By Enyeribe Ejiogu, Olakunle Olafioye (Lagos), Emmanuel Adeyemi (Lokoja), Scholastica Onyeka (Makurdi), Tony Osauzo and Ighomuaye Lucky (Benin), Geoffrey Anyanwu (Enugu), and Okey Sampson (Umuahia)
Nigerians are really getting pummelled on all sides. Galloping inflation has seen the price of a bag of rice shooting up to N50,000, from the N35,000 it was about two weeks ago and N24,000 few months back.
All thanks to the naira which is now in a free fall against the United States dollar.
Recently, it crashed to N828 in the parallel market, probably driven by the desire of people who have been hoarding tons and tons of naira for vote-buying, to avoid the consequences inherent in the plan of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to withdraw the present N200, N500 and N1000 currency notes and replace them with the re-designed version, starting from December 15 through January 31, when the old notes will cease to be legal tender.
The rapidly rising cost of living would have been tolerable as people seek out and switch to alternative foods like beans, garri and corn (more commonly known as agbado), but fear and anxiety over the menace of insecurity across the land is turning the hearts of Nigerians to jelly, especially those who cannot avoid interstate travels or even trips between cities within the same state. Imagine somebody being kidnapped between Kaduna and Zaria, Ondo and Akure, Aba and Umuahia, Kano city and Wudil or even Maiduguri and Nguru. A foreboding of abduction along interstate highways grips the hearts of commuters until they finally get to their destinations.
Practically, no day passes without scores of travellers being abducted by the seemingly fearless, extremely well-armed Sahelian militia and their in-country kith and kin, unleashed on hapless Nigerians, whose ascendency on the global kidnap index rose to the peak in the last seven years.
These incarnates of the devil, whose stock-in-trade is to kill, maim, rape, pillage and extort huge ransoms from abducted victims’ families, maraud with effortless ease, leaving trails of misery wherever they strike in farming communities in parts of the North like Kaduna, Zamfara, Jigawa, Niger and some other states.
In some Southeast and Southwest states, the armed men in the forests, who masquerade as herdsmen would block highways in broad daylight, force vehicles to stop by spraying them with bullets and then proceed to abduct busloads of passengers, who are then marched deep into the forests to their hideouts, where negotiations of ransom for their release begins.
The lucky ones whose families are able to pay the ransom amount are set free, albeit with injuries and in several instances sexual violation of the female victims.
As the Yuletide approaches…
Nigerians love to travel at festive periods, to see friends and extended family members to strengthen bonds, connect with their rural communities and generally flex in thanksgiving to God for blessings and successes achieved in the city. With the Yuletide fast approaching, worsening insecurity is making many of them do a rethink on trips this season. As people ruminate on end-of-year travel plans, one question on their minds is this: what is the picture of security on the ground in states?
In Abuja, for instance, ISWAP/Boko Haram fighters broke into Kuje Correctional Centre in a daredevil attack, and set free high value insurgents that were previously captured in battle by the army and had been in custody in the facility.
Despite strenous denials, other high value insurgents held at a correctional facility in Lagos were set free as part of a deal.
Added to these troubling developments, tens of hundreds of correctional centres’ inmates who escaped from custody during various jailbreaks are still at large, thereby placing many more black spots on the nation’s crime map.
In its effervescent manner, Sunday Sun this week serves you a slice-by-slice look at the broad picture of insecurity across the country:
KOGI
People in Kogi State are uneasy, anxious and worried. The reason is very simple: about 157 inmates who broke out of Kabba Correctional Facility in the state on September 12, 2021 are yet to be recaptured. Most of them were members of the Boko Haram sect allied to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a dreaded terrorist group strongly believed to be operating Nigeria. ISWAP has been alleged to be the mastermind of the attack on Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.
Expectedly, there is palpable fear in some quarters. Residents say that unless adequate precautionary measures are taken, the security situation in the state may be worse.
During the attack on Kabba facility, located along Kabba, Lokoja road, two soldiers and two staff of the facility were killed while many of the inmates were freed.
At the time of the attack, the Public Relations Officer of Nigeria Correctional Service, Kogi State Command, Mr Sesan Nihi told Sunday Sun that the facility had 294 inmates in custody. Of this number, 266 escaped while 28 refused to do so. Though 208 inmates were immediately recaptured, 157 are still at large.
Although, the PRO refused to specify the number of terrorists among the escapees, it was, however, learnt that most of those that escaped were on the Awaiting Trial list, and had been relocated from the Kotonkarfi Correctional Facility which was undergoing repairs at that time.
