Following the bloodbath orchestrated by
Boko Haram members and herdsmen in Nigeria, among other security challenges in
2018, security experts have urged the federal government to invest in security
agencies and technology, in order to stem the tide of killings. TAIWO JIMOH
AND STANLEY IHEDIGBO report.
The security
challenges recorded in 2018 caused deep concern and anxiety among stakeholders
in Nigeria. Attempting to fashion out a strategy to curtail further bloodbath,
these stakeholders said that there should be a deliberate effort by federal government
to invest in the security agencies and technology.
According
to them, such investments had helped many countries in preventing and
checkmating criminal activities, thus Nigeria shouldn’t fall short.
To overcome
the security challenges, which over the years had brought hardship and poor
economy growth, the stakeholders insisted that technological gadgets were
vital. They further stressed that investment in technology and security agencies
will not only checkmate crimes, but also curtail killings of security agents.
Federal
government should also look into the welfare of the security agents, who work
day and night to ensure security of the nation, argued some security experts.
Retired
Deputy-Inspector-General (DIG), Azuibuko Udah said that 2019 will be a peaceful
year, compared to what was witnessed in 2018.
Udah said: “2018
was a challenging year for Nigeria, as we witnessed farmers and herders’ clash,
Boko Haram attacks, kidnappings, armed robberies and several others crime. All
these crime that I mentioned didn’t just start, they had been with us for years
and security agencies have done their best to curtail them. The fight against
all these crimes should not be left to the security agencies. The public should
come out and support and encouraged them to do more.”
Udah noted
that if supports were given to the military and other security agencies, these
agents would do better in carrying out their duties. This was even as he argued
that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration has done well for
security agencies.
He said: “The
President recently increased the salary of the police and also equipped the
military to fight terrorists. Crime in 2019 will be minimal. It should be noted
that crimes cannot be totally eliminated in any country. We expect peace and
tranquility in 2019. Without peace, investors will not come into the country. Why
I said security in 2019 would be at the lowest was because of what the present
government had done for the police and other security agencies. The salary the
police were collecting before was nothing to write home about. But with the
increment, it will spur policemen to do more. This government has done a lot
for the police and other security agencies. Even as election draws near, you
can be sure that everything, with respect to security, is under control. The federal government has made provision for
the security agencies to make sure that the election is free of rancor.”
Udah, who
also spoke on the military’s Python Dance, said there was nothing wrong with
it. He stated that law abiding citizens have nothing to fear where Operation Python
Dance was concerned. He said that the military was using the ‘Show of Force’ to
show that the soldiers were ready to protect the territorial integrity of the
nation.
It is not
only the army that is doing that police show of force. This show of force is
not peculiar to Nigeria alone,
He opined
that herdsmen and farmer clashes had been brought down drastically. Udah is
hopeful that the clashes between herders and farmers will be checked, so that
they can live in peaceful coexistence with one another in 2019.
A former
commissioner of police, Tsav Abubakar opined that the insecurity in 2018 was so
bad, that he started suspecting the situation was being fuelled by politicians.
Abubakar said:
“These politicians, when they are elected into offices, will not want to leave.
They do everything possible to retain power, without rending services to the
people. But the truth is that politicians are elected to serve the people. Creating
insecurity situation in the country boost their chances of retaining their
positions, without considering the plight of the people.
“It must, however be
pointed out, that security agents alone cannot handle the insecurity situation in
this country. They need the help of the people in provision
of vital information. Security agents work with good information and it is very
important for people to partner with them. People should support the security
agents in every area for effective and efficiency policing in the country.”
Abubakar
said that people should begin to ask questions, where youths are concerned,
especially those catapulted into wealth. “The society should begin to look into
people means of acquiring wealth because the ‘get wealth syndrome’ is
contributing in the increase of crime in Nigeria,” said Abubakar. “Neighbours
should be able to relate information of suspicious wealth to the police. If you
refused to say something and the person continues in his or her criminal
activities, some day you will be a victim of the evil you refused to expose. So
many people are amassing wealth in the country without any known means.
