OPINION: Insecurity: Any end in sight? by Idris Mohammed
Editor's note: Idris Mohammed, a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto, writes on the mounting insecurity across the nation, lamenting that Nigeria is failing woefully in terms of securing its citizens.
Read below:
Writing on the issue of insecurity is one of the difficult and heartbreaking because human beings are being killed under the watch of our so-called leaders. Anytime I place my fingers on a keyboard to analyze and put my opinion on the Nigerian state of insecurity, I feel overwhelmed and frustrated because the country is in serious danger.
But we will not keep quiet watching things go on the wrong ways without putting in our contributions which might at least bring the attention of key influential and bring reforms in the sector.
Recently, there were calls from some security conscious and minded people from all the corners of Nigeria calling the president to sack the security chiefs over the persistent increase of insecurity in the country.
Source: UGC
The House of Representatives issued a new warning asking the service chiefs to either resign or be sacked, but the president wouldn’t listen to the house, security experts and masses who voted him into office.
Concerned citizens have the right to call for their sack as the security atmosphere in the country is always going backwards with the help of some of these service chiefs, which makes their loyalty and patriotism to the country questionable. Some security chiefs have alleged that the service chiefs especially military generals conspired to perpetuate the Boko Haram insurgency for their unlawful financial gain. Despite massive expenditure by the Nigerian government over the last decade, these security chiefs and their forces recorded limited success in the fight against terrorism and other security challenges such as armed banditry, cattle rustling and kidnapping.
This kind of negligence and widespread corruption in the security sector are the reasons Boko Haram, ISWAP, Ansaru and other bandits are operating in Nigeria. When the insurgency first emerged, Nigeria treated it with kid gloves and refused to investigate the conflict thoroughly. Buhari has also refused to investigate why counter-terrorism in the country is failing despite the massive resources invested so far.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Pretoria reported that from 2010 to 2017, Nigeria spent over N6.7 trillion on the security sector in the name of counter-terrorism operation and other security challenges. This amount doesn’t include the extra-budgetary allocations such as the US$1 billion the government borrowed in 2013 to fund counter-terrorism operations and the US$21 million approved for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in June 2015. The report also doesn’t capture security votes distributed across the country. Despite all these, the country is failing woefully.
Apart from corruption, the country`s security agencies are not cordial in discharging their duties. There is unnecessary rivalry and conflict among the security agencies involved in counter-terrorism operation especially between the Nigerian military and police force. They have a poor relationship that most times affects the intelligence gathering, strategic and tactics of operation.
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It is, therefore, not surprising that terror groups and other criminals find Nigeria very conducive to perpetuate their deadly acts; they have large operational bases in different parts of the country, especially in the remote areas of the northern region.
Terrorists recently attacked Auno community, a town which is just 24 kilometres away from the capital city of Maiduguri. Reports said there was no single security agent at that time because they ran away when they closed the entrance to Maiduguri capital city and left the people at the mercy of the terrorist group.
Another terrifying story is that the Boko Haram has good collaboration with some of the people from Auno who frequently provide them with information on motorists’ movements. No single person from Auno community was affected by the attack. There is a need to have good civil-military relationship framework to enable us bridge the gap between the local communities and the security agencies involved in the counter-terrorism operations.
For the Nigerian government to win this war, the authorities must investigate the security agencies thoroughly, change the service chiefs and also bridge the gap that exists among the security agencies involved in the operation. Cooperating with border localities especially lake chad basin areas will help in curbing the terror groups activities and finally, the government should address the issue of explosive population growth, unemployment and climate change. These issues are exacerbating economic anxiety and fomenting lawlessness especially in the communities in northern Nigeria that border with Niger Republic, Cameroon, Chad and Togo.
There is also the allegation against the perfection of operation safe corridor; an initiative for the deradicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration of all ex-Boko Haram combatants. Communities and some top military officials are not happy with the initiative. To them, it's like the government is taking care of the ex-combatants more than the real victims of the insurgency. This generates a lot of grievances and potentially encourages new sources of violence in the affected areas.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legit.ng.
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