By Zik Gbemre
For quite some time now, the issue of insecurity has been a thorn in the
flesh of the present administration. And as incumbent President Goodluck
Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Head of State,
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) of the All Progressive Congress (APC) intensify
their political campaigns across the country, international attention on
the fate of the nation is rising even as the United Nations Security
Council recently received a briefing on next month’s polls. While the
Security Council of the UN was being briefed about the Nigerian election,
the Secretary General of the world body, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon also expressed
profound concern, calling the presidential polls between Jonathan and
Buhari a “grave test.”
Obviously, the reason for the UN Secretary’s concerned statement in hinged
on the increasing level of insecurity in Nigeria. According to Ki-Moon: “We
face another grave test as Nigeria readies for its election next month.
Both Ki-Moon and his Special Representative in West Africa, Mohamed Ibn
Chambas linked their worries mainly on the unrelenting Boko Haram
insurgency in the Northeastern part of Nigeria. “Boko Haram has continued
its violence, killing Christians and Muslims, kidnapping even more women
and children, and destroying churches and mosques. Mayhem has spread across
the region, and is now having a direct impact on Cameroun and other
countries,” Ki-Moon lamented.
In as much as we agree with the fact that Nigerians are made to be in
a ‘mourning mood’ every now and then as a result of the insecurity concerns
arising from the Boko Haram sect in Northern Nigeria, however, there are
other security concerns like armed robbery, particularly kidnapping; that
has spread like a wild fire across the polity, which seriously needs to be
given adequate attention as well by the Nigerian Government at all levels
and Security Operatives, as well as the UN and the International Community.
Kidnapping, the taking away of a person against the person’s will, usually
for ransom or in furtherance of another crime, is becoming everyone’s
nightmare in our dear country.
Everyone is aware of the insurgency in the Northern Nigeria as
an ‘insecurity concern’ that seriously needs to be addressed. But there is
equally insecurity in the South-South, South-East and South-West Nigeria
that are attributed to armed robbery and kidnapping. In fact, people are
getting killed almost on a daily basis across Nigeria through armed robbery
attacks and kidnapping. Even the highways of Northern Nigeria are also
bedeviled by armed robbery attacks. This pathetic situation equally needs
the attention of the government at all levels as well as the international
community; just the same way attention is being given to the Boko Haram
insurgency.
The streets and most areas in different parts of Nigeria are no longer safe
for honest and hardworking Nigerians to go about their daily businesses for
fear of armed robbery or getting kidnapped for ransoms. Even the supposed
Federal Capital of Nigeria Abuja, is not immune from these insecurity
concerns. Just recently, the APC Chairman and his household were attacked
by armed robbers on the same day the party’s Presidential Inauguration
Campaign Council was kicked off. The fact is that nobody is safe anymore in
Nigeria; be it in the North or the South. But while everybody is talking
about Boko Haram activities in the North and seeking solutions to their
insurgency, we should also focus more on addressing armed robbery and
kidnapping.
When the issue of kidnapping started gaining grounds in the creeks of the
Niger Delta region some years ago during the much reported ‘resource
control’ struggle by militants, nobody thought that this aspect of crime
would become a nightmare to everyone today. Gradually but steadily,
kidnapping has been commercialized and has become a ‘lucrative business’
for many of Nigeria’s jobless youths in the South-East, South-West,
South-South and different parts of the country. Initially, it was the
kidnap of expatriates that was predominant in the South-South. But today,
the situation has gotten so bad that “nobody is safe”. Kidnap victims have
changed from being predominantly foreign oil workers to Nigerians,
including parents, grandparents, and toddlers and about anyone who has a
relative that could be blackmailed into coughing out a ransom. Even serving
government officials are not spared in the kidnapping menace, as their
family members, relatives and friends have become worthy ‘targets’ for
kidnappers. Those behind the growing wave of the despicable act have also
changed from being exclusively Niger Delta militants to dodgy elements from
different walks of life – armed robbers, unemployed youths, professional
419ers, and at least one Catholic priest as reported in time past.
There is no doubt that Nigeria is today one of the major kidnapping
capitals of the world. This has obvious implications for investments, the
country’s development trajectory and even the quality of governance. The
more reason why the Nigerian Government needs to give this insecurity issue
the attention it needs. The common tendency is to blame the pervasive wave
of kidnapping and armed robbery outside the Niger Delta exclusively on the
unacceptable rate of unemployment in the country, an inefficient and
corrupt police force that is ill-equipped to fight crime, and collusion
between these criminals and politicians. However, some public affairs
scholars have argued that these factors appear to be mere symptoms of a
larger malaise, namely that pervasive kidnapping, armed robbery and other
forms of crime, is one of the major symptoms of both ‘failed’ and ‘failing’
states. And this is hinged on the fact that most of the countries where
these crimes have been pervasive have been either failed or failing states
– Baghdad after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Columbia from the 1970s until
about 2001, and Mexico between 2003 and 2007.
A ‘failed state’ is often used to designate a state, which has become
incapable of fulfilling the basic functions of a sovereign government.
