By Job Osazuwa
Security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, has advised the federal and state governments to accept the reality that terrorists and extremists will continue to mercilessly and viciously attack Nigerian civilians who they consider soft targets, in pursuit of their nefarious goals.
“Rather than whine about the fact that insurgents, bandits and herdsmen kill and kidnap people, the national and sub-national governments should target-harden Nigerian civilians and reduce their vulnerability to threats,” he counselled.
Presenting a paper at an international colloquium organized by the Men’s League of Christ Church, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Democracy Day, Ekhomu, president of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON), said the recent pronouncement by President Muhammadu Buhari that states should find solutions to their security challenges means that governors can no longer sit on the sidelines and complain that they do not have the authority to protect their citizens.
In his paper titled “Current State of Insecurity and the Rise of Insurgency in Nigeria”, Ekhomu said that the terrorists had redrawn the battle lines to include churches, mosques, schools, hospitals, shopping malls, villages, highways, waterways, farm settlements, railway stations, motor parks, etcetera.
He stated that terrorists were picking on soft targets as their goal to keep citizens in fear and erode the legitimacy of the government: “Armed non-state actors now collect taxes and levies in the North-East and North-West. ISWAP is now acting like a government in communities in northern Borno State.”
Ekhomu, who is West Africa’s first chartered security professional, said civilians are held captive by soft target emotional mentality of hopelessness, inescapability from attacks, invulnerability of the bandits, insurgents and herdsmen and inevitability of attacks, meaning “what will be will be”. He condemned the verbal cues of government officials, which often adopt these pessimistic narratives of hopelessness, inescapability, invulnerability and inevitability. He said that often stated excuses by government officials that bandits, insurgents and herdsmen were intentionally selecting and attacking soft targets were true but had the effect of strengthening the enemy.
Said he: “rather than cower and make excuses in the face of an unprecedented assault on our national security, the government, federal and states should target-harden the citizens.”
He said the mindset of civilians should be changed from victim (soft targets) to winner (hard target).
He advised state governments to make security a part of their socio-cultural DNAm assess the threats in their jurisdictions, as well as map their vulnerabilities. He further advised states to organize, train and equip an armed vigilance force to provide a community defence shield. He said vigilance personnel should be armed with shotguns that are allowed under extant laws. He elaborated that vigilance and other community resources are intended to provide initial response, while federal law enforcement and military resources would provide secondary response to neutralise the threats.
Ekhomu advised state governments to purchase and install air horns in all communities as a physical security measure to annunciate attacks on the civil populace. He said the air horns should be activated by assigned individuals in the event of bandit, insurgent or herder attacks. The extremely high decibel of sound emitted by the air horns would provide a psychological defense against the killers, he added.
Said he: “The aggressors may kill a couple of people, but the carnage will be reduced.”
He advised state governments to accept that they are now in charge of their own security and to educate citizens about threats in their areas, “this will give adequate mental preparation to civilians to engage in the struggle with the terrorists.”
The expert also advised Nigerians against night travel or going to the farms alone, as these acts expose citizens to danger of kidnap or murder. He said there was strength in numbers.
Ekhomu encouraged Nigerians not to be afrai: “We are a strong, resilient and proud people. We should adopt the mentality of a hunter and invent creative solutions in defending our communities.”