Since the incident happened and in recent times, there have been increasing reports of kidnappings and killings in the state.
In August this year, for instance, gunmen suspected to be bandits, killed police officers and five members of the vigilance group, who had responded to a distress call in Ajaokuta Local Government Area of the state, in an ambush.
Also, five people were killed in coordinated attacks by daredevil robbers in September during a simultaneous invasion of three banks in Ankpa in the Eastern Senatorial District of the state and carted away millions of naira while several people were said to have been injured.
In another operation by gunmen suspected to be at Ofeapo along Idrisu -Bagana Road in Omala Local Government Area of the state four persons were killed, while two others sustained various degrees of injury.
Also last month, on a Sunday evening, gunmen invaded a Celestial Church of Christ, Blood of Jesus Parish, Felele in the outskirts of Lokoja, the state capital, and killed two persons while several others were injured. The attack was the second, which came three weeks after New Life Gospel Church, Sariki Noma, a suburb of Lokoja was also attacked during a vigil. Several worshippers were injured as the volley bullets shattered the glass windows of the church.
Notwithstanding all these incidents, the State Security Adviser to Governor Yahaya Bello, Comdr. Jerry Omodara (rtd) has continued to assure residents of the state that they have no need to panic, stating that adequate security measures have been put in place by the state government to make the Yuletide session free of crime.
He, however, refused to disclose details of the measures so as not to compromise the security arrangements.
Omodara assured that the police and the other security agencies in the state in conjunction with the the state vigilance group have identified some black spots in the state where the battle will be taken to the hoodlums.
He stressed that all the major highways in the state would be placed under 24 hours surveillance, daily.
BENUE
There are mixed feelings in Benue State over the security situation.
Despite the seeming confidence of the Benue Police Command that the situation is calm as they are in control, residents are not exactly convinced as they harbour real fears, given recent cases of kidnapping and continued attacks on communities in the state.
Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen have be carrying out series of attacks on Benue communities with Gbeji in Ukum Local Government Area being the worst hit.
Over 39 persons were said to have been killed in one horrendous and murderous attack while many other victims are either missing or in the hospitals treating gunshot and machete wounds.
Added to these attacks are cases of kidnapping and collection of ransom in the state.
Just two Mondays ago, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, House of Assembly candidate for Obi State Constituency, Mr Moses Egbodo, was kidnapped and released six days later after his abductors collected N3 million as ransom.
The spate of abductions and attacks by armed herdsmen is giving residents serious worry as many have confessed that they now dread to travel while others say they cannot sleep at night with their two eyes closed.
A resident of Makurdi who hails from the Eastern part of the country, Mrs Valentina Chukwu, said she and her family may not travel home for 2022 Christmas celebration except the situation improves.
“We the Igbo like going home at this period to celebrate the Christmas with our families, but the kind of kidnapping and killings on the road, we are afraid and may just have to spend it here. We don’t have money to pay ransom.”
A driver with one of the popular transport companies in Makurdi, who pleaded not to be named, also said they have been plying the Makurdi/Lafia road by the grace of God.
He stated that some drivers have been victims of attacks by bandits and terrorists who terrorise motorists on that axis. In some cases, some students who were returning on holidays were kidnapped some months ago.
The driver, who noted that the attacks were rampant and can happen any time of the day, said that he has decided not to embark on night journeys henceforth as a safety measure. He urged his colleagues to follow suit.
Special Adviser to Governor Samuel Ortom on Security Matters, Lt. Col. Paul Hembah, (rtd), confirmed that the state is still having severe and unstable security situation.
“But the worrying dimension is that there have been attempts by bandits to flock on the Makurdi-Lafia road. They tried to even establish some bases close to the roads, especially around the NYSC Camp in Ortese, around the “Thank You Suswam School” which is along the Lafia road.
“We have been having fears that probably, it is those bandits and terrorists escaping from other parts for the country that are attempting to do that, but fortunately, the security agencies have denied them such chances,” Hembah said.
He explained that the security agencies have been disrupting their activities, stating this has kept them from attacking those areas.
This, he said, has kept the roads free. “In the past three weeks, they were kidnapping people, taking them into the bush, demanding for ransom, killing some people along this same road. But the intensive operations of security agencies has improved the situation,” he said.
Hembah said thst it was not unlikely that bandits disrupting safe passage on the roads could be terrorists who escaped from other parts of the country, noting that the government is still studying the situation.
It would be recalled that the state government established the Benue State Security Volunteer Guards, BSCVG, as a local initiative to beef up security in the state.