The police should take action against them in order to find out their source of
income. That is where security starts.”
Abubakar argues
that government should provide jobs for Nigerian youths, roaming the streets. He
said that police should try and mop up arms and ammunition in circulations,
stressing that there were too many guns in wrong hands.
Abubakar advised:
“Police should be allowed to go from house to house to mop up these arms. It is
very dangerous to our society. Also, in my opinion, government is not doing
much about the insecurity situation. Government should employ more young school
leavers into the Police Force. The policemen are not enough in the country with
over 200 million people and a large landmass to cover.”
He lamented
over the report that some policemen ran away from their posting, describing it
as an act of cowardice. He declared that such policemen should be dismissed
from the Force.
He added: “Police
should send officers to those communities where solders have sent terrorists
away, for effective and efficiency policing. Other security agencies should man
the border for effective policing.”
A United
Kingdom trained security expert, Mr. Michael Adebisi, said that in an
environment where human lives were not worth much, it was a saddening situation.
He said: “People
were killed on daily basis and government was not able to do much to curtail
the situation.”
He said
that the equipment being used by the military personnel in the country were obsolete.
He added that ammunition acquired in the 1970 was still being used by Nigerian
troops, while terrorists are using high graded arms.
Adebisi
said: “My advice is that government should go for modern arms and ammunitions,
as well as safety equipment for the personnel. Government should investment in
that area. Government should investigate all military formations in the country
and flush out those not ready to do their work. Most of these security officers
are not sincere in doing their jobs. Rather, they fight for their own selfish
personal interest. They are biased personnel, who are defending their tribes no
matter the trouble their region is causing the nation. They used to give
information to the bad guys; if not, I don’t see why soldiers are being killed in
large numbers. There is a problem, which I want government to look into;
government should find out those bad eggs in the force and punish and send them
away from the formations.”
He urged
government to insure the lives of soldier, policemen and other personnel.
“Others are
seeing their colleagues being treated badly and you don’t expect them to
sacrifice their lives for a country that cares less about them,” argued
Adebisi.
The Chief
Executive Officer and Managing Director, Armour Guards Company, Chief Charles
Ndukwe, like other security experts, insisted that the answer to the insecurity
issue in Nigeria was for government to invest in technology.
Ndukwe
said: “Many security outfits have gone into what we call cyber-security in
fighting cybercrime. Many companies are now using technological equipment to
prevent crime. It was not like that before. Now, electronic has been added to
protect an environment or an individual’s home, which is a very big plus.”
Ndukwe
maintained that the inclusion of this technology in crime fighting in 2019 will
lead to reduction of certain crimes in Nigeria. He also urged the government to partner with private security
operators in 2019 because they had something to offer in securing the nation.
He
said that the Nigerian government should make up its mind and allow private guards
in Nigeria to carry arms. He believe such approval will help in the drastic
reduction of crime and criminality in Nigeria
The Group
Chief Executive Officer, August Eye Nigeria, Ambassador Roy Oamien Okhidievbie,
said that there was a dynamic change in crime activities. He mentioned that
crimes like kidnapping, terrorism, insurgence and cybercrime took security
agencies and agents unaware.
He noted that
government should start to put the house of the security agencies in order
because, “if they regenerate the data lives lost , in the middle of 2017
to 2018 , they would realised that there was increase and predominate
killings in selected areas, especially in the north east region.”
Okhidievbie
continued: “One of the things they need to look at in 2019 is creation of
international standard training school for all formations in the country, including
the military and paramilitary agencies. This will help government to understand
the basics of criminal activities of the present day. Secondly; the motivation
of the personnel, not coming to television to announce the increment of
their salaries, but let the formations tell public about it through their
attitude and character on duties. That they have good accommodation, their
lives are insured, and their family members have medical care. The personnel
should tell the people that they have good kits and equipment for work and
everything other things on demand to assist them to be effective in carrying out
their jobs.”
