Security: A Contradicting story of sadness and joy
DURING the countdown to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, a major campaign issue which the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, leveraged on to discredit the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was the serious security challenges afflicting the country at the time. The most evident and pressing of these challenges was the relentless terror attacks being carried out by the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, in the North East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, with several lives lost, billions of naira worth of property destroyed and thousands of people forced to flee their homes and communities.
The death toll arising from these attacks began to rise alarmingly. By 2014, it had climbed to 6,644 according to the Global Terrorism Index, GTI, an increase of 317 per cent over the previous year and…“the largest increase in terrorist deaths ever recorded by any country.” By 2015 it had reached an excess of 8,000 according to the Armed Conflict Location Data.
But in spite of military campaigns by the Nigerian Armed Forces to subdue the Boko Haram monster, a vast swathe of territory within these states was lost to the insurgents who occupied the captured areas and dared the Federal Government to do its worst. To compound the problem, the Boko Haram also continued to carry out suicide bomb attacks in many other parts of the North, including the Federal capital, Abuja.
Boko Haram defeated, some Chibok girls released
Not long after the Buhari administration was sworn in, it declared a full scale war on the murderous Boko Haram terrorists. First, President Buhari overhauled the hierarchy of the Nigerian military with new service chiefs appointed and the military command and operation centre being moved to Maiduguri, Borno State for a more effective deployment of troops to confront the terrorists. Apart from that, the President had, while decorating new services chiefs in August 2015, given them three-month deadline to eliminate the terrorists from all occupied Nigerian territories.
Fall of Sambisa Forest: The Buhari administration also happily takes pride in celebrating the recapture of the dreaded Sambisa Forest from the notorious Boko Haram militants. The Forest was for a long time a seemingly impregnable hideout and fortress of the militants, an operational base from where they carried out their murderous attacks in North East communities, especially in Borno State. But following sustained counter-insurgency operations the Sambisa forest eventually fell with with a large cache of Boko Haram weapons recovered and hundreds of captives freed.
Release of Chibok Girls: The popular belief is that the failure of the Jonathan administration to rescue the Chibok school girls who were kidnapped in April 2014 by the Boko Haram contributed significantly to its loss in the 2015 presidential election. On the other hand, the succeeding Buhari administration had made the rescue of the girls a priority. Indeed, in trying to make good its election campaign promise of rescuing the girls, the Muhammadu Buhari administration had employed a combination of direct military offensives against the Boko Haram and seeking negotiation with representatives of the group. Efforts in this regard may have yielded the desired result with the return of some of the missing girls. First was Amina Ali who was found on May 2016.
But more significantly was the release of 21 of the school girls by the Boko Haram in October 2016 after negotiations between the group and the Nigerian government reportedly brokered by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government. It was celebration time again when news broke that 82 out of the about 195 still in Boko Haram custody had been released. Indeed the news understandably sparked wild celebrations among many families in Chibok town, Borno State. It was a cheery news that resonated with hope that the over 100 girls still being held may also soon be released by their captors.
The sad side of the security coin: Unfortunately the success story being told of the defeat of the Boko Haram has not stopped the group from carrying out fresh attacks at intermittent intervals. Though President Buhari has declared that the insurgents have been technically defeated, it is still not yet Uhuru for people in the North East. Apart from sporadic attacks on soft targets in the area by the Boko Haram, its leader, Abubakar Shekau, the man likened to the proverbial cat with nine lives and who had been declared killed several times, continues to appear like a bad penny to issue fresh threats of overrunning more Nigerian territories to establish his desired Islamic Caliphate. In one of such attacks on Magumeri community in Borno State in March, no fewer than 20 persons were killed, including some soldiers and policemen.
Return of killer herdsmen: While the Federal Government continues to make a big show of prosecuting the war on Boko Haram with a commendable measure of seriousness, the same, according to some observers, cannot be said of other forms of security challenges in different parts of the country. For instance, under its watch, frequent clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers have continued to escalate. The Federal Government has been accused of often looking the other way while heavily armed Fulani herdsmen embark on murderous invasions of farming communities. Emboldened by this lack of action by government and security agencies, the herdsmen have since the inception of the Buhari administration, continued to carry out fresh attacks not only in the North Central states of Plateau and Benue, but have extended same to the South-West, South-South and South-East zones which are increasingly becoming their preferred theatres of wanton killings and destruction.
