Spike in insecurity defies renewed military action to combat it

Adebayo Obajemu

Recently, the Service Chiefs gave a damning, brutally frank assessment of the root causes of growing insecurity in the country in spite of their efforts to combat it. The occasion was when they appeared before the House of Representatives that summoned them over a spike in banditry and criminality.

As Nigerians bemoan their economic woes, hunger, high prices of commodities and services, and high cost of living generally, they have had in spite of this meltdown to grapple with high level of insecurity the nation has ever witnessed.

From the North to the East, from the South South to North Central, no place is safe again.

According to a 2023 report put together by Beacon Consulting- an Abuja-based security risk management and intelligence consulting company, no fewer than 6,345 Nigerians were killed while about 2,543 were abducted across the country between January and September this year.

In the chilling report, 749 Nigerians were killed in January; 624 in February; 961 in March; 707 in April; 679 in May; 854 in June; 552 in July; 638 in August; and 581 in September.

It also revealed that 208 Nigerians were abducted in January; 173 in February; 411 in March; 302 in April; 168 in May; 239 in June; 329 in July; 369 in August; and 344 people in September.

The document showed that the fatalities rate reduced in the third quarter by 27.3 per cent from 37.0 per cent in the first quarter and 35.7 per cent in the second quarter. It, however, revealed that the abductions increased in the third quarter by 40.9 per cent as against 31.1 per cent in the first quarter and 27.9 per cent in the second quarter.

Speaking with journalists, the Chief Executive Officer, Beacon Intel, and security expert, Dr. Kabir Adamu, urged the federal and state governments to address the root causes of the challenges “including weak state institutions, drug addiction, socio-economic grievances, poverty, unemployment and the effects of climate change as well as the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.”

Also, a security expert, Fidelis Oniyan stated that there was no improvement in the security situation in the country, as he blamed poverty and poor economy for increasing insecurity.

Oniyan averred that, “Can you imagine what the security situation has turned to in the country. If a DPO was gruesomely murdered (in Rivers State), it means all of us are not safe in this country? The situation is getting worse due to the high rate of poverty, and people want to be averagely comfortable at all costs, either within or outside of the law.

“People have lost hope in the government as a result of joblessness; even those working struggle due to the high cost of living. When there is poverty in the land, there is promotion of criminality. There are arms everywhere and more hungry men are on the streets. By the time the economy becomes stronger, insecurity will be curbed very fast.”

Professor Benjamin Okaba, president, Ijaw National Congress in his interview with a news daily, says he does not see any paradigm shift yet in security architecture.

Okaba, says it’s worrisome that in spite of the new administration’s appointment of new service chiefs, and regular security meetings with the president, there has not been any noticeable downtrend in insecurity, rather there has been a spike.

In his view, the security policy of the Federal Government under the current political dispensation has not actually lent itself to significant clarity, but opaque to the citizens, who have continued to live and go about their daily activities in subdued fear and anxiety.

The irony for some concerned Nigerians is that despite all the assurances from the president, the appointment of new service chiefs, regular security meetings and allocation of more funds to the fight of insecurity in the country, it seems the non-state actors are now more emboldened.

“Its disturbing that dare-devil bandits abducted some National Youth Service Corps members in Zamfara State, killed some soldiers in Niger State. In the past three weeks more than seven cases of kidnappings were reported in metropolitan Lagos, and Lagos- Ibadan express way is becoming infested with kidnappers. Only last week a musician together with his band was kidnapped, but later released one week after the abductions.”

Dr. Olufemi Omoyele, a social critic, who is of the department of Entrepreneurship Studies at Osun State University, told Business Hallmark that the factors fueling insecurity include growing poverty level and high unemployment rate and the breakdown of the ethical centre in the society.

“Some organised kidnappings are being carried out by unemployed graduates. One of the kidnappers captured in River State recently said that he was lured by the money and pressure to take care of his family. Another said it was payback to the government and society that don’t care about the poor and unemployed,” he said.

Other factors that fuel insecurity in the country, according Dr. Samuel Abiodun, a sociologist, include ethnic and religious tensions, inadequate security infrastructure and socio-economic factors.

“I know that social economic conditions, like poverty, and the duo of ethnic and religious tensions can boost insecurity, but if the country has adequate security infrastructure, we will be able to tackle our security challenges to a reasonable extent. Part of it is taking good care of our security personnel because they cannot carry gun with empty stomach or families neglected when they die in the line of duty,” he said.

Many people spoken to by Business Hallmark say the way forward is for the Tinubu administration to give the service chiefs targets and remove whoever did not meet the target, ensure regular review of their operations and expenditure on security.

A security analyst with SBM Intelligence, Emeka Okoro, in a recent interview, said that it will require a multifaceted approach to address insecurity in the country.

In his view, the country requires improved security infrastructure, effective governance, social cohesion, economic development, and peace-building efforts to truly fight insecurity.

The bottom line is that no matter how sound the solutions may look, it will need a determined political will on the part of the government and concerted efforts both within Nigeria and from the international community to achieve sustainable results in the fight against insecurity in the country.

While the government claims feats in the fight against insecurity, the reality for most Nigerians is that more people die every day from the several attacks of non-state actors.

Meanwhile, there have been success stories against bandits, kidnappers and terrorists in general in recent weeks in different theatres of operations across the country.

Only last week, the Military High Command declared that it is currently engaged in ‘targeted operations’ against key terrorist figures in the country.

Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja, last Thursday. He emphasised that the ongoing operations against terrorists and insecurity across the nation are a critical conflict that must be decisively won.

“The ongoing operations against terrorists and insecurity across the country are a war in which the military has no choice but to win, and we are winning the war.

“Recently, the military conducted two major air strikes on a terrorist enclave. One of the strikes, on December 6, neutralised several top terrorist commander: namely, one Machika, a top terrorist bomb expert and the younger brother of notorious terrorist Dogo Gide.

“In addition, on December 13, through a synchronised strike between air and ground forces aimed at the same target, a renowned terrorist leader responsible for the abduction of the students of Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, Ali Alhaji Alheri, popularly called Kachalla Ali KAWAJE, was neutralised in Munya LGA of Niger State along with many of his foot soldiers.

“The military is fast closing in on others, and they will equally suffer the same fate.”

The statement further added that in the ”South East, on December 13, 2023, troops, in conjunction with other security agencies, apprehended a prominent commander of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).

“The commander, one Mr. Uchechukwu Akpa, was arrested together with three other sub-commanders, namely Udoka Anthony Ude, Ikechukwu Ulanta, and Ezennaya Udeigewere.

“The trio were arrested after a raid on their hideout at Christ the King Catholic Church, Ameta Mgbowo, in the Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State.

They gathered to plot to take over the leadership of the IPOB/ESN Auto Pilot Command Enugu State Chapter from the apprehended former commander known as “Chocho.” They also planned to attack troop locations.

“It stated that the operations of the week in focus equally resulted in the arrest of 66 perpetrators of oil theft and the rescue of 89 kidnapped hostages. In the South South, troops denied the oil thieves of the estimated sum of one hundred and sixty-one million, two hundred and thirty-two thousand five hundred naira (N161,232,500.00) only.