Under the outfit, a total of 1,600 security personnel were trained in the first and second batches. Governor Ortom is determined to reach the target of 10,000 trained guards before he leaves office in 2023.
Though the application to the Federal Government for approval to acquire and arm the guards with AK-47 automatic weapons was denied, Hembah said that the state will work closely with the conventional security agencies – the military, civil defense, police and the newly established Community Volunteer Guards, to ensure that lives and property are secured all through the Yuletide period and beyond.
He disclosed that the government has procured some essential equipment, including vehicles and motorcycles, to enable the volunteer guards perform their duty effectively.
Meanwhile the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Catherine Anene said that the security situations in Benue is calm except for some attacks at the border communities.
While acknowledging pockets of robbery and kidnap cases, she said: “The Benue Police Command under the leadership of CP Wale Abass has deployed men across the state, especially on the highways to handle the security situations. Operation Order the Ember Months is the annual programme we use to sustain security of the state throughout the period.”
She also confirmed that weeks after the Kuje prison jailbreak, the Benue Police Command arrested one of the runaway prisoners, Ebube Igwe, in Makurdi on July 19, 2022, who confessed to have escaped from Kuje correctional centre during the jailbreak.
He was awaiting trial in a case of culpable homicide involving his girlfriend.
LAGOS
Unlike what obtains in most states of the federation, residents of Lagos have enjoyed a relatively peaceful atmosphere despite the huge security challenge confronting the country.
Many security stakeholders in the state attribute this to the unique security approach adopted by the state.
The spokesperson of the State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, at an interactive session with media practitioners, recently, identified effective policing of the state based on intelligence by police personnel and information volunteered by members of the public as one of the factors behind the success story of the state.
Findings by Sunday Sun revealed that the police command in the state has established and maintained a strong partnership with the various communities in the state, a development many believe has impacted positively on the security of the state.
The Lagos State Coordinator of Community Policing Partnership Association of Nigeria, CPPAN, Chief Sunday Solanke confirmed that the partnership between the police in the state and residents of various communities has really helped to stem the tide of crime and criminality in the state.
Chief Solanke who is also the national president of the association urged the government to embrace community policing, saying that lives and property of the people are better safeguarded with a robust community policing system.
“Community policing remains the most viable solution to insecurity in Nigeria. A lot of people have made a case for state police, but I want to tell you authoritatively that the lasting solution to our security challenge lies in community policing. A viable community policing system would help to nip most crimes in the bud because the people are made to be involved in policing their communities,” Solanke said.
Sunday Sun also gathered that local security outfits, including the Odua People’s Congress, OPC, in most communities in the state also have robust partnership with the police.
This, according to Mr Ganiyu Kehinde, a leader of the group in Alagbado area of the state, has helped to boost the confidence of members of the group engaged for security purposes.
“The cooperation that exists between the police and our members in this area has been of immense benefit to us because it has boosted our confidence. We can boast of having formidable back up in case of any serious security threat. Apart from the support in the area of intelligence, we also collaborate in several other areas. I can categorically say that this has been of immense benefit to residents of the state, security-wise,” he said.
EDO
There is some good news in Edo State, where the security situation has improved when compared to the early part of the year, especially between June and July when kidnapping of priests was rampant.
Nevertheless, killings arising from clashes between rival cult groups have continued intermittently in Benin and other parts of the state.
But the internal security situation of the state has improved following measures adopted by the state government and other security agencies in the state.
Spokesman of the Nigeria Correctional Centre (NCC), Edo State Command, Aminu Suleiman, however, declined to speak to Sunday Sun on the number of inmates that have either voluntarily returned or have been re-arrested follwing the jailbreak of October 2020 in the aftermath of the EndSARS riots in the state.
Speaking on lifestyle modification to enhance security during the Yuletide, a stakeholder, Dr Bright Oniovokukor, said that he would try as much as possible to cut down his extravagant lifestyle that may attract undue attention to him.
His words: “There are different types of lifestyles actually. However, with respect to security, I may need to focus on my lifestyle that affects other people.
“Extravagant lifestyle poses a security threat to me and puts me at risk, especially when some elements would view it like I am showing off.
“Some elements may also feel that I have more than enough and they want to collect their share even when they did not sow there.
“To be safe from attack and exposure to undue risk, I would just maintain my normal lifestyle and not allow the Yuletide to influence any unnecessary changes except it becomes absolutely necessary.
“As the Yuletide is approaching, efforts should be in place to alleviate the pains and suffering of the people. I believe in the need to share what I have and reach out to the needy around us.
