Security

Nigerians will certainly not forget the year, 2022 in a hurry. The federal government was never lacking in its usual assurances that the insurgents had been technically defeated, while Nigerians were left to ponder in “cycles of hope and despair”.

By Anthony Isibor

UNFORTUNATELY, Nigerians believed that President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired army general, would fulfil his promise of tackling the nation’s security challenges. During his inauguration address in 2019 to signal his second term in office, Buhari stated: “When I took the oath of office on 29 May 2015, insecurity reigned. Apart from occupying 18 local governments in the North East, Boko Haram could at will attack any city including the Federal Capital, could threaten any institution including bombing the United Nations building and Police Headquarters in Abuja.

“Admittedly, some of the challenges still remain in kidnappings and banditry in some rural areas. The great difference between 2015 and today is that we are meeting these challenges with much greater support to the security forces in terms of money, equipment and improved local intelligence. We are meeting these challenges with superior strategy, firepower and resolve.

“In face of these challenges, our Government elected by the people in 2015 and re-elected in March has been mapping out policies, measures and laws to maintain our unity and at the same time lift the bulk of our people out of poverty and onto the road to prosperity.”

And in his 2022 Independence anniversary address, Buhari still assured Nigerians that “As we continue to de-escalate the security challenges that confronted us at inception of this administration, newer forms alien to our country began to manifest, especially in the areas of kidnappings, molestations/killings of innocent citizens, banditry, all of which are being addressed by our security forces.

“I share the pains Nigerians are going through and I assure you that your resilience and patience would not be in vain as this administration continues to reposition as well as strengthen the security agencies to enable them to deal with all forms of security challenges.

“At the inception of this administration in 2015, I provided the funding requirements of the security agencies which was also improved in my second tenure in 2019 to enable them to surmount security challenges. We will continue on this path until our efforts yield the desired results.”

However, these assurances and cycles of hope became cycles of despair as security challenges took a turn for the worse across the country.

Many prominent Nigerians had severally in the last seven years of the APC-led administration stressed the need for the federal government to prioritise security and deal decisively with the persons sponsoring and funding insecurity in the security. Some of them suggested that the government should request for foreign assistance in tackling the worsening security challenges in the country.

Speaking in one of his recent interviews with Realnews, PROF. Anya O. Anya, octogenarian and former director general of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and an elder statesman, lamented the worsening security challenges in the country and warned that the nation “was at war”.

He stated that most of the challenges confronting the nation since 2020 had not been tackled successfully, especially the issues of rising insecurity across the country, poor performance of the economy with rising inflation, youth unemployment and the growing appetite for borrowing and its impact on the economy, insecurity in the south east and the chances of the South East producing the president in 2023 among others.

“Nigeria as we speak is at war, but Nigeria is also in denial. There is nowhere in the world that you have so many people killed each day either by bandits, insurrectionists or kidnappers or whatever, and you think the society is normal, no way!    

“So we are at war, the difference is simply that we are pretending that we don’t know we are at war,” he said.

According to Anya, this is not the conventional war and that makes it dangerous. “You see, you have the army, you have the police and they are all now in full battle gear. You are dealing with not another army, you are dealing with non-state actors, people, who are not organised and should not be near government, are not even in government, so they are fighting for their own purposes, and what makes it worst is the fact that from what we are now hearing, many of these people are from outside of Nigeria, so, it’s not an internal war, it’s in fact an external war.

Speaking on how best to tackle the security challenges, Prof. Anya said that the most important thing was to mobilize to meet force with force. “Then your first resource will be the army of retired military men from all over the country. They are many generals, who were retired over the last 20 years and you start from them.

“If you can organize the retired military men in all the zones of Nigeria, you have a sizeable army of command sector, then, the chief of defense staff can now coordinate that. Otherwise, pretending that the military as it is now can return us to stability, well we still have time. It may go from bad to worse.

“However, the reason if you brought in the retired military men and organize them, is that the quality of military decision making, strategic planning will increase because you have a pool of very experienced people, some of whom have even taken part in the war. You have that resource,” he said.

In the same vein, Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sokoto, in his 2022 Christmas message said: “Christmas is a celebration. In our daily lives, despite the hardships and disappointments, the threats and the insecurity, the failure of our government and the ongoing corruption, we celebrate in faith and joy because we know that God is with us.”

