Democracy @ 14: Terrorists, kidnappers, holding Nigeria by jugular

Juliana Francis

Since the military took a bow and left the stage, handing over the rein of power and leadership to civilian President, otherwise termed democratic government, a lot of changes have taken place, especially in the security of the country.

Counting from the day the military left the corridors of power and democracy became entrenched in the Nigerian society, it would be 14 years now.

A lot of insecurity issues have continued to bedevil Nigeria and Nigerians. This however does not mean that the security agencies in the country have not recorded any feats worth commending and celebrating since democracy took root. But these worthwhile and lofty achievements, pale into insignificance in comparison to the death tolls which had characterized the insecurity in the country.

The insecurity in Nigeria after the military left the mantle of leadership significantly started in the administration of former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.

It was during his administration that the Niger Delta militants come to be, taking up arms and kidnapping for ransom. The Niger Delta militants insisted they were fighting to express pains over the hell-hole which their region had been turned into by oil and federal government companies in the region.

The militants tagged themselves MEND. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is one of the largest militant groups in Niger Delta region. The organization claimed to expose exploitation and oppression of the people of the Niger Delta and devastation of the natural environment by public-private partnerships between the Federal Government and corporations involved in the production of oil in the Niger Delta, It further presented itself as a political organisation which wanted a greater share of Nigeria’s oil revenues to go to the impoverished region that sits atop the oil.

MEND had held Nigeria to ransom for months, with many expatriates being kidnapped and ransom collected. This affected the economy, compelling many foreigners to quickly hightail out of the Nigerian shores.

Many kidnapped victims also died during the Niger Delta insurgency, as several federal government and foreign facilities were bombed. Some victims were also killed in the process of negotiations and handing over of victims.

The militants soon became overwhelming as other youths in the region, who perceived it was more profitable to kidnap and collect ransom, abandoned legal jobs to take to kidnapping like ducks to water. Soon there were too many factions kidnapping and making demands from the government.

Trying to arrest the galloping insecurity in the Niger Delta, the Umar Yardua administration, which had taken over the Nigeria leadership from Olusegun Obasanjo led administration, had offered the militants amnesty.

Many of them embraced it. But before amnesty came, kidnapping had spread its tentacles to the four corners of the nation. As it was reducing in the Niger Delta regions, it gained grounds in other states. Even now, it is infiltrating Lagos State.

The American Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has given Nigeria the fourth position in its global ranking in Hostage taking and kidnapping.
FBI agent, Ms Jennifer Dent, disclosed the ranking of Nigeria as number four in the world in hostage taking. She also identified Nigeria as the greatest threat to cyber security in Africa.
Just as Nigerians were about to heave a sigh of relief with regards to Niger Delta insurgency, the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram took centre stage. Boko Haram is an Islamist movement which strongly opposes man made laws and western education. Security experts believe that the organisation wants Islamic law, otherwise known as Sharia law to be entrenched in Nigeria.

The group is also known for attacking Christians and bombing churches. Many feel it is being sponsored by al-Qaeda and some northern politicians.

In 2011, Boko Haram was responsible for at least 450 killings in Nigeria. It was also reported that it had been responsible for over 620 deaths over the first six months of 2012. Since its founding in 2001, the jihadists are speculated to be responsible for over 10,000 deaths, if not more.

Boko Haram gained grounds and increased its violence after the Presidential elections of 2011.

Boko Haram and kidnapping have become the greatest security challenges facing the Nigerian government and also the law enforcement agencies, with Boko Haram topping the list.

Naturally there are still several cases of robberies and other crimes, but they have all paled into insignificance due to the massive attacks and death orchestrated by Boko Haram.

The situation has become overwhelming even for the security agencies, as the Islamic sect are even now, waging war against them, killing them in their thousands, causing a good number of security agents to kick against deployment to northern parts, where the Boko Haram usually hits the most.

In fact, investigations revealed that several security agents had had to resign from their jobs because they did not want to be posted to the northern parts of Nigeria.

Boko Haram has become cancerous, defying treatment and continues to fight in spreading its octopus arm to other states of the federation.

Although the Oodua Peoples’ Congress(OPC), has repeatedly warned Boko Haram never to dare south West or else, it would meet it fire for fire, but people still fear that it was only a matter of time before the Islamic sect makes inroads into Lagos State and unleash its killing fiends.

Former United States President, Mr. Bill Clinton, called for more efforts from Nigeria to tackle the problems of insecurity in the country.

Clinton said that the Federal Government should tackle the myriads of problems, including insecurity facing the nation by making universal education available to the youths as well as addressing the problem of poverty.

