The state of insecurity in which Nigeria now reels is too ferocious to be denied. The crisis may have pre-dated the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari; he may be doing his best, and the military is not without some success in their fight against Islamist insurgents in the war-ravaged northeast, but the intensity of the criminality, kidnapping for ransom and generalized insecurity is such that he must take steps to own the fight against insecurity. No mollifying rhetoric can negate the barrage of hostilities currently bludgeoning the country. As if to exacerbate Nigerians’ bruised psyche from confusion to hysteria amidst the ongoing carnage; a mesmerizing state of perplexity seems to have enveloped Aso Rock. Nigeria is in a state of war, and Buhari as President and Commander-in-chief of the armed forces must not only lead but be seen to lead the charge.
The urgency of this call is predicated on the devastating stealth with which the enemies of this country, by whatever name they call themselves, operate. They seemed to have gleefully exposed the nation’s vulnerability by carrying out daily orgies of bloodletting, killing scores across the nation. The massacres, either from Boko Haram or other insurgents, have become so routine as normal every day occurrences; abductions are carried out with scandalous audacity; and Fulani herdsmen sack villages and mow down helpless Nigerians as if they are clearing weeds. Not a single day passes without news of Nigerians being killed in their numbers or get kidnapped. Late Thursday, one of the wives of Olugbenga Ale, chief of staff to Ondo Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, was kidnapped with another woman, by unknown gunmen.
The abduction came barely hours after a first class traditional ruler, the Olufon of Ifon in Ose LGA, was killed around Elegbeka on Owo-Ifon Road. Last Sunday, the APC chairman in Nasarawa State, Philip Tatari Shekwo was kidnapped in his house and murdered.
In Rivers, a former chairman of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Ebenezer Kalabo Amah, was abducted in his house and murdered. In Kaduna, an activist, Rabiu Awwal was killed by bandits during an attack in his community on November 20. In Katsina, bandits attacked PDP’s chairman in Sabuwa LGA, Lawal Dako, and shot him severally. He later died from the injuries. The granddaughter of the slain party council chairman was also shot and killed by the bandits during the attack. Last Monday, kidnappers entered Ahmadu Bello University, unhindered and abducted an official at his residence at Main Campus, Samaru.
Before that, the parents of nine kidnapped ABU students negotiated with the kidnappers, visited them in the forest and made payments to secure their release. The nine students were abducted on the notorious Kaduna-Abuja highway on November 15 and kept in the forest for five days. The parents of the ABU 9 had to free their children because of the lackadaisical attitude of the security agents. When the traumatized families eventually struck a deal with the kidnappers, they were asked to congregate in a forest in Chikun LGA and given directions into the specific location of the kidnappers. Imagine families going to pay kidnappers ransom for their children and security agents on duty near the kidnappers’ den wishing them well. Yes, that was what happened to the families of the ABU 9. Security operatives saw them heading into the forest and wished them good luck. It is inexcusable that the kidnappers were communicating with families of the victims via GSM phones for days; yet, security agents did not bother to track them. The abductors demanded a cumulative ransom of N270 million, N30 million per student. They eventually paid between N500,000 and N1,000,000. This is the level Nigeria has degenerated.
As in previous cases, almost all these killers and kidnappers will never be apprehended. What a country!
Rather, it seems there is an official endorsement of ransom to kidnappers. Security agents stand by and even advise families of victims to negotiate well. What else should Nigerians expect when families of security agents also pay to free kidnapped officers? In September, a 33-year-old officer of the Department of State Services, Sadiq Bindawa, was kidnapped on a visit to his native Katsina. His DSS colleagues in Katsina and in Abuja could not save him. He was killed even after his family and friends paid N5 million to his abductors. Bindawa worked at the DSS HQ in Abuja. An army officer, Colonel S.B Onifade was abducted on the Kaduna-Abuja highway and his family and friends paid N10 million to the kidnappers. But Onifade was still killed. The truth that must be told is that the president and his service chiefs have failed Nigerians.
Whatever the thesis explaining the pernicious state of security in the country, the duty and obligation to protect the lives and property of Nigerians, is principally that of the President. That is the reason Buhari is the leader and commander-in-chief. However, the President, it must be said, does not give the impression of a sense of dire concern and urgency. He himself had alluded to the claim that he had been treating the insurgency with kid gloves, thereby giving credence to the assumption that Boko Haram has become a purpose-driven insurgency. Well-meaning Nigerians are not likely to side with this kind of thinking. But if persons among the ruling elite harbor this senseless assault on Nigeria as a cash cow because of the security votes given to state governors, it should be clear that they cannot win.
It is insensitive and inept for any leader or group of leaders to sacrifice the safety and security of citizens on the altar of political or pecuniary interests as Nigerians have observed among members of the ruling class. Nigerians are getting killed all across the country and so far, beyond routine statements, the body language and the atmosphere in the seats of power do not reflect the pain and vulnerability of the country. Is Buhari so numbed, so unshockable, so desensitized to sympathize with his own fellow citizens? Leaders must serve the people through whose mandate they got to power. Buhari should go and visit all the places where these atrocious things have happened, for the depth of his leadership quotient is demonstrated by the risk he takes on behalf of the Nigerian people.
President Buhari must own this war. The offensives against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nigeria are too shameful and belittling to be addressed routinely with puerile statements and promises to bring the perpetrators to book. This is a crisis situation that demands the President and those in the chain of command to be thinking on their feet. Like a typical general leading his troops in combat, the President should choose his strategy and terrain to deal effectively with the security crisis now ravaging the nation. This crucial role of the president will not be well served without the support of a loyal and formidable security apparatus.
The Nigerian military have been outstanding and have done the nation proud in peacekeeping missions in Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Liberia, amongst others. The nation is challenging the Nigerian military to deal with the prevailing insecurity situation in the way and manner they dealt with other insurgencies with remarkable success. They should bring to bear on the current situation the commitment, valor and dedication with which they successfully addressed challenging peace-keeping assignments abroad. The President, Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces must lead the way. A certain show of valor as well as winning the war against insecurity would be a strong factor in the unity and stability of Nigeria.