In the message entitled “Nigeria: Let Us Turn A New Page”, Bishop Kukah said: “Nigeria today we bear scars, we bear trauma, we bear deep sorrow today. Our children are still in the forests, in the hands of evil men. But most of them have no names. They are only numbers. Still, let us not give up. Let us not be afraid. Let us, like our mother, meditate over all these things and await the Lord’s doing. Be vigilant. This is the last Christmas for this present government’s administration. Let us all do our duty as we have a chance to choose new leaders. Do not be cynical. God is not done with us. Choose leaders who, in your view will love us, will care for us, will cry with us, will laugh with us. Look ahead and do not look back.

“Although the responses to my Messages suggest that, generally, Nigerians listen to our voices in the wilderness. However, the deliberate culture of pauperization and destitution of our people continues. So, we need a change of strategy so that we can turn a new page. We need a new strategy to confront those who sit on the throne of power in arrogance and are determined to reduce our country to a jungle. We need a new strategy that separates men and women of honour from those who have chosen dishonour. We need a new strategy that provides a clearer moral guide for ordinary citizens who, based on the moral strength of culture and religion, are seeking to build a good society, even if with straws. We need to stand up and stand firm. We need new mechanisms for saying no to the violence of governance.

“A caste system has emerged in our country. It has consolidated its hold and blunted the cutting edge of all institutions. A majority of its children are swimming against the tide for survival with no support while the other caste smiles in the comfort of their life jackets. How did caste emerge in our country? In her groundbreaking book, the American writer, Isabel Wilkerson, puts it so succinctly when she said: The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power, which groups have it and which groups do not. Black Americans responded to caste by founding, Black Lives Matter movement. We need to rally together to destroy those who have institutionalised a caste system in our societies because every life matters.

“Unable to diagnose the causes of the dimunisation and the ruination of their identities, Nigerians have come to a conclusion: something must be wrong with us as a people. It is as if Dante Alighieri had Nigeria in mind when he warned in his timeless Poem, The Inferno, Abandon hope all who enter here! We keep asking questions in Seminars, Conferences and Committees as to why we are unable to progress, but nothing ever happens. Why has progress eluded us? Who would have imagined, after listening to the Campaign speeches ahead of the 2015 elections, the new President’s inaugural speech, that we will be so worse off than we were? Yet, it could get even worse if we do not pause and pause very seriously.”

Generally, 2022 was an eventful and troubled year for Nigerians, especially in the area of insecurity, which included banditry, kidnapping for ransom, wanton killings, numerous sporadic arsonists’ activities, terrorism and ritual killings. Although the casualty figures for 2022 are not out yet, but according to local media reports, 7,222 Nigerians were killed and 3,823 abducted in 2, 840 incidents of insecurity between January 1 and July 29, 2022, while 1,499 people were injured during the various attacks witnessed in 505 local government areas in the country.

In addition, the year recorded numerous attacks on INEC facilities and numerous jail breaks across the country. Some of the horrifying events in 2022 included the attack on passenger train en route from Abuja to Kaduna by the terrorists in March resulting in the death of some passengers and the abduction of scores of other passengers. While the nation was still mourning the train attack, the terrorists attacked a church in Owo killing many of the worshippers. The Abuja correctional centre was also attacked by the terrorists, killing some inmates and releasing many of the terrorists, who were detained in the centre.

The other ugly incidents of 2022 were the jailbreak in Mandala prison in Ilorin, the jailbreak in Agbor prison in Delta State, where three inmates escaped due to fence collapse, the Enugu Maximum prison jailbreak. The Islamic State in West Africa Province, ISWAP, a breakaway group of the Boko Haram terrorist group, claimed responsibility for some of these prison attacks.

Despite the harrowing experiences of Nigerians as a result of worsening security challenges, some officials of government maintained their denial posture. For instance, Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, stated during a joint press conference held on September 5, 2022 in Abuja alongside the ministers of defence, Bashir Magashi, Rauf Aregbesola, interior minister and Mohammed Dingyadi, police affairs, as well as Lucky Irabor, chief of defence staff, that the worst was over.

Although Mohammed had acknowledged the heightened insecurity under the Buhari-led administration, which he said, was the greatest threat to national peace and security since the civil war, he, however, noted that the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to crush those terrorising Nigerians, and gradually return peace and security to the country, had resulted in some level of calm being witnessed across the country.

According to him, the military and other security agencies “have succeeded and are succeeding, in substantially restoring security across the nation”.

“As far as the daunting security challenges we face are concerned, we can tell you that the worst is over. Never again will terrorists and bandits and their cohorts hold sway in our country,” he said.

Bashir Magashi, the minister of defence, also reassured the Nigerians of the commitment by the joint security agencies to facilitate the federal government’s drive of guaranteeing the safety of lives and properties across the country.

