By- Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. Nigeria is threatened by different kinds of insecurity ranging from banditry, Boko Haram terrorism and Indigenous People of Biafara’s unrest (IPOB) activities in the South East and Kidnaping for ransom which became rampant in all parts of the country.
Despite efforts by different security agencies, the menace persists with kidnapping of individuals,Universities and Secondary School Students .Sometimes the security personnel members themselves fall victim of kidnapping to the extent that their families and friends have to raise money as ransom for their release.
This situation makes travelling by road or rail very difficult for Nigerians as travellers are scared of moving from one part of the country to the other.
Available data indicated that kidnapping in Nigeria has been on the rise in the last five months compared to what was recorded between January to May this year (2023).
In an analysis conducted by Daily Trust recently ,it shows that the spate of kidnapping across the states confirms that the security architecture of the country is still far from formidable to tackle the problem.
The renown Media out outlet says although the authorities did not comment on the matter as of the time they published the report.
The Kidnapping of Federal University Students in Gusau Zamfara State and that of Nasarawa State University
The analysis stated that an unspecified number of students of the Federal University Gusau Zamfara State, were abducted from three off- campus hostels in the early hours of September 22 by bandits.
Security agencies later secured the release of some of the students.But the fate of the remaining students are yet to be ascertained as the police and the school authority have not given an update.
Another four female students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), were reportedly abducted on October night in Keffi, the headquarters of Keffi Local Government Area of the state.
Comparison between Buhari’s tenure and Tinubu’s new Government
Data obtained by the Daily Trust shows that 1,158 people were reportedly kidnapped between June and October 9. This is higher than the 1,065 people kidnapped from January to May under the reign of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
On a month-by-month basis, the breakdown of reported kidnapped victims shows that September recorded the highest number of kidnappings with 498, closely followed by August and June with 213 and 178 kidnapped persons respectively.
Also, July recorded 176 kidnapped persons. As of October 9, the number of reported kidnapped persons in the month is 93.
The data indicated that between June and October, Kaduna recorded the highest number of kidnapped victims with 162, and is closely followed by Zamfara, 133 and Taraba, 126. Others are Niger, 119, Bauchi, 82, Borno, 75 and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 64.
Zonal analysis on the prevalence of Kidnapping in Nigeria
Zone-by-zone analysis shows that the North Central reported 64 cases under Tinubu, compared with 62 under Buhari, the North West witnessed 51 cases under Tinubu, against 38 under Buhari, while the North East has recorded 22 under Tinubu, compared with 8 under Buhari.
Further analysis shows that the South West has recorded 20 reported cases under Tinubu, compared with 21 under Buhari; South South witnessed 23 reported cases under Tinubu against 24 under Buhari, while the South East recorded 14 reported cases under Tinubu, compared with 19 under Buhari.
North Central comprises FCT, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Benue and Plateau states. North West has Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states. North East is made up of Adamawa, Gombe, Borno, Yobe, Bauchi and Taraba states. The South West comprises Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Oyo and Ekiti states.
The states in the South South are Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Bayelsa, Edo, Delta and Rivers. In the South East are Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia states.
Only Abia and Yobe states have no reported cases of kidnapping this year.
Manifesto on tackling insecurity far from reality
It could be recalled that Tinubu ,the then Presidential Candidate of the APC in October 2022 released an 80 page policy document that highlights an eight point agenda.
Top on his priority lists of action plans were national security, economy, agriculture, power, oil and gas, transportation and education.
The 80-page document, containing multi-sectoral policy options, was tagged, “Renewed Hope 2023 – Action Plan for a Better Nigeria.”
He also promised to recruit 750,000 personnel into the military and increase the police force to one million personnel.
On plans against insecurity, Tinubu said, “We shall continue the fight against insecurity by redefining our counter-insurgency doctrine and practice. Our response to terror, kidnapping and violent criminality will be defined by the following elements. We shall enlist more people in the armed forces, security services and the police; our forces will be given better tactical communications, mobility as well as improved aerial and ground surveillance capacity.
