THE issue of insecurity in Nigeria for the umpteenth time is gaining attention as two leading traditional leaders in Yoruba land, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and the Alafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi recently raised alarm that the issue of insecurity in the domain be looked into.

OBA Ogunwusi after his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari warned that the drumbeats of war “are sounding loud across the country”. According to him, some strange people have occupied the bushes and forests in the South-West region. He therefore advocated for collaboration among the security agencies and traditional rulers saying, “We need to work very closely with them and every other security agencies in the country … it is very important so that we can separate the corn from the chaff”

ALSO Oba Adeyemi charged the president to find a lasting solution to the siege on Yorubaland by herdsmen and kidnappers. In his open letter to President Buhari on the increasing spate of insecurity in and across Yorubaland, Oba Adeyemi stressed that it was time for the President to ensure that those involved in the siege are tamed and brought to book. He said, “Yoruba’s had all it takes to resort to self-help, unless the security in the zone improves and people are guaranteed safety of their lives and property.”

THE two traditional rulers have no doubt heighted the prevailing security challenges the area is currently grappling with. The situation is now being likened to an existential threat by most stakeholders in the region. Villages are being attacked at will by herdsmen without response from security agencies. No one is safe as the herdsmen, not only murder people in remote but kidnap travellers in the region.

THIS chronic nightmare is graphically illustrated by unrelenting kidnapping, armed robbery and herdsmen killings among others. We therefore feel that the Federal Government should be concerned about its loss of the power of coercion to non-state actors and quickly roll out strategies to change the status quo.

THERE are palpable fears of danger across the region and all the police and other security apparatus of government could offer the public are lame excuses.

THE situation is described as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” Even those protected by a retinue of police details, still feel insecure. For example, Mrs. Funke Olakunori, daughter of Chief Reuben Fasoranti was mowed down on Ore Lagos express road on July 12. Her driver and house help were lucky as they escaped with no injury.

BECAUSE of police inability to find answers to the activities of the hoodlums, travellers on the expressways like Benin-Sagamu ,Akure-Ilesa are in a permanent state of fear. The Akure-Owo-Abuja road, a major link between the southwest and the Federal Capital Territory, has become den of bandits . In June, bandits abducted 20 persons in one operation. Also, a driver was abducted on Akure Ado road. He was released having paid ransom. Also in June some road safety officers were kidnapped along Ilesa Osogbo road while on duty.

ALL the police do is celebrate the occasional arrests they make. Such instances include the parade of 40 suspected kidnappers in forests along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Operatives of Operation “Puff Adder” arrest of 36 suspects for their alleged involvement in kidnapping, armed robbery and cultism in Kogi State.

BUT these intermittent “victories” are pyrrhic. They delude the police and people into believing that the situation is under control. No. A former chairman of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees in Ogun state, Alhaji Olumoye was abducted on Sunday while going to his farm; son of former minister of helath, Isaac Adewole, DayoAdewole was recently kidnapped by unknown gunmen on his farm in Oyo State. He was released having paid some undisclosed amount of money. In Ofagbe community, Isoko North Local Government Area, Delta State, herdsmen reportedly killed a man and wounded another who identified himself as Thompson Ogege. They also attacked Amoji also in Delta State and abducted no fewer than four persons according to a community leader, Emmanuel Odili.

THE abysmal performance of the police could be adduced to their out-dated operations. Most developed countries like; United Kingdom, America, Australia and Europe, the police drive their operations through intelligence. In the UK, automated surveillance is the name of the game. There are 5.9 million CCTV cameras deployed in surveillance activities. In the aftermath of the August 2011 London riots, police analysed 200,000 CCTV images to identify the suspects.

IN Nigeria, police operations are mired in archaic mumbo-jumbo. Criminals are often a step ahead of police because they lack the standard equipment like forensic laboratories, digitalised crime database and motorised patrols.

MR Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police’s defense , that the police need 155,000 new recruits to tame crime, is begging the question.. The major problem is inefficient deployment of available manpower. Out of the current police strength of 298,735, over 100,000 or a third is deployed to guard a few privileged individuals and organisations.

TO bring crime under control, security agencies should mop up the arms in wrong hands. Crime suspects should be prosecuted quickly. More importantly, Nigeria cannot run away from state police. The current system is an anomaly in federalism. This will allow states and communities to build up their own security capacity to control crime.

LASTLY, we advise Mr. President to come out quickly to condemn activities of the herdsmen. His silence when such incident happens sends an indirect approval sign to the criminals.

He should also look at the country’s security arctecture with a view to reinvigorating them.

Yoruba leaders only know how to raise alarm.
I am yet to see any serious measure in place to curb the insecurity crisis in Oduduwa land.

I'm sick of All talk, no Action!

