A
retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr. Agba Nchor, now a
member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and security consultant,
has lampooned the use of thugs in politics. In this chat with JULIANA
FRANCIS, Nchor charges General Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar to
unveil their anti-terror strategy.
What is your opinion on the security situation in Nigeria now?
The situation is saddening. Boko Haram has continued to terrorise people from the North East. The war against Boko Haram is a collective responsibility, not just Jonathan’s or the military’s. Check out the recent bombing of a whole mosque! This is to show that Boko Haram is not a war of religion. These men bombed and killed Nigerians who went to worship. I personally want to talk to the opposition; they should stop using the Boko Haram issue as a tool, because it’s a national issue. They should leave Boko Haram out of politics.
What are the police and soldiers not doing right in this war?
The police, Department of State Security (DSS) and military are doing their best. The attack on this country doesn’t mean that the intelligence is not there. But these are psychotic people, trained to disrupt the nation. Boko Haram people came in from Chad and other countries in West Africa. These suicide bombers are not easy to detect. This is part of the problem. If it’s a predictable problem, where the military will have to face them, the military would have overrun them within 24hours. Two people can be walking and the second may be carrying a bomb, the first person will not know. This is a major problem. How do you identify a suicide bomber? There’s no way to detect them!
Women are supposed to be weaker vessels, now they are the suicide bombers. What’s your reaction to this?
The women being used as suicide bombers have been hypnotized. Yes! No sensible woman would agree to have her body laced with bombs, especially knowing that she’ll die in the process. These women were hypnotized by Boko Haram. They had been drugged before they embarked on their suicide bombings. More women should be educated in different languages; Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba and even Pidgin English programs, so that they will not be influenced by this sect.
Do you think these female suicide bombers are the abducted Chibok girls?
The Chibok girls are educated and intelligent. They are students and Boko Haram knows that the international communities, in fact, the whole world are trying to rescue these girls. I don’t think the Chibok girls can be used for such nonsense. These female suicide bombers are girls kidnapped on the streets! Boko Haram has been abducting girls for long. Those are the girls now being used as suicide bombers. Moreover, Abubakar Shekau said he had given the Chibok girls out in marriage. This means the girls are no more in one place.
The PDP’s secretariat in Cross River was recently bombed. Do you think its opposition or Boko Haram?
Cross River State has been a very peaceful state in Nigeria, but the political crisis going on there now is not good. There are arguments that the governor wants to impose a candidate. The tense situation can lead to anything. I’m not saying it’s the opposition or anybody that planted the bomb in the secretariat, but this is the first time such a thing is happening. But whoever is behind it, we’ll not allow such to occur again! We do not have opposition in Cross River politics. The PDP family is one. The PDP family in Cross River State doesn’t see APC in the state as an opposition that would want to cause havoc. APC had nothing to do with the incident at the PDP party secretariat.
Did the secretariat just go up in flames?
It could be enemies of Cross River who don’t want the political activities to go peacefully or the enemies of progress who don’t want peace in the state. Maybe they are not happy with the political events either, especially with the stories of candidates imposition, that is going round.
Is it possible to rule out thuggery in politics?
You cannot rule out thuggery in politics. Thuggery came to be because of the desperation of some politicians who want to come into power at all cost. These politicians have standby thugs. I have been in the field since I retired as a policeman. As a politician, I know what is happening.
Let’s take for instance the last primary elections held in Obudu Community Local Government. That’s where I come from. It was full of thugs. There was no election there because the other group in the party won the mandate and another group said they would not give the winner the mandate. When the masses say they don’t want you, why should you impose yourself on them? What we need is a free and fair election, so that people will vote for those they want to represent them.
What can security agents do to curtail thuggery in politics?
If you travel round the world, you’ll know that other countries also use thugs in politics. If the right candidate is not there, the issue of thuggery cannot be written off. The government apparatus may do their best to fortify everywhere during elections, but the masses are more than the security forces on ground. You may have 100 policemen and 200 soldiers to a community of 4 million people.
How will the security forces cope if members of the community come out with arms, saying they don’t want a particular candidate? It is the sins of elections and provocations that usually create thuggery. The politicians should learn to say ‘if I lose, let me lose.’ The problem with our politicians is that they don’t want to accept defeat.
The IG has instructed all the Commissioners of Police to mop up illegal arms in circulation. He said the arms should be submitted before Election Day. Will Nigerians submit them?
