Juliana Francis, Johnson Ayantunji and Emmanuel Onani
Many Nigerians literarily went into shock following President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement last week that soldiers would be withdrawn from some parts of the country, where the war against insurgency had been raging on the belief that peace and normalcy have been restored to those areas.
The big idea is to withdraw the soldiers from the communities believed to have been captured from the Boko Haram insurgents and replace them with policemen and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) officials, who would be expected to take charge of the internal security.
According to Buhari, the Federal Government, with effect from this year, will begin the process of withdrawing military from some parts of Nigeria that had been facing insurgency. This, he said, would enable civil authorities to take over the job of protecting lives and property in those areas.
Victims in the war torn states, some other Nigerians had waved aside the decision, describing it as an attempt to send policemen and NSCDC officials on suicide missions.
Indeed, the outrage against the idea has been so much that Buhari had quickly come out to state, that the plan to withdraw the soldiers from some parts of the country would be gradual and wouldn’t cause any problem.
The President said: “The withdrawal of the soldiers will not be sudden. It will not happen in a way that will expose any part of Nigeria to harm or danger. The withdrawal is to allow the military to focus on their primary duty, which is defending the nation against external aggression. It is the duty of the police to handle internal security since Nigeria is not at war.”
The plan, naturally caused anxieties among security stakeholders, who strongly believed that the war against Boko Haram members should be won completely and not, ‘technically.’
Although Buhari has assured Nigerians that there was no cause for alarm since the withdrawal process would be gradual, many are not buying his latter statement, as the first continued to lie supreme in their minds.
Some of them, who spoke with our reporter, described the plan as, “sending policemen and NSCDC officials on suicide missions.”
The Executive Director of Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, while reacting to the FG plan, said that this was not the first time that the FG would be muting its intention to commence the withdrawal of the military from the Northeast.
He said: “It first muted this idea between January and February 2019. In response to that announcement, a team of independent experts was dispatched to Borno State to conduct an assessment of the preparedness of the Police to resume full charge of internal security in so-called liberated areas in the Northeast. I was in that team and we spoke to the military, the police, NSCDC and other relevant security stakeholders.
“In summary, our finding was that nothing has changed with regards to the conditions of service of the police to prepare them for taking over security in the terror-stricken zone. Whether in terms of manpower and personnel strength, training, equipment or motivation, the situation of the police has been deteriorating rather than improving.
“The police officers deployed to the zone are themselves endangered species. It would be expected that considering the special security challenges Borno State is confronted with, Borno State Police Command would get additional or special funding to match the needs and demands of the problem. But we were shocked to find that Borno and other state commands confronted by insurgency still get the same level of budgetary funding as other state commands.
“In fact, many state commands without the level of security challenges as Borno, are relatively better equipped and better manned.”
Nwanguma, noted that Police divisions in many localities in Borno State had been attacked and dislodged.
“They take full responsibility for their treatment. The families of those who died are abandoned to their tragic fate. No help from any quarters despite their outcries. We were told that many officers serving in Borno deserted while those newly posted refused to report or even resigned or went AWOL.
Is this the condition under which the Police will take over from the military? Even for the military, which is better equipped and provided with special funding to tackle insurgency, many of the personnel have been killed or injured with some resigning, voluntarily retiring or simply walking away. How much more the far less equipped police!”
However, Nwanguma, while stating that the military could not continue to perform the statutory functions of the police, added: “It is an anomaly that comes with dire consequences.
The military’s training does not equip them or make them suitable to handle internal security. The Police must be transformed, prepared and equipped to eventually assume primacy for internal security. But even when that happens, military withdrawal has to be gradual.
Withdrawing the military and returning the Police at this time would be like sending our police officers on a suicide mission. I see many of them resigning.”
Also speaking, the President Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF), Yerima Shettima, said: “The situation has become so bad it could have been the best decision, but it has to be systematic and tactical because the fact of the matter is that the problem has been there over time.
But Major-General David Jemibewon (rtd), a former Military Governor of the defunct Western State and later governor of Oyo State and later Minister of Police Affairs during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, took a more pragmatic view.