Clinton explained that education was more important in dealing with the challenges facing Nigeria and the entire world, adding that with the benefit of education, people could take charge of their lives and contribute positively to the development of their countries, especially by taking advantage of Information Communication Technology (ICT).

He added: "You have all these political problems - and now violence problems - that appear to be rooted in religious differences and all the rhetoric of the Boko Haram and others, but the truth is the poverty rate in the North is three times of what it is in Lagos and to deal with that, you have to have both a powerful stable local government and a national policy.”

A retired Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Dr. Tsav Abubakar, said of security since democracy: “The security situation in Nigeria has continued to worsen since the establishment of democratic rule in the country, especially during the Jonathan Presidency. This is occasioned by endemic corruption, joblessness, greed, selfishness, thuggery and injustice. Above all, neglect of the Police.
“The Police whose responsibility it is to maintain law and order, provide security for life and property, among other duties, are grossly unstaffed and underfunded. Despite the shortage of qualitative manpower in the Police, one-third of the total strength of the force is deployed as orderlies and guards to Political office holders, top civil servants and influential business men.
“Another disturbing aspect and causes of insecurity in the country is that, other Security agencies that should cooperate with the Police in order to achieve beneficial results see and treat the Police as rivals.
Recruitment of able-bodied men/women as recruits and cadet officers appear to have been suspended or stepped down. Police men/women in the field, lack equipment and incentives by way of good welfare.
“Recent attack and murder of Police officers/men has negative influence on members of the Force and has terribly impaired their zeal and dedication to duty. Many are scared so much that they don't wear uniforms in public.
“FG needs to properly equip the Police with modern tools, provide them with good incentives and protection against hazards of the profession.”
Deputy Inspector General of Police, (DIG), retired, Mr. Udah Azubuko, who was instrumental in charting the blueprint which the Federal Government followed and gave Niger Delta militants amnesty, said democracy or not, there would always been change in life, including in security. According to him, things are changing, pointing out that even the political landscape in the first republic, is not what it is today.
His words: “Since 1999, Nigeria has also changed in crime; even old crimes have been modernized. There had always been kidnapping, but now, it is something else. Now, we also have terrorism. The issue of the Niger Delta militants and Boko Haram are all political. They have to be handled with dexterity and care.
“And in the midst of all these, police are at the centre of it all. It all boils down to the fact that police need to be attended to. The IGP needs to be given the enablement to galvanise his men. Police need a lot of funding and other measures to aid them carry out their duties.
“In Boston, in the case of the two brothers that detonated a bomb at a marathon race track, the entire security agencies came together. Technology also played a major role in the apprehension of the two bombers and people in Boston cooperated in giving out information.
“Every human society has security challenges, Nigeria can’t isolate itself and claimed to be a utopia. There is the need to have the ability to rise up to that challenge.”
Azubuko said that when he was Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos State, he discovered something unique about the security in the state. He discovered that the government paid attention to security and invested in it, and had even made far reaching plans for the future.
“Every year, you find the police having more new vehicles. The brain behind such plans is the former IGP, Smith and others. They were the think tank and they brought out blueprint, making Lagos one of the safest cities in the world. People handling the Security Trust Fund in the state are not corrupt. The trustees are well established in different fields. Other states need to copy what has happened in Lagos.
“The terrorism thing is political. When I was AIG Zone 6, we were faced with acts of terrorism from the Niger Delta militants. What is happening today in the north, had happened before, though now, it’s on a large scale. Many policemen were killed in Niger Delta. They blew up pipelines. It was later solved politically. We worked under Okiro. I wrote a memo of disarmament of the Niger Delta. We convinced late President Yaradua that we were sure the militants wanted amnesty. In fact, they were even asking for it. It was purely a political thing that needed a political solution. The militants were forgiven and surrendered. We mopped up their weapons. Right now, terrorism in Nigeria is also political and needs a political solution. And that is what the government is already doing.”
Another retired Commissioner of Police, Mr. Frank Odita, Principal Consultant/CEO of Frankcom Ltd, Nigeria Security and Investigations, opined that in any community, there must be crime, stressing that at the moment, the Nigerian community is being confronted by Boko Haram and militia groups.
Just like Azubuko, Odita maintained that terrorism in Nigeria is politically motivated.
According to him, for the situation in the country to be arrested, members of the community should begin to cultivate the habit of giving information to security agencies. They should be able to know and identify strangers among them, so that the strangers could be censored if anything goes wrong in that community.
He added: “What is happening in Nigeria today is not a product of democracy. Democracy is supposed to promote and bring better things, especially welfare. But in Nigeria today, a lot of people are suffering; there are unemployed youths and idle minds. We shouldn’t have that because Nigeria is not poor. There should be enough in the country to go round. But the money is located in a few hands. The problem in democracy is caused by operators of democracy. As for the Boko Haram issue, crime and criminality have become involved in Boko Haram. Security agencies need to know what Boko Haram is. It was like a child’s play before, but now it’s more serious! Government should take action!
“Security is like a tripod. It needs the government, security agencies and the community. If everyone plays his or her role, we should not have problem. Security agencies should be funded, motivated. Members of the public should give information. Boko Haram lives within the communities. People should have the will to stand up and speak out. As long as the information will be treated with confidentiality.”
Dr. Frederick Fasehun of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) has this to say: “You cannot practice democracy in a country where there is insecurity. Insecurity and democracy don’t go hand in hand. It’s obvious from our own local situation that we have no security, there is pervasive insecurity. What we are mouthing is cosmetic. We want to persuade the world that we too are on the democratic band wagon whereas we are not. So the democracy we are running; even our people are not saying we are running democracy. They said we are running a homegrown democracy and anything homegrown in Nigeria is different from what obtains in other parts of the world.
“We are not advocating the return of the military. The military have no democracy culture, so there is no way they can give the citizenry democracy. They better stay in their barracks. But the civilians that are at the helms of affair now should be security conscious. There is no security of anything in our land. There is hardly any legislator that doesn’t go with police, so the National Assembly should take it more seriously. They have not been talking about security. They’ve been talking about road, airline, shipping line and their salary but not security. Where would they be if there is a general breakdown of law and order? They should discuss how to procure and sustain the security of these nations and make sure that the security operatives are well remunerated and trained. I understand people are planting camera all over the place without adequate security operatives. How would these cameras function? If security agencies are well funded, insecurity will be curtailed.”

Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has asked the Federal Government to equip security personnel deployed in the fight against insecurity in the country rather than shedding crocodile tears for the victims of insecurity.

Falana lamented the conditions of less-equipped policemen and soldiers, who were being deployed in fighting terrorists that were armed with more sophisticated weapons.

“It is inexcusable to deploy ill-trained, ill-equipped and ill-motivated soldiers and policemen to war zones, armed with only AK 47 rifles without bullet proofs, serviceable vehicles, communication gadgets to fight suicide bombers with more sophisticated weapons.”

He noted that the security personnel were not being provided with life insurance and accommodation, adding that their salaries were not paid regularly and the families of those who lost their lives in battle were not usually informed officially.

He added: “In view of the foregoing, the Federal Government should stop shedding crocodile tears having carelessly risked the lives of soldiers and policemen who are made to fight guerilla war without any training.

“The Federal Government should take urgent measures to train and equip the security personnel deployed to the battle fields; purchase helicopters for aerial survey of the north east zone; upgrade medical facilities, including the provision of ambulances; fortify police stations and barracks as well as prisons and other detention facilities.

“More importantly, the Mobile Unit of the Nigeria Police Force should be retrained and equipped to contain terrorism, kidnapping, insurrection and civil disturbances so as to limit the armed forces to the defence of territorial integrity of the nation.”

He warned that the Security Council of the United Nations might sanction the Federal Government while it might have to pay damages to victims if it continued to risk the lives of its security personnel and civilians.

He added, “If the Federal Government continues to risk the lives of security personnel and expose the lives of the civilian population to danger in the war against terror, Nigeria may be sanctioned by the Security Council of the United Nations in view of the ongoing investigation into the Baga invasion being conducted by the government of an influential member of the body.

“Locally, the government is also liable to be dragged to local courts to pay damages to the victims of preventable deaths arising from the negligence of the state to secure the lives of Nigerian citizens.”

The highpoint however is that the government and security agencies need to go to the grass-root. The grass-root is being able to locate and neutralise the sponsors of Boko Haram. Emergency rule is like crushing the tail of a worm, it does not mean the worm had been killed. It would later grow into a dangerous snake. As long as the sponsors of Boko Haram are not identified and dealt with, the insurgency will not stop.
Many security experts have argued that members of the Boko Haram are mostly illiterate youths who had been brain washed, thus education in the northern parts, especially free is vital.
 Emergency rule will only stem the tide of wanton killings, but it is doubtful if it will neutralize the sect, except the sponsors are uprooted.

Fortunately, most governors are already dealing decisively with problem of kidnapping, by making it an offence which attracts a death penalty or life imprisonment is the culprit is found guilty. States which had not joined in this fight against kidnapping and kidnappers should have a rethink.