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