP Adamu, has a lot of explanations to give Nigerians. When  he took over from the ignominious administration of Ibrahim Idris, many who knew his pedigree heaved a sigh of relief, but he started derailing when he was unable to effectively restore sanity and public confidence in the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), as public agitation trailed its activities. Like his predecessor, he was unable to ensure strict supervision, which helped to worsen the ability of the police to fight crime. Even the “copy and paste” SWAT that he set up is yet to go operational.

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As it is known in the history of Nigeria, hell is always let loose whenever there is a change of guard in the police, both at the state and force headquarters level where the tenure of the IGP  would terminate. As it is on police record, the tenure of IGP Adamu ceases on January 30, 2021. Thereafter, a new hand is expected to completely change the dwindling fortunes of the Nigeria Police and turn it around to a more proactive and effective police organisation.

It seems that Nigeria never had an IGP in the full sense of it after IGP Solomon Arase. (End)

 

 

 

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Birds of the same feather

Those who study the lifestyle of birds and animals will tell you from their research, with all certainty, that “birds of the same  feather always flock together.” According to ornithologists, birds with identical biological specimen usually flock together. 

So if birds that are lower animals can find a common ground to flock together, it then means that men that are higher animals with  common bonds, interests and goals cannot but flock together. Though the Nigeria Police is the creation of the colonial master (British Colony), its establishment was further ruptured during the military era with the creation of the National Security Organization (NSO), which metamorphosed into the State Security Service (SSS), where Aliyu Ismaila Gwarzo, a former police officer, was conscripted to head the organization as a director. That era saw the flocking together of the  police and the intelligence organization known today after  three stages of evolution, as the Department of State Security (DSS).

It is an organization revered but feared by the Nigerian public. In fact, The first headquarters of the agency was located at 15, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; this site currently houses the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

(To be continued)