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.