Okhidievbie
said that it was very important for the security agencies’ chiefs to define
their positions. They should declare whether they are employed and working for
politicians or employed and serving Nigeria.
Okhidievbie
noted: “These service chiefs should avoid playing politics with the nation’s security.
Security chiefs, who play politics, play with the lives of the citizenry. This
is what we’re experiencing in the country. The Inspector-General of Police was
given an order, that he should deploy 2000 policemen to northeast, but first
what was his arrangement on ground? Are the police trained to fight war or to
maintain peace? If he wanted the police to go to trouble area, there are things
to do, but the IG wanted them to go to stations in northeast, which is
reactivate. The IG should ensure that policing in all those areas that the
military liberated will commence.”
Okhidievbie
further said: “The IG should begin to initiate mobile police; mobile police is
the component of the Force. If the police identify the areas that are very
difficult, they will call the mobile police. You cannot just take the police to
military training ground and assumed that they are ready to fight war. The
IG should not forget that most of these officers are used to comfort zone; that
is posting and attaching them to rich men and politicians.”
Speaking on
the over 100 policemen that deserted the Force after being posted to northeast
to confront insurgents, Okhidievbie said: “The runaway policemen should be
recalled to the service because they didn’t do anything wrong to warrant
dismissal. They only expressed their opinion and should be pardoned.”
The Chief
Security Officer of Target Solid Security Company, Mr. Dede Uzor Uzor lamented
that security challenge in 2018, particularly towards the last quarters of the
year was shocking.
According
to him, a few months ago, over 100 soldiers were killed by Boko Haram, and two days
later, another set of 13 soldiers were killed.
Uzor said: “Within
the last quarters of the year, there were cases of kidnappings in many parts of
Nigeria, including Anambra State, where two reverend fathers were abducted. There
were also cases of assassinations of political opponents, although, Nigerians
will say that goes with general elections, but it should not. In other clans,
there is nothing like that, rather it is just a game.
“In my
opinion, if the security situation in the country is not checkmate, it will
affect the upcoming elections. You remembered that 2015 general elections
were postponed as result of security challenges facing the nation back then.
We are facing the same situation now and government should do something
before it gets out of hand. Government has to sit up, not to play lip service.”
Uzor
further said: “Again, how does government want the nation’s economy to improve
in the midst of what we are witnessing in Nigeria? No foreign investor will come
to a nation its citizens are not secured to invest his money. These investors
are reading and hearing how Nigerians are being killed every day.”
He stressed
that other countries of the world have embraced technology for their security
improvement. Uzor
said that other countries were investing heavily in technology, not just on
people.
“The Saudi
journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, was killed in Turkey, but in Saudi Arabia Embassy.
It was through technology that his death was 90 percent revealed to the world.
There were CCTV reports that captured different events of his movements.
The Turkish security agency was able to know what went wrong, without torturing
or arresting anybody on the case. That is the level the security has got to. I
would not also forget the Offa Robbery, where the use of technology through
CCTV assisted the police to know those who were behind the crime. After
analyzing the CCTV capturing, the police went after them and arrested all the
suspects. There was also the Zenith bank robbery in Owerri, Imo State, where
CCTV was able to capture faces of robbers that invaded the bank premises and
killed two policemen.”
According
to Uzor, criminals now know that many banks are equipped with CCTV. They know
that going to such banks to rob, will be a high risk, says Uzor.
He said: “Government
should invest so much in technology to help in securing the country. That is
the best investment they should do in the year 2019. If a crime is committed, and security agencies are not
able to unveil the penetrators, that are the greatest challenge.”
He further stated: “Just look at what happened
in the case of the former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.
Those behind the killing of the general were arrested through the use of technology.
The suspects kidnapped one of the occupiers of the vehicle, and they were using
his phone, demanding ransom. My point is that those suspects were tracked
through the phones, which they used in making demands for ransom from the
victim’s family. Nigeria Police Force should partner with telecommunication
companies in the country to track criminals who committed crime. Before the
criminals carry on any crime activates, they communicate with their partners.”
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