These functions include physical control of its territory, provision of
security of life and property for its citizens, the monopoly of the use of
legitimate physical force and ability to provide reasonable public services
or to interact with other states as a full member of the international
community. A “failing state” on the other hand denotes a state in
transition to a failed state. Here while the state remains nominally a
sovereign and fulfils a modicum of the functions of a sovereign government,
the central government has become so weak and ineffective that it has
little practical control over much of its territory, leading to an upsurge
in pervasive insecurity such as kidnapping, organised assassinations and
armed robberies. A failing state is also characterized by a weakened
ability to provide basic public services and widespread corruption as
people think of themselves first, following the failure of the state to
perform its traditional functions. Most of the countries in the developing
world involved in civil wars or protracted internal conflicts could be
termed as a ‘failing states’.
Perhaps, we will dissect this argument for another day. But it is worth
every ounce of consideration by the Nigerian Government, and for them to
ask themselves; is Nigerian becoming a failing state considering the
deplorable prevailing circumstances she is currently?
Without a doubt, the increasing levels of insecurity in Nigeria today did
not start in one day. It started as a result of accumulated years of ‘bad
decisions’ made by past and present political leaders in various government
circles. In other words, we are where we are today (be it a failing State
or not), because of every of the decisions/indecisions and
actions/inactions of our past and present leaders in different strata of
government. And until our political leaders ‘change’ from their misguided
ways that are often in the interest of some selected few but to the
detriment of the majority, the Nigerian nation will continue to plunge
further to a failing state. Like the menace created by the Boko Haram sect,
kidnapping and armed robbery started as a joke and today, it has continued
to spread like a wildfire and has refused to stop. The sad truth is that
armed robbers and other criminals are fast abandoning their trades for the
more lucrative business of kidnapping. And behind the abduction gangs
springing up across the country are young, smart and intelligent university
graduates who are being lured into crime by growing unemployment. The
Regional Vice President, Africa, American Society for Industrial Security,
Mr. Dennis Amachree, recently disclosed that of the top 10 countries with
high kidnapping records in 2007, Nigeria occupied the 6th position. But
Nigeria has since 2007 moved up to the third position, behind Mexico and
Columbia.
On the way forward, it is expedient for the Nigerian Government to put
everything to work in addressing this menace called kidnapping and armed
robbery in the Southern parts of the country. The same effort that is being
put in the fight against terrorism from the Boko Haram sect in Northern
Nigeria, should also be channeled towards addressing kidnapping and armed
robbery incidents in the South-South, South-East and South-West.
The truth is that there is so much more the Government and Security
Operatives can do in addressing the increasing levels of insecurity in the
country; be it in the North or the South. For instance, criminals today
including kidnappers, armed robbers and terrorists, are still using GSM
phones to make contacts while perpetrating their crimes. Kidnappers for
instance, still use phones to demand for ransoms from the
families/relatives of their victims. Such phones contacts can be traced,
tapped or intercepted to get criminals. It is sad that our Nigerian Police
Force and other security agencies in the country are not properly equipped
with modern trends to be able to fight crime. We have always called for and
emphasized on the need for Nigeria’s various security agencies to transform
their operational strategies and physical outlook to reflect “modern
trends” in scientific and technological advancement in crime fighting.
This is hinged on the fact that we are living in a world ‘without borders’
which is made more accessible by rapid transportation, the internet, mobile
phones and satellite communication systems. Criminals are daily exploiting
this development to perpetrate crime. We now have criminal syndicates that
are not only local but also transnational. This obviously requires
a ‘different approach’ on the part of security operatives to resolve. And
the onus lies on the government at all levels to ensure that this happens,
so that our security agencies are well-positioned to fight crime and
terror. Apart from the installation of CCTV cameras across major cities in
the country, another urgent thing government must do is to establish a
national biometric database programme to tackle insecurity in the country.
Experts believe that appropriate use of Information Technology (IT) tools
will effectively tackle insecurity across the nation. As a way forward,
there is need for the government to address and extract functional utility
from the present databases maintained by Federal Road Safety Commission
(FRSC), Police, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Banks,
among others. It was noted that ICT devices, including surveillance
cameras, social network analysis, biometric surveillance data mining,
satellite imagery, IP devices should be deployed professionally to
checkmate insecurity in the country.
With the general elections coming up soon, there is need for the Government
and Security Operatives to become more proactive and serious in checkmating
the insecurity situation across the length and breadth of Nigeria. For us
to have a ‘crime-free’ society there is need to appropriately care for and
provide modern security apparatus to those that are responsible for
providing the security service in the first place. It is only when this is
holistically sorted out and maintained that we can now hold the men and
officers of the security operatives responsible for not doing their job
efficiently, when lapses are observed. However, for all things to work
together for our good, the government at all levels should not neglect or
down play their responsibilities in ensuring and providing a “robust
economy” that will drastically reduce the “poverty” level in the country,
which is the main problem that brings about increase in crimes in the first
place.
Zik Gbemre, JP
National Coordinator, Niger Delta Peace Coalition.
Tel: +2348026428271
+2348061524210
+2348052106013
website: www.ndpc-zik.org
