3 months ago
19 ARTICLE AD
NIGERIA has become notorious for killings. Non-state actors are plundering and engaging in murderous misadventures while the security agencies seem bereft of strategies to curb their excesses. President Bola Tinubu, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Service Chiefs should fashion a decisive plan to end the siege.
In a new report, the Netherlands-based Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa said 55,910 civilians were killed between October 2019 and September 2023. This covers mostly President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term. The ORFA pointed out that 81 per cent of civilian killings occurred on land, and the little-known Fulani Ethnic Militia, Boko Haram, ISWAP, and others perpetrated them.
It stated that the North-Central had 3,007 incidents of extreme violence, including 2,010 killings, 700 abductions, and 297 incidents of killings and kidnappings. Although the researchers focused on the North-Central and Southern Kaduna, they expressed concern that the government had concentrated its resources on the scourge in the North-East and North-West, leaving the other zones to intrusion and massacres.
Irrespective of religious and ethnic colourations, Nigerians are under the crossfire of Islamic insurgents, secessionists, bandits, violent Fulani herdsmen, and criminals. Nigeria is flanked on all zones by brutish criminals while citizens live in trepidation.
Recent data by a security consulting firm, Beacon Security and Intelligence foregrounds the alarming reality. It revealed that 2,583 people were killed and 2,164 were abducted in the first quarter of the year. Over 80 per cent of the killings and 94 per cent of abductions occurred in the North.
Contrary to Ribadu’s claim that killings and abductions had subsided in the country, data by the firm showed that an average of 28 persons were killed and 24 persons kidnapped daily. This underscores the dilemma Nigerians faced while navigating socioeconomic hardship impaled on them by the twin deleterious policies of the Tinubu administration.
The government has failed in its primal duty to protect the lives and properties of law-abiding citizens from violent groups and persons. The outcome is food insecurity, displacement from homelands, malnutrition, a spike in the number of out-of-school children, and gross underdevelopment.
Nigeria is ranked 15th and scored 96.6 in the 2024 Fragile States Index. It shares this status with war-torn Libya (16th), Guinea (17th), Zimbabwe (18th), Niger (19th), and Cameroon (20th).
The government should address the root of insecurity. Poverty, unemployment, and lack of education are breeding grounds for extremism and violence. Without tackling these underlying issues, any military or police response will be short-lived.
In the long term, the Tinubu administration should invest in comprehensive social programmes to alleviate poverty and provide opportunities for the youth. This should be coupled with an emphasis on education, particularly in conflict-prone areas, to counter radical ideologies and provide alternatives to those who might otherwise be drawn into criminal activities.
Those who perpetrate violence should be punished. The current reign of impunity emboldens criminals, as they believe they can act without consequences. Swift and fair trials, coupled with stringent penalties, will serve as a deterrent to those who might consider taking up arms against innocent citizens.
The borders are porous. Nigeria should strengthen its ties with neighbouring countries and international organisations to combat cross-border terrorism and arms smuggling. Enhanced intelligence sharing and joint military operations can help curb the influx of weapons and insurgents into Nigeria. The country should seek more support from global partners in terms of technology, training, and funding to bolster its security agencies.
Citizens should divulge information to security agencies to aid intelligence gathering.
The government should rise to fulfil its most fundamental duty: protect the lives and property of its citizens. A single police force is partly to blame; Tinubu should begin the path towards state police. The path to a secure Nigeria is arduous but not impossible.’
