Insecurity across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria is on the ascendancy. Deadly attacks on innocent people by local bandits and blood-thirsty terrorists have become a daily affair. Hardly a day passes without reports of killings by these criminals. Yet, the Federal Government continues to play the ostrich, pretending that all is well.
The attacks and killings are now longer restricted to well-known troubled zones in the North-East and North-West. Almost every part of the country has now become a killing field.
Despite all assurances from the authorities, kidnapping for ransom is still a big business in the North and it has crippled educational activities in most parts of the region.
Daily reports of attacks and killings across the country are not only scary, but also worrisome. With over 81 people reportedly killed in Sokoto communities just within 10 days, no part of the country could be said to be safe. More worrisome is the report that the rampaging terrorists are now demanding taxes from local residents in Sokoto State.
Kogi and Niger State States do not fare better as terrorists fleeing the military onslaught in Zamfara forests are escaping into neighbouring states leaving tears, blood and sorrow on their trail.
In the South-East, hoodlums seem to have hijacked a well-known agitation thus unleashing mayhem across the region. Imo, Anambra and Ebonyi States are reeling under continuous attacks by these local criminals who appear to have constituted themselves into a parallel authority that must be taken seriously. Only recently, these hoodlums stormed a meeting of traditional rulers in the South-East, killing about three of the monarchs and injuring others in the deadly attack.
The South-West is not in any way immune from these criminalities. The recent attack on a prison facility in Oyo town is a pointer to the dangers ahead as the fleeing inmates of the Correctional Centre, who include deadly kidnappers, armed robbery kingpins and notorious ritualists, pose a great threat to the security of the region.
The lesson and experience from a similar attack on Benin Prisons in Edo State late last year are still fresh in the minds of citizens of the area, with increased attacks and robberies in the aftermath of the jail break.
The recent call by Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State that the Federal Government should designate the so-called bandits as terrorists, which, they really are, is an acknowledgement of the increasing spate of killings, not only in the North but across the country.
However, religious leaders such as Sheik Gumi and others are not helping matters with their rantings and outbursts as they continue to encourage the Federal Government to continue treating the terrorists with kid gloves. A recent report credited to Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, urging the Federal Government to provide a faculty for repentant Boko Haram terrorists in the newly-created Nigerian Army University, is most disappointing.
Last week, the South-West Governors placed the issue of worsening insecurity on the front burner at their meeting in Lagos, thus acknowledging the grave danger the region might find itself in if nothing urgent is done. Although the region has been in the fore-front of the creation of regional security outfits, such as Amotekun, in response to the worsening insecurity in the country, armed robbery and kidnapping for ransom are still a big threat to security.
While we pretend that the ongoing insecurity is just a local problem, it is already affecting investment inflow into the country as potential investors are now getting scared to the marrow. The United States and the United Kingdom have been warning their citizens about travelling to Nigeria through different security alerts and travel advisories. In a recent travel advisory, the U.S. warned her citizens not to travel to Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States due to terrorism and kidnapping; Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Zamfara states due to kidnapping; and coastal areas of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, and Rivers States (with the exception of Port Harcourt) due to crime, kidnapping and maritime crime.
According to the United States travel advisory on Nigeria, terrorists continue “plotting and carrying out attacks in Nigeria, especially in the Northeast. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting shopping centers, malls, markets, hotels, places of worship, restaurants, bars, schools, government installations, transportation hubs, and other places where crowds gather. Terrorists are known to work with local gangs to expand their reach.
“There is civil unrest and low-level armed militancy in parts of Southern Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta region. Armed criminality, including kidnapping and maritime crime, is also pervasive in this region.”
Although all these are not farther from the true situation on ground, the Federal Government, we believe, has not shown enough sincerity in its much-flaunted fight against insecurity and terrorism, despite all the grandstanding.
While we commend the military for the renewed onslaught against the bandits and terrorists in the North, which, of course, is yielding results, we would be glad to see a change of tactics from selective bombings and attacks to a complete routing of the terrorists from all fronts in order to prevent the hoodlums from fleeing to other areas to continue their evil works.
The Federal Government should also do the needful and stop fooling Nigerians with its insincere and selective fight against terrorism. It is sad to note that while it has taken the government an eternity to name and shame those funding Boko Haram, it would hurriedly come out with its findings on those allegedly funding self-determination agitators in the South-West and South-East.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should also rise up to the challenge by following up on some powerful Nigerians, especially in the North, whose bank accounts have been flagged for receiving ransoms on behalf of kidnappers as they are no doubt accomplices in the kidnappings-for-ransom rings.