His words: “The Police were in charge of the security of the area before the insurgency which necessitated soldiers being drafted to the trouble areas to address the insecurity problem. And now that FG feels that the security situation could be handled by the Police, there is nothing wrong in withdrawing soldiers from the areas and allowing “The Police have to be in charge of security in the areas, otherwise we will find soldiers doing Police jobs and nobody to do soldiers’ jobs. So, it is difficult to say it is correct or not correct, but I want to believe it is correct. The only situation you can say, it is not correct, is if the situation there shows that the area is not peaceful to say Police should come.”
A retired Assistant-Inspector General of Police, Donald Iroham said: “If you would recall, at the onset of the Maitatsine religious riots in Kano in the 1980, it was the Police that continually engaged the group until the situation deteriorated and they could no longer cope. The military was now invited to help the Police. One may therefore assume that government must have done their homework very well to contemplate such a move.”
But, a serving senior police officer has taken exception to the President’s recent announcement that there will be a gradual withdrawal of troops from the theatre of war.
The officer, who for obvious reasons did not want his name in print in an exclusive interview with Sunday Telegraph said it would be suicidal to withdraw the federal troops as doing so will be counterproductive.
Our source said: “It is suicidal to withdraw the soldiers from the trouble spot and replace them with policemen. Military personnel are being killed daily. They are no longer announcing it.
What the insurgents are doing is to lay ambush for the soldiers. A very good example is the recent attack on the convoy of the Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole.
“What they (insurgents) do is wear uniform and drive vehicles that blend with the desert. They just jump on the road and spray the troops with bullets. They are on that axis everyday. The withdrawal is not in anybody’s interest. It is going to be a wastage. The Police are not well equipped and no one is trained to combat Boko Haram. We do not have the equipment and the required training is not there.
“Even with the Counter terrorism Unit that was created some years back, no one wants to die, If Mobile Police men were sent there and they ran away, till today no one has heard about them.
What will others go to do there. Some are there already and facing the fire. Casualties are being recorded daily. It is not an ideal thing and you know the Nigerian factor, where adequate attention is not given to the family of a slain officer.”
However, a onetime head, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Nigerian Army, Major General Ishola Williams said men of the Nigeria Police are capable of getting the job done.
Ishola who backed President Buhari’s pronouncement said it was not going to be sudden as “the President has since confirmed that there is no rush.”
Hear him: “The Mobile Police training include anti terrorism operations, therefore, they are able to do the job.
“More training will be required and I am sure the Indians can help because they have Commando Police fighting Insurgents in India. They have the equipment including the vehicle.
“The Civil Defence too has antiterrorism Units that are trained to protect infrastructures.”
However, on his part, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Adamu, over the weekend, said the Force had begun deployment of personnel in areas liberated by the military.
Specifically, the IG said the deployment cut across North East states of Borno and Yobe, which have suffered years of terrorism and insurgency perpetrated by combined elements of Boko Haram, and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Sunday Telegraph recalls that the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas had, shortly after president Buhari’s security meeting with Service Chiefs, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, announced the decision to begin a gradual withdrawal of the military from some volatile areas in parts of the country.
He said the withdrawal will commence from first quarter of this year.
“With respect to operations within the country, it was generally agreed and noted that the security agencies have done their very best in ensuring that the deliverables are made clear.
“You will recall that the various operations in the country in the northeast, northwest, north central, the southeast as well as the southwest where all members of the armed forces are taking part as well as the intelligence agencies have ensured that we all enjoyed a better holiday period that has just been observed.
“We also recalled that in those areas where the military have been able to achieve desired objectives, from the first quarter of next year, the civil authority will be preparing to take back those responsibilities as the military draws back its forces from those areas.
“This will enable the military to focus its attention on other emerging threats and areas of concern,” Ibas had said.
Reacting to the planned withdrawal, the police chief assured of continuous deployment in liberated areas.
The IGP, who spoke through the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DCP Frank Mba, apart from the police, the civil defence, local government authority among others, were also asserting dominance in liberated areas. https://www.newtelegraphng.com/dont-send-policemen-nscdc-officers-on-suicide-missions/Lalasticlala |
