November 19, (THEWILL) – The general insecurity in the country now is real, notwithstanding the defence being put forward by law enforcement agencies to the contrary.
Available statistics point to the fact that all is not yet well, despite all the promises to rein in criminals.
While the majority of Nigerians remain helpless and vulnerable, the international community is quite worried at the development.
Raising the alarm in a travel advisory to their citizens travelling to Nigeria, the United States of America and Canada, penultimate week, warned of the frightening security situation in most of the states in Nigeria. They therefore warned their citizens in Nigeria to avoid major hotels in the country, citing some security threats targeted at these hotels in the larger cities of the country.
Canada specifically urged its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Nigeria, including in Abuja, due to what it described as “the unpredictable security situation throughout the country and the significant risk of terrorism, armed attacks and kidnappings.”
The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, alluded to this new and worrisome trend in criminality in the country last week in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, while speaking at the conference of the Nigerian Guild of Editors.
“Kidnapping today has replaced armed robbery and housebreaking in Nigeria because people don’t carry money around anymore,” he said.
Ribadu added, “When armed robbers catch people without money on them, they take them hostage and your people now provide the money as ransom. That is what is going on across the country.”
Sadly and unfortunately, the government, which Ribadu represents, just like its predecessors, is still passing the buck and playing the blame game, instead of tackling the problem headlong.
While the NSA listed kidnapping as one of the “four massive insecurity problems the government inherited, each one with the potential to bring Nigeria to its knees,” he did not expantiate on the ways the government is addressing it.
We therefore call on the Federal Government and all the law enforcement agencies to do all in their power to stem the tide of rising insecurity across the country.