OriginalZombiE:
Yoruba leaders only know how to raise alarm.
I am yet to see any serious measure in place to curb the insecurity crisis in Oduduwa land.

I'm sick of All talk, no Action!

The Government are really doing alot about insecurity

OriginalZombiE:
Yoruba leaders only know how to raise alarm.
I am yet to see any serious measure in place to curb the insecurity crisis in Oduduwa land.

I'm sick of All talk, no Action!

WE ARE DEPLOYING TECHNOLOGY TO TACKLE SECURITY CHALLENGES… PRESIDENT BUHARI ASSURES SOUTH WEST OBAS


President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday in Abuja assured Obas from the South West that his administration was doing everything possible to tackle security challenges in the country.

Responding to an address by the traditional rulers led by the Ooni of Ife , Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi during a courtesy visit to the State House, the President said:

“Working with the State governments we intend to beef up the equipping of the police force with advanced technology and equipment that can facilitate the work of the security agencies.”

The President disclosed that he “will be issuing directives to the appropriate federal authorities to speedily approve licensing for States requesting the use of drones to monitor forests and other criminal hideouts,” adding that, “We also intend to install CCTVs on highways and other strategic locations so that activities in some of those hidden places can be exposed, more effectively monitored and open to actionable review.”

He spoke further:

“This administration will continue to do everything necessary to protect the lives of all Nigerians and ensure that every Nigerian in every state is safe, and that our people can live in peace and harmony, regardless of ethnicity, religion or region. As a government, we remain committed to the ideals of our democracy, particularly entrenching the rule of law and the sanctity of life.”

He also assured the royal fathers “and the entire nation that we will enforce the law, prosecute law breakers and secure an atmosphere of tranquility for all Nigerians whereever they choose to live and also protect our communities from all forms of crimes. This is both in our interests as an administration and the interests of the people who voted us into office.

“We need security to deliver on our many programmes to the people. There can be no prosperity if there is no security.

“This is not only a message of hope but a call to action to all of us as we seek ways to secure our country.

“On our part, as the Federal Government, we are ready to deal decisively with anyone that is fomenting this spate of criminal activities by every means necessary. We intend to deal severely with those evil Nigerians inciting violence for political ends.”

While acknowledging the presence of significant security challenges in the South West and other parts of the country, President Buhari said such understanding informed the ongoing consultations embarked by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo with some traditional rulers “so that together we can proffer solutions to the lingering security problems in the South-West and other parts of the country.”

According to the President, “These consultations are important because traditional rulers form a critical part of governance structures, especially in their respective communities, where they feel the pulse of the people being the closest to the populace at the grassroots level.

“As a government, at all times, we need your active collaboration as we continue to deal with crimes of kidnapping, banditry and other forms of unlawful and criminal attacks resulting in needless deaths and causing fear among our people.”

“There are some who might want to cause instability and difficulties, but we are very confident that God willing and working together as a nation, we will be able to overcome such difficulties and all our problems, and set our country on the path of peace and prosperity,” he stated.

Drawing attention to the fact that “the dynamics for safeguarding security keep changing,” President Buhari noted that “we must adapt our strategies to these challenges as well as adopt modern, technological and people-centred methods in achieving these goals.”

According to the President, “When Nigerians voted massively for us in 2015, we focused on three areas – security, economy and fighting corruption. We have not relented on this promise and we will not.”

Going forward, he declared: “Let me be very clear about our firm resolve to change the security architecture of Nigeria. It is one of the top priorities for this government but we won’t be able to achieve this goal without the support and input of you, our royal fathers.

“As the traditional authorities in your communities, government and the security agencies will be relying on you to monitor the several different communities and people coming in and out of your areas.

“We hope that, for instance, traditional rulers would be able to observe new entrants into the community by requesting leaders of such ethnic groups to notify the traditional authorities of new intakes, thereby creating the opportunities for the gathering of actionable intelligence which tracks such movements in and out of communities thereby offering early warning signals.”

Outlining some of these interventions, President Buhari said they “include an expedited commencement of community policing, a robust revamping of police intelligence gathering capacity and the significant boosting of the numbers of security personnel in our local communities. This in specific terms will include recruiting a lot more police officers and doing so right from their local government areas, where they would then be stationed in the best practice of community policing.”

According to him, “We will equally continue to bring in our military when needed to complement the work of the police including possible deployment of troops on certain highways on a temporary basis, and the use of the Air Force assets to bomb hideouts where criminals are located.”

Admitting that these measures are inter-related and have to be well coordinated, he stressed that, “The speedy implementation of community policing will facilitate a more effective collection of intelligence. This is especially in the area of a more useful and effective intelligence gathering process that traditional rulers will play some of the most critical roles.”

Earlier, the Ooni, as well as other traditional rulers with him, had individually apprised the President with security challenges they were facing in their domain and called on the President to support their efforts in addressing the issues.