Lukman Olabiyi
Renowned security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, has advised the Federal Government to adopt Strategic Risk Management Strategies (SRMS) in tackling the menace of insurgency and militancy in the country.
Ekhomu, who is the president of of Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON), gave this advise in a press release issued in Lagos on the 10thanniversary of the killing of Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, and over 700 members of his Islamic sect in Maiduguri, Borno State, on July 30, 2009, by the police.
Ekhomu stated that government’s conflict management decisions should be based on qualified risk assessments, threat assessments, probability assessments and vulnerability assessments of events.
The security expert, who is the first chartered security professional in Nigeria, urged government to avoid repeating the same mistakes that sparked the Boko Haram crisis in the first place. He added that the Boko Haram insurgency was as a result of absence of good governance in 2009.
According to him, the history of the Boko Haram insurgency should teach governments at all levels to avoid arrogance when dealing with groups that could result to insurgence.
Ekhomu noted that the Shi’ites crisis was not being properly handled, adding that the court’s order for the release of Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zak Zaki in December 2016 on bail ought to be obeyed by the government to douse tensions in the country.”Federal Government must avoid giving the impression that it is persecuting the leader of an important religious sect in Nigeria. The population of Shi’ites in Nigeria, which is estimated at more than five million, is more than the population of many European countries.
“Nigerian military has been over-stretched, with policing duties in 34 states of the country, and battle-fatigued after 10years of armed conflict with Boko Haram in the northeast.
“ I am advising politicians not to start any new insurgencies as the current threats such as herdsmen militias, bandits, ethnic militias, Niger Delta militants are grave and existential security threats, and are yet to be resolved.”