Desperation is what compels most politicians to purchase arms for their thugs or supporters. If the Inspector General of Police has directed that all illegal arms in the country should be submitted, I implore politicians to surrender them and let the right thing be done.
Do you think they will?
It’s because of this issue of ‘I must win at all cost,’ that is causing the entire problem in this country. I’m hitting hard on the politicians; they should learn to accept defeats in any election.
Can’t security agents go undercover to find out those stockpiling arms?
The police should do their best to ensure that anybody who did not adhere to the instruction of the IGP, to submit any illegal arms should be caught arrested. The person should be charged to court accordingly for possessions of fire arms, so that it will serve as deterrent to other politicians who want to win at all cost.
What’s your opinion on the drama going on between Tambuwal and IGP?
The Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba is a lawyer, just like the Speaker of the House of Repre-sentatives, Aminu Tambuwal. The IGP knows the rudiments of the law. As an IGP, he’s guided by law and whatever the law says, he’ll take. I’m not on anybody’s side but the IGP has a code of ethics that governs his office. He is purely applying it. I don’t see anything wrong in the way he handled the situation at the National Assembly.
Are you saying what the IGP did was right?
You don’t just listen to one side of the story. They were invited to the Senate and the IGP said that the police received intelligence report that there was a threat to the National Assembly that some people were coming with thugs. Our honorable members do not respect the police. What they ought to have done that day, was to obey, then complain later. Instead they started fighting, behaving like thugs. Their behaviours did not portray them as gentlemen.
How can our honorable members start jumping gate and fence? It was not as if there was a war or crisis in the National Assembly. The police said stop, why not stop and identify with the police. Why not tell the police why you should go in and why you should not go in? They didn’t identify themselves properly; that was the cause of the problem.
Buhari and Alhaji Abubakar Atiku have promised to put an end to terrorism if they are elected into power. What do you think they are going to do, that Jonathan had not done?
This is propaganda by oppositions! I have said this in different forums; no politician should compromise the security of our country. Buhari and Atiku should team up with the federal government and apply those strategies they want to use in the future, to stop Boko Haram now. Yes! The same strategy they want to use to stop Boko Haram should be used now! The issue of Boko Haram is not a political issue. The nation’s interest is what we are talking about.
What is your opinion on the security situation in Nigeria now?
The situation is saddening. Boko Haram has continued to terrorise people from the North East. The war against Boko Haram is a collective responsibility, not just Jonathan’s or the military’s. Check out the recent bombing of a whole mosque! This is to show that Boko Haram is not a war of religion. These men bombed and killed Nigerians who went to worship. I personally want to talk to the opposition; they should stop using the Boko Haram issue as a tool, because it’s a national issue. They should leave Boko Haram out of politics.
What are the police and soldiers not doing right in this war?
The police, Department of State Security (DSS) and military are doing their best. The attack on this country doesn’t mean that the intelligence is not there. But these are psychotic people, trained to disrupt the nation. Boko Haram people came in from Chad and other countries in West Africa. These suicide bombers are not easy to detect. This is part of the problem. If it’s a predictable problem, where the military will have to face them, the military would have overrun them within 24hours. Two people can be walking and the second may be carrying a bomb, the first person will not know. This is a major problem. How do you identify a suicide bomber? There’s no way to detect them!
Women are supposed to be weaker vessels, now they are the suicide bombers. What’s your reaction to this?
The women being used as suicide bombers have been hypnotized. Yes! No sensible woman would agree to have her body laced with bombs, especially knowing that she’ll die in the process. These women were hypnotized by Boko Haram. They had been drugged before they embarked on their suicide bombings. More women should be educated in different languages; Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba and even Pidgin English programs, so that they will not be influenced by this sect.
Do you think these female suicide bombers are the abducted Chibok girls?
The Chibok girls are educated and intelligent. They are students and Boko Haram knows that the international communities, in fact, the whole world are trying to rescue these girls. I don’t think the Chibok girls can be used for such nonsense. These female suicide bombers are girls kidnapped on the streets! Boko Haram has been abducting girls for long. Those are the girls now being used as suicide bombers. Moreover, Abubakar Shekau said he had given the Chibok girls out in marriage. This means the girls are no more in one place.
The PDP’s secretariat in Cross River was recently bombed. Do you think its opposition or Boko Haram?