“Through these and other measures, we shall better identify, monitor, track and defeat these evil groups where they are. They shall have no respite until they surrender or are utterly defeated.”The document stated.
The newly appointed Service Chiefs
Similarly, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa and Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Taoreed Lagbaja, while appearing for screening at the National Assembly, promised Nigerians that under their watch, the military would be transformed into a well-trained, equipped and highly motivated force.
They affirmed that the Armed Forces of Nigeria would defend the country’s territorial integrity and democracy and safeguard internal security and unity, thus guaranteeing sustainable national development.
Musa said the armed forces would put Nigerians at the centre of its actions, with a view to promoting and safeguarding a secure environment for all.
“Servicemen and women of the armed forces should be reassured of my commitment to their welfare, provision of relevant operational equipment, as well as infrastructural development within available resources to enable them to succeed in assigned constitutional roles.
I shall also promote international military cooperation/collaboration to further expose and provide capacity building to personnel in joint and combined operations outside the shores of Nigeria. This measure is required to consolidate welfare priorities to effectively deploy, fight and win our country’s wars by providing ready, prompt and sustained land, sea and air dominance across traditional, as well as asymmetric conflict settings as part of a joint force.” He said.
However, Nigerians are yet to see evidence of the promises by the service chiefs and the president by extension as the security situation in the country keeps getting worse.
Solution to the Kidnapping and other security challenges
Lawrence Alobi is the former Commissioner of Police in Federal Capital Territory Abuja.He blamed the rising rate of Kidnapping on the non proactiveness of the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
The retired Commissioner of Police described NOA, a federal government Agency saddled with the responsibility of making people aware of how they could contribute to the orderliness of their society, as non- functional.
According to him , a section of the constitution of the country provides an avenue for agency to always orient and sensitise the citizens and community members about the roles they must play for a better society.
“Mentoring is lacking now in the Nigerian Police force some of these officers need to be mentored .Government had roles to play.The National Orientation agency is no longer functional.
A section of the constitution of the land states that for a citizen to continue to be a Nigerian ,he or she must assist the government in maintaining law and order.
As at now nobody knows their obligation to the society .Everybody wants to be parasitic ,they don’t want to give up .The culture of sacrificing to make society better is dying ” he said in an interview with Daily Trust Saturday.
Alobi also counselled all the security agencies to work together with a view to achieving the same set goals of a better society ,stressing that there should be no competition and rivalry among security agencies.
Narrating why kidnapping cases were elusive while he was in the force,he said in security operations ,you have to be proactive .You have to think ,plan work ahead and think out of the box.
“I was very close to the community I worked with and the people always worked with me .Policing is not just to enforce the law .You have to do community engagements.
Policing is about how close the operatives are to people ?When I was the Commissioner of Police in the FCT ,I did tell my officers that the same way you could police your brothers and sisters in your village should be how you police Abuja.
I also give them (officers)instructions to the effect that there should be no abuse of human rights. I applied policing emotional intelligence because there is what we call emotional intelligence in policing.
The truth is that you should make an office to be what it ought to be .You have to be creative .Also it is important for officers to do policing jobs with passion .
There are ways all these cases can be tackled.The first is to empower the police Secondly ,carry out intensive capacity building programmes for all of them across boards because an untrained Policeman is a threat to the society and institution”.The Security expert added
However as the present security structure in Nigeria need to be improve to the level that no terror can confront it.The Government under President Tinubu should as a matter of urgency need to fulfil its pledge of increasing the number of Police Personnel to one million in order to meet up with the Countries population and the present security challenges as the Nigeria’s current Police strength stands at over 370,000 personnel as of August 2023 which is insufficient
based on a ratio of one police to about 600 citizens .
It is also worth to commend states like Katsina and Kaduna for taking measures through enhancing the capacity of their vigilante groups and recruiting more in an effort to tackle the kidnapping menace and other security challenges
Other Nigerian States need copy from such states so that community members will be directly involved in confronting insecurity in their localities.
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