Bandits Here And There

The last time one checked, the Nigerian constitution clearly states that the primary reasons government exists in the country is to protect the citizens and provide welfare for them. But the Nigerian government has consistently disparaged that provision. Mourning, anguish and lamentations fill the land as bandits and terrorists have become unstoppable, causing Nigerians to wonder what has become of their government.
The situation is awfully insufferable that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) led by prominent clerics like Pastor Enoch Adeboye of Redeemed Christian Church of God took some Christians on a protest match against wanton killings in the country.
In the 2015 election, President Muhammadu Buhari was trusted to end insecurity given his electoral campaign promise to do so, and was voted into office on the basis of that. Then Boko Haram was the only group in existence. While he battled them, more terrorist groups emerged including bandits and killer-herdsmen.
When the President heard about the overwhelming activities of the criminal groups in the country, his response was rather shocking: “I was taken aback by what is happening in the North West and other parts of the country. During our campaigns, we knew about the Boko Haram. What is coming now is surprising.  We have to be harder on them.” This reaction doesn’t indicate that the First Citizen really knows about the pervasiveness of insurgency in the land.
How would a sitting President who commands the military be ignorant of the preponderance of insecurity in the country? Are the armed forces overwhelmed? Some persons have actually suggested that. The truth is the military is weighed down by several operations across the country. As for the police, their operational strength is nothing to write home about.
According to the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, the operational strength of the police is 301,737 personnel for a population of about 200 million. From this, he said, only 20 per cent are engaged in core police duties while 80 per cent are attached to VIPs.
See where the problems emanate. Anarchy looms! No wonder almost the entire north has become a haven for bandits and terrorists. That is why the several deployments of troops have never paid off since there are not enough police personnel to occupy vacated areas by fleeing terrorists or bandits.
Only recently did Plateau State bury 20 people who were massacred in Kwatas in Bokkos Local Government Area in January by AK 47 gun-wielding herdsmen. Of course, Benue State had its share in January 2018, when it interred 73 people slaughtered by the herders. The same year, in April, two Catholic priests and 17 others were gruesomely murdered inside a church in an early morning raid.
Over 100,000 persons have been killed by Boko Haram since its murderous campaign began in 2009. Nigerians have always been told by security agents that the northern land borders with Chad, Niger and Cameroon are major suspected routes of the inflow of illicit arms and ammunition into the country. The question is, since this discovery was made, what has the government done about it? Why have the attacks remained endless?
In Zamfara State, several persons are in grief following last month’s killing of 31 people by bandits in two separate offensi ves. According to the state police commissioner, no fewer than 6,319 have been killed by these bandits in the state in 2019 alone. These atrocities came in the wake of the so-called amnesty the Governor, Bello Mattawale, had granted them.
In the face of rising security crises, a few members of the National Assembly, in a debate in plenary, asked the President to resign while others called on the service chiefs to quit. From current happenstances, it is clear that the central policing system currently in practice can no longer guarantee security for the entire citizens.
Even the police and the military are not immune to attacks by the criminals. Then are we not heading towards hopelessness? That is why the present situation requires new initiatives by the government. This barbaric reign of terror must cease. But that can only happen if the fundamental issues underpinning Nigeria’s failure in security are dissected.
There have to be vigorous campaigns against arms proliferation. No one should be allowed to own weapons superior to what the military and the police have. The state of insecurity makes it difficult for Nigerians to travel on highways for fear of bandits. It was for this reason the Abuja-Kaduna highway was completely abandoned and the passengers hauled in trains. Even then, train passengers have always come under onslaught.
Nigeria needs an appropriate security apparatus for a federal system. But the country is not a federation. True federalism with the instrument of coercion for the states is what is required to exit the current predicament. Therefore, state policing has become inevitable in line with every federal polity. Policing should be devolved in tandem with the recommendation of the 2014 National Political Conference.

By: Arnold Alalibo