“Showing concern to other people around us has a way of helping us security-wise.
“I know that security and information go hand-in-hand, hence the amount of updated information that I have will help.
“Living a stereotype lifestyle does not help as it enhances quick prediction for easy target. I have tried not to allow people to predict my movement considering the security implication.
“I also believe that some of the utterances we make can put us at risk of being attacked.
“Making utterances that would not incite people against you or make people focus unnecessarily would also help.
“This Yuletide, I’ll maintain my regular profile and focus more on charity. Let show some little kindness.”
ENUGU
Though there has not been any jailbreak in Enugu State, which has been more peaceful than other states in the Southeast, yet it has not escaped intermittent attacks by hoodlums.
It recorded some attacks on police stations and security check points when the menace was the order of the day, leading to loss of lives of security operatives.
While the state was basking in the euphoria of being the most peaceful state, the agrarian communities in the North Senatorial District were recording intermittent visits of hoodlums who they said were Fulani herdsmen, who would attack them in their farms, lay siege to the roads and kidnap their people for ransom.
However, in the past one or two months, the peace of the state has suffered serious threat as cases of kidnapping escalated coupled with worrisome stories by some victims of how security operatives at some checkpoints in the state conspired to work with the kidnappers.
The operations of the hoodlums became worse from the first week of October when a female nurse in Nkanu was abducted. Again, a car dealer in the same community was kidnapped two weeks earlier and ransom was paid.
The raid of Akpawfu community in Nkanu East Local Government by soldiers at a camp they claimed was being run by the Eastern Security Network, ESN, did not stop the hoodlums as they took over the roads and even the streets.
In the process, the police were able to apprehend nine of them and rescued three of their victims.
This arrest yet did not restrain the criminals as they came out boldly along the Ugwuogo-Nike/Opi/Nsukka road on Sunday, October 23 and abducted passengers, including some University of Nigeria, Nsukka, students returning back to school following the resumption of academic activities after the long ASUU strike.
Those who luckily escaped said their attackers were Fulani herdsmen and were surprised that help could not come to them despite many military checkpoints along the same road.
Four days after, on Thursday, the kidnappers struck again in the same area of the road and this time abducted many more people including a former Secretary to the Enugu State Government (SSG), Dr Dan Shere.
This drew the personal visit of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the GOC 82 Division, Nigeria Army and heads of other security agencies to the troubled area.
Though Shere and some of the kidnap victims have regained freedom, people at the moment are cautious of making travels and keeping late nights.
ABIA
Abia State continues to grapple with security challenges along the Umunneochi road. In this axis, abduction for ransom has taken the front burner. These heinous crimes are believed to be perpetrated by well-armed Fulani who pretend to be herdsmen.
On the other hand, security breaches which occur intermittently in the area are mainly between security personnel and gunmen which some say are ESN members.
The upsurge in insecurity could hardly be traced to the recent jailbreaks across the country as the criminal activities in the affected areas pre-date the jailbreak incidents.
Moreover, no jailbreak has been recorded in the state. Also, no violent crime that has occurred in the state in recent past could be traceable to criminals who escaped from the Owerri Correctional Centre or any other one across the country.
It is noteworthy that a serious armed robbery incident which occured on July 26, at Ntigha Junction, along the Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway, in which a bullion van conveying cash from Aba to Umuahia, was attacked.
During the attack, a cash officer of a new generation bank, accompanying the bullion van, was shot dead by the robbers, while one of the robbers was neutralised. Five police escorts were wounded in the attack.
The armed robbers were said to have made away with the sum of N390 million the bullion van was conveying.
Ironically, when about 12 of the 14-man armed robbery gang were arrested by the police in Ondo, Delta, Rivers and Osun states, and paraded in Umuahia, none of the arrested gang members admitted he escaped from any correctional centre as a result of any jailbreak.
Not withstanding, there have been increasing security concerns in Aba and its environs, where lives were recently lost in the Ukwa West axis.
People believe that with the Yuletide fast approaching, criminality in the state will be on the increase.
A businessman in Umuahia, who hails from Umunneochi, Stanley Nedu, opined that with the security situation in his area he may not be able to travel home during Christmas with his family.
According to him, if the criminals operating in the area could abduct people conveying the body of their relation home for burial, there was nothing they would not do.
A civil servant from Ohafia who spoke under condition of anonymity said that no matter the security situation in the area, he would surely travel home to celebrate the Christmas with his relations.
He, however, said that he would be careful and put up measures that will ensure the safety of not only himself, but also members of his family.