Cross River State has been a very peaceful state in Nigeria, but the political crisis going on there now is not good. There are arguments that the governor wants to impose a candidate. The tense situation can lead to anything. I’m not saying it’s the opposition or anybody that planted the bomb in the secretariat, but this is the first time such a thing is happening. But whoever is behind it, we’ll not allow such to occur again! We do not have opposition in Cross River politics. The PDP family is one. The PDP family in Cross River State doesn’t see APC in the state as an opposition that would want to cause havoc. APC had nothing to do with the incident at the PDP party secretariat.
Did the secretariat just go up in flames?
It could be enemies of Cross River who don’t want the political activities to go peacefully or the enemies of progress who don’t want peace in the state. Maybe they are not happy with the political events either, especially with the stories of candidates imposition, that is going round.
Is it possible to rule out thuggery in politics?
You cannot rule out thuggery in politics. Thuggery came to be because of the desperation of some politicians who want to come into power at all cost. These politicians have standby thugs. I have been in the field since I retired as a policeman. As a politician, I know what is happening.
Let’s take for instance the last primary elections held in Obudu Community Local Government. That’s where I come from. It was full of thugs. There was no election there because the other group in the party won the mandate and another group said they would not give the winner the mandate. When the masses say they don’t want you, why should you impose yourself on them? What we need is a free and fair election, so that people will vote for those they want to represent them.
What can security agents do to curtail thuggery in politics?
If you travel round the world, you’ll know that other countries also use thugs in politics. If the right candidate is not there, the issue of thuggery cannot be written off. The government apparatus may do their best to fortify everywhere during elections, but the masses are more than the security forces on ground. You may have 100 policemen and 200 soldiers to a community of 4 million people.
How will the security forces cope if members of the community come out with arms, saying they don’t want a particular candidate? It is the sins of elections and provocations that usually create thuggery. The politicians should learn to say ‘if I lose, let me lose.’ The problem with our politicians is that they don’t want to accept defeat.
The IG has instructed all the Commissioners of Police to mop up illegal arms in circulation. He said the arms should be submitted before Election Day. Will Nigerians submit them?
Desperation is what compels most politicians to purchase arms for their thugs or supporters. If the Inspector General of Police has directed that all illegal arms in the country should be submitted, I implore politicians to surrender them and let the right thing be done.
Do you think they will?
It’s because of this issue of ‘I must win at all cost,’ that is causing the entire problem in this country. I’m hitting hard on the politicians; they should learn to accept defeats in any election.
Can’t security agents go undercover to find out those stockpiling arms?
The police should do their best to ensure that anybody who did not adhere to the instruction of the IGP, to submit any illegal arms should be caught arrested. The person should be charged to court accordingly for possessions of fire arms, so that it will serve as deterrent to other politicians who want to win at all cost.
What’s your opinion on the drama going on between Tambuwal and IGP?
The Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba is a lawyer, just like the Speaker of the House of Repre-sentatives, Aminu Tambuwal. The IGP knows the rudiments of the law. As an IGP, he’s guided by law and whatever the law says, he’ll take. I’m not on anybody’s side but the IGP has a code of ethics that governs his office. He is purely applying it. I don’t see anything wrong in the way he handled the situation at the National Assembly.
Are you saying what the IGP did was right?
You don’t just listen to one side of the story. They were invited to the Senate and the IGP said that the police received intelligence report that there was a threat to the National Assembly that some people were coming with thugs. Our honorable members do not respect the police. What they ought to have done that day, was to obey, then complain later. Instead they started fighting, behaving like thugs. Their behaviours did not portray them as gentlemen.
How can our honorable members start jumping gate and fence? It was not as if there was a war or crisis in the National Assembly. The police said stop, why not stop and identify with the police. Why not tell the police why you should go in and why you should not go in? They didn’t identify themselves properly; that was the cause of the problem.
Buhari and Alhaji Abubakar Atiku have promised to put an end to terrorism if they are elected into power. What do you think they are going to do, that Jonathan had not done?
This is propaganda by oppositions! I have said this in different forums; no politician should compromise the security of our country. Buhari and Atiku should team up with the federal government and apply those strategies they want to use in the future, to stop Boko Haram now. Yes! The same strategy they want to use to stop Boko Haram should be used now! The issue of Boko Haram is not a political issue. The nation’s interest is what we are talking about.
No comments:
Post a Comment