Agatu community in Benue State which has been frequently targeted witnessed some of the most horrendous killings with no fewer than 300 lives lost and seven villages razed and sacked during one of such herdsmen invasion. As the people of Benue were counting their losses in human and material terms, it was soon the turn of people in other states, including Enugu, Delta, Ogun and Ekiti who were left to mourn their dead and the destruction of their farms following similar invasions by herdsmen.
President Muhammadu Buhari (standing) speaking during a reception for the 82 Chibok girls. ABOVE RIGHT: A cross-section of the girls. BELOW RIGHT: Members of the BBOG jubilating yesterday.
Unimpressed by the Federal Government slow response in checking the excesses of the herdsmen, the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, had sponsored an “Anti Grazing Bill 2016” which was subsequently passed by the state House of Assembly. In fact, the bill was specifically provoked by the killing of two persons by suspected herdsmen in Oke Ako community in Ikole Local Government Area of the state. Fayose said that the new law would check cases of incessant attacks or killings of local residents and destruction of farmlands by herdsmen and their cattle as it criminalises grazing in some places in the state.
In the same vein Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, whose state has for years been on the receiving end of bloody herdsmen attacks, on May 22, 2017 assented to a law titled: “Open Grazing and Rearing of Livestock and provide for the Establishment of Ranches and Livestock Administration, Regulation and Control and Other Matters Connected Therewith, 2017.” This was after the state had waited for federal intervention that was late or slow in coming.
And obviously unimpressed by the poor response of the executive to the problem, the Senate on Wednesday May 24, 2017 ordered the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Idris to urgently take steps to arrest killer herdsmen and all armed killers masquerading as herdsmen in communities, forests, and farms across the country. The order was sequel to a motion raised under Order 43 of the Senate Standing Rule and matter of urgent public national importance by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, APC Delta Central, following the killing of Mr. Solomon Ejoh by suspected herdsmen within the Delta Central part of Delta State.
Suspected herdsmen
The motion was titled: “Need for urgent National Security intervention to stop the gruesome killing of Urhobos and other Nigerians in Delta Central Senatorial District and other parts of the nation by terrorist elements masquerading as herdsmen in rural communities, forests and farms.”
An earlier attempt by the National Assembly to respond to the problem by reviving a bill sponsored and presented by Senator Zainab Kure, representing Niger Central in the Seventh Senate has not gone down well with many Nigerians, especially in the Southern part of the country. The reintroduced bill titled: “National Grazing Reserve Establishment Bill, 2016”, was sponsored by Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim, in the House of Representatives and provides for the establishment of the National Grazing Reserves Commission which shall have power to, among other things, establish at least one cattle reserve in each state of the federation.
Return of Niger Delta militants: Nigerians certainly heaved a sigh of relief when the late Umaru Musa Yar’Ádua-led Federal Government succeeded in signing an agreement with aggrieved Niger Delta militants who subsequently laid down their arms under the auspices of an Amnesty Programme. But not long after the Buhari-led Federal Government was sworn in, the militants had made a return and began bombing oil pipelines and platforms in protest against alleged economic marginalisation of the Niger Delta. The renewed militancy would seem to suggest that concerns that spawned past crises which were addressed by the Amnesty Programme of the late Umaru Yar’Ádua and Goodluck Jonathan administrations are presently being ignored or jettisoned.
The conflict spearheaded by the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, through bombings and attacks on major oil facilities almost paralysed the national economy which is heavily dependent on crude oil exploration and export. Indeed, several other militant groups have since sprung up in the area, including the Adaka Boro Avengers, Niger Delta Creek Warriors, Ogunuma Camp of Niger Delta and Niger Delta Revolutionary Crusaders, vowing not to lay down their arms until government satisfactorily addresses the numerous problems caused by crude oil production in the Niger Delta. Even the setting up of a Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, to negotiate a process of assuaging their anger and disenchantment has so far failed to douse tension in the area.
