Security
By Anthony Isibor
MAJ. Gen. Abel Obi Umahi (Rtd) has said that the South-East Security operatives should instill confidence in the people and ensure that there is a large turnout of the people on Saturday for the presidential and National Assemble elections.
Reacting to heightened insecurity in South-East, Umahi told Realnews in an exclusive interview in Lagos that the utterances of Simon Ekpa, the leader of the faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, who has ordered the people to boycott the polls.
According to Umahi, there is a way forward and there are things that can be done by the governors in the South-East.
He said that the governors should ensure that the South-East Security operatives embark on psychological operations, including awareness programmes; propaganda campaigns to tell the people that “they are capable of protecting them and for them to come out en-mass to vote”.
“Firstly, they should get the security agencies to start the show of force operations. That’s to tell the bad guys, we will come after you, we have the muscle, we have all it takes to come after you, so stay away from this election, and to tell the people; the populace that we are on ground to protect you, that you will enjoy security, you will enjoy peace. That is what show of force provides, and all that the security men require, the government should be able to supply for them to be able to do this across all the states, across all cites in the South-East.
“Secondly, there should be preliminary operations and it should start even now. The security agencies know some places that these people are suspected to be staying. They should raid all such places, disorganize this IPOB, ESN, unknown gunmen, disorganize them, put them on the run. And before they can reorganize, the election is over.
Umahi also noted that the insecurity in the zone is not entirely trumped up by fifth columnist, who for some reasons are working to diminish or dwarf the number of people who will come out to vote so that the obedient candidates won’t garner enough votes as widely believed.
He added that when oppositions begin to shout the way they do, one must check well because the same opposition also acquires the police that they use to fight even governments in power.
“It is the ill associated with the political elites.”
According to him, a governor cannot shoot himself on the toe and that the police as well as politicians have been found to be involved in insecurity at different times in the past.
“The oppositions are also doing some things that are terrible, using rented armed men to kill their own people because they are on the other side of the divide and it is across the various states of the South East. So don’t always listen to the opposition even at the federal level.
“When you create insecurity, to reverse it is very difficult so no governor with his head on his shoulder would want to create a state of insecurity in order to discourage voters from coming out and think that he can reverse it immediately after elections. It is impossible, he cannot. So even his security will be compromised.
“For instance, in recent times, people were killed after APC rally in Ebonyi State. So some of the people who attended the rally were killed, the same thing with what happened in a Local Government called IVO. I am not holding brief for Ebubeagu, they couldn’t have done anything. But everybody knows in Nigeria that when they arrest a criminal; maybe he is a thug from the opposition, the opposition will say its oppression, its intimidation, even though the person was caught red handed. So you can’t trust politicians.
“Let me tell you, until the Nigeria police controls the instruments of violence; ammunitions, until they learn to control; in the military there is what they call control items. Ammunition is part of them, weapons, explosive, and some others, classified in that.
“This is part of the history of the Nigeria Police. Remember years ago, a Deputy Commissioner of Police was arrested in Sokoto and he was the one responsible for arming criminals and not only that, there had been incidences of security agents helping criminals to terrorize, kidnap, acquire wealth. So it is not new. Even as recent as maybe six years ago in Delta state, the police man in-charge of anti-kidnapping was the one aiding and abetting kidnapping.
“What is happening now is that the politicians, they go and collect 10 policemen officially from Abuja, and they sew police uniform and give to 30 others, they will join those police. The 10 legally secured will now give legality to the others, the rest are unknown gunmen. That’s what is happening. That is why the police must do something about this. It must come to an end.
“It is a great security compromise, a serious one which the IGP should address promptly. No politician, no VIP secures security, police coverage from Abuja, no! everybody must be channeled to the commissioner of police.
“They should come up with a system that works. Until that is done, this will continue. The truth is that some oppositions could also be known as unknown gunmen. The opposition, some of them are too vicious, they recruit criminals-armed people from all over and bring them into the southeast. When you hear that soldiers are killing, some of them are not IPOB, some of them are sponsored by opposition.
“Two, the accountability in the Army is very strict, you can’t fire one round and not account for it very intensively and with proves. It is often said In the Army, ‘you fire one, show us the dead body’. Without that, there is no proof. This idea of firing all over the place means that the accountability of ammunition cannot be guaranteed; meaning that some bullets can be given to anybody. And then you see, the management of the weapons is also a problem,” he added.
A.I
Tags: ESN IPOB Maj. Gen. Abel Obi Umahi (Rtd)
