President Muhammadu Buhari, the other day, advised the Nigerian media to stop using the phrase, “rising insecurity” but instead use “declining insecurity.” He also urged them to report accurately on issues of security and safety. However, a cursory look at the security situation in Nigeria shows that the spate of insecurity has reached a critical point. It is rising rather than declining in the country.
The recent massacre of innocent people by bandits in Sokoto and the killing of some traditional rulers in Imo State are pointers to the situation at hand. In a callous and wicked manner, the Sokoto bandits invaded Goronyo market in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State, killing 43 people. Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State confirmed the death toll. Earlier in October, about 19 people were killed in an attack at another village market in Sabon Bimi district, near the border with Niger. There have been many other killings in Sokoto and other parts of the North.
The Imo State killings are also worrisome. According to reports, the traditional rulers were having a meeting at Nnenasa in Njaba Local Government Area of the state when the assailants struck. They killed two of the monarchs as some others sustained various degrees of injuries. Across different parts of the country, the situation is the same. Thousands of innocent students have been kidnapped for ransom and hundreds of innocent citizens have been killed. Over two millions others have been rendered homeless. This might have prompted The Economist of London to write in its recent editorial on Nigeria that almost 8,000 people were directly killed in various conflicts and 2,200 people kidnapped for ransom in the first nine months of 2021. The number of the abducted, the magazine said, was more than double that of last year, which was roughly 1,000.
The paper also noted that jihadists were carving out a caliphate in the north-east; gangs of kidnappers were terrorising the north-west; the fire of Biafran secessionism had been rekindled in the south-east. The newspaper also said that the Nigerian army is also stretched thin, having been deployed to all of Nigeria’s states. The police are understaffed, demoralised and poorly trained.
Although the Nigerian Army has described the paper’s view as “one of those deliberate falsehood and noxious narratives orchestrated by a network of detractors and coven of dark forces working very hard to adorn the Nigerian Army in an unflinching garb of infamy,” it should take a lesson or two from the article and re-strategise to contain the spiraling insecurity. It has become obvious that the nation’s security agents are overwhelmed.
This is partly why the United Kingdom recently advised citizens against travelling to 12 Nigerian states. In a travel advisory for its nationals, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Boko Haram insurgents were likely to kidnap foreigners in the listed states. The advisory reads: “There is a high threat of kidnap throughout Nigeria. Kidnaps can be motivated by criminality or terrorism and could be carried out for ideological, financial or political gain. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the risk of kidnap increases after dark.” The 12 states to avoid, according to the UK, are: Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States.
The rising insecurity has contributed significantly to a decline in Nigeria’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In a recent report, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) noted that the country recorded a significant decline in foreign inflows in the second quarter of 2021. This has also led to a rise in unemployment because some of the factories that will engage people have closed down. Things can’t continue this way.
While we condemn the dastardly killing of Nigerians, we wish to remind the government that security of life and property is its primary responsibility. It should wake up and do the needful. All tiers of government must join hands to ensure that the monster of insecurity is tackled.
We totally support President Buhari’s recent declaration of total war against bandits. The President said the clock of the bandits’ ultimate destruction was ticking as they would no longer have a place to hide. “The days of the bandits are indeed numbered because the military capabilities of our forces are being boosted by the acquisition and deployment of advanced equipment,” Buhari boasted.
The President has been saying things like this. But the more he threatens bandits, the more their atrocities. Now that he has declared a total war again, let him walk his talk. Nigerians want to be fully convinced this time that criminals are actually living in the fool’s paradise of invincibility as the President affirmed recently. We are happy with his assurance that bandits were under pressure because of the intense and sustained air and ground operations against them in their hideouts by security forces. This is how it should be. We hope this translates into an end to the spate of killings in the not too distant future