He said that the military objective of total defeat of terrorists in the north-east, was already being achieved through synchronised ground and air operations. According to him, this has led to huge casualty on the terrorists, with many of their commanders and families surrendering in droves, while Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were now returning to their homes.

In October, 2022, the US Embassy in Nigeria warned of an imminent elevated risk of terror attacks in the country, specifically in Abuja. According to the report, which was published on the embassy’s website and widely circulated on several media platforms, targets could include, but not limited to, government buildings, places of worship, schools, markets, shopping malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, athletic gatherings, transport terminals, law enforcement facilities, and international organizations. This development caused the embassy to reduce some of the services offered until further notice.

Some other foreign missions in Nigeria also raised security alerts of the impending terrorists attack on the nation’s capital. The embassies of Denmark, Ireland, Bulgaria, Finland and Germany joined the US and UK in raising the security alert.

Denmark in its advisory told its citizens that, “there are currently reports of increased risk of terrorist attacks, particularly in Abuja. Exercise caution, especially in and around Abuja. Follow developments via the local media, authorities or your hotel. Always follow the instructions of the local authorities.”

It added that Nigeria was characterised by unrest in several parts of the country and advised against all non-essential travel to the entire country, including Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt.

“The risks are so serious that you should have special reasons for visiting the area/country,” Denmark added.

However, the Nigerian government through the Minister of Information and Culture condemned the US and the UK advisories, insisting that Nigeria, including the capital Abuja, was safe.

While many Nigerians have blamed the insecurity in the country on poverty, unemployment, corruption in government agencies, including security agencies, proliferation of small fire arms, as some of the propellers of insecurity, others have advocated for the introduction of State policing, and the increase in the number of security personnel as a way out of the quagmire.

According to a former Chief of Army Staff and Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahaman Dambazzau, the security situation in Nigeria requires every hand to tackle it and that military veterans could also be employed in training service personnel, especially where there are shortages.

He noted that the experiences, expertise and skills garnered by the veterans were largely underutilized by the country.

“Nigeria should utilize the experiences, expertise and skills of military veterans in tackling its security and developmental challenges.

“Military veterans have wealth of experience and diverse talents unlikely to be found in any other group and have served Nigeria while upholding the highest standards of performance in the most extraordinary situations,” he said.

The former army chief said that Nigeria should not allow the experiences of these officers to be wasted.

“They can continue with what they know best, that is their warfare skills and by offering themselves to assist the country in tackling the emerging security challenges that require military response.

“Such as counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations in the Northeast and the Lake Chad region,” he added.

But Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State added a different dimension to the security challenges in county.  Delivering a keynote address at the meeting of the Attorney-Generals of the 36 States of Nigeria in June 2022, the governor said that the police should “close shop” if they could not afford to have the equipment needed to protect Nigerians.

Akeredolu warned that Nigerian citizens would soon be left with no other choice but to arm themselves considering the failure of the police to protect them.

The Governor, who made a case for state policing, noted that although Nigeria claims to be a federal system, it does not practice federalism and has centralised police under the control of the federal government. Many Nigerians, including some governors, have been clamouring for state police to curb the worsening insecurity in the country.

Akeredolu, whose position was countered by the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, said: “We will carry arms very soon, Oga Malami (referring to the AGF), there is no other way, the police have failed.”

“The current spate of insecurity in the country leaves us with no room for equivocation on the right of the states to maintain law and order through the establishment of state police.

“The Federal Government getting 52 per cent of the country’s revenue allocation is the main cause of the problem. There are some funds at the federal level that they don’t know what to do with. And the states and local governments are being starved. This is a direct consequence of long military rule,” the governor said.

For Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, insecurity in Nigeria is a “tricycle of poverty, ignorance and injustice”, and the government must invest in education rather than executing what he called “white elephant projects” for it to address lingering insecurity in Nigeria.

He noted that the government must have a rethink on the need to make resources available to those at the grassroots and invest in their education in order to arrest insecurity in the country.

According to the Islamic cleric, if citizens are not educated, insecurity will persist, believing that it is fuelled by ignorance and unemployment that are the implications of lack of access to education.

While Nigerians are expecting the military and other security agencies to fight and win the current war against terrorism, kidnapping for ransom, banditry and extra-judiciary killings among others, the government should have a rethink and address the lingering issues lack of equity, justice and fairness, poverty, unemployment, which are some of the drivers of security challenges in the country.

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Tags: Abubakar Malami Anthony Isibor Bashir Magashi Bishop Matthew Kukah Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu Lai Mohammed Lucky Irabor President Muhammadu Buhari Prof. Anya O. Anya Rauf Aregbesola Sheikh Ahmad Gumi