Upsurge in robberies and kidnappings: While security agencies continue to battle various forms of violent crimes, they obviously were not prepared for the upsurge of hostage-taking activities in the country. Between 2013 and 2016, abduction for ransom had escalated in the country, occurring at an alarming frequency. It soon created a palpable feeling of insecurity among the populace who cried out to government for urgent intervention.
While waiting for a coordinated federal response to this, some state governments decided to take matters into their hands. For instance, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State had on February 1, 2017, signed into law the state’s “Kidnapping Prohibition Bill 2016”. The major thrust of the law is the prescription of death penalty for convicted kidnappers whose victims die in custody or in the course of being abducted. Other states that have promulgated similar laws include Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Edo, Kano, Ogun and Oyo.
Rampaging kidnappers
But it would seem that the advent of this law is yet to curtail the rampaging kidnappers as cases of kidnapping, including those involving school children, continue to be recorded on regular basis. Apart from kidnappers, other criminal elements have also in recent time been on rampage. For instance, going by media reports, violent robberies have been on a steady increase across the country. But more prominently in the news in recent times are the Ikorodu and the Arepo creeks where dare-devil robbers have been holding sway, robbing at will and daring security agents to do their worst..
Inter-ethnic, communal clashes/religious crisis: The Buhari administration is also burdened by security challenges bordering on inter-ethnic and communal crises. Among the most prominent in this regard is the Southern Kaduna crisis that has resulted in many killings. While efforts are being made by the Federal and Kaduna State governments to get to the root of the problem, its resolution has so far remained out of sight.
At the same time, government is also in search of solution to inter-communal crises involving communities across state borders, including clashes between communities in Cross River, Ebonyi and and Akwa Ibom resulting in deaths and destruction.
DURING the countdown to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, a major campaign issue which the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, leveraged on to discredit the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was the serious security challenges afflicting the country at the time. The most evident and pressing of these challenges was the relentless terror attacks being carried out by the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, in the North East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, with several lives lost, billions of naira worth of property destroyed and thousands of people forced to flee their homes and communities.
The death toll arising from these attacks began to rise alarmingly. By 2014, it had climbed to 6,644 according to the Global Terrorism Index, GTI, an increase of 317 per cent over the previous year and…“the largest increase in terrorist deaths ever recorded by any country.” By 2015 it had reached an excess of 8,000 according to the Armed Conflict Location Data.
But in spite of military campaigns by the Nigerian Armed Forces to subdue the Boko Haram monster, a vast swathe of territory within these states was lost to the insurgents who occupied the captured areas and dared the Federal Government to do its worst. To compound the problem, the Boko Haram also continued to carry out suicide bomb attacks in many other parts of the North, including the Federal capital, Abuja.
Boko Haram defeated, some Chibok girls released
Not long after the Buhari administration was sworn in, it declared a full scale war on the murderous Boko Haram terrorists. First, President Buhari overhauled the hierarchy of the Nigerian military with new service chiefs appointed and the military command and operation centre being moved to Maiduguri, Borno State for a more effective deployment of troops to confront the terrorists. Apart from that, the President had, while decorating new services chiefs in August 2015, given them three-month deadline to eliminate the terrorists from all occupied Nigerian territories.
Fall of Sambisa Forest: The Buhari administration also happily takes pride in celebrating the recapture of the dreaded Sambisa Forest from the notorious Boko Haram militants. The Forest was for a long time a seemingly impregnable hideout and fortress of the militants, an operational base from where they carried out their murderous attacks in North East communities, especially in Borno State. But following sustained counter-insurgency operations the Sambisa forest eventually fell with with a large cache of Boko Haram weapons recovered and hundreds of captives freed.
Release of Chibok Girls: The popular belief is that the failure of the Jonathan administration to rescue the Chibok school girls who were kidnapped in April 2014 by the Boko Haram contributed significantly to its loss in the 2015 presidential election. On the other hand, the succeeding Buhari administration had made the rescue of the girls a priority. Indeed, in trying to make good its election campaign promise of rescuing the girls, the Muhammadu Buhari administration had employed a combination of direct military offensives against the Boko Haram and seeking negotiation with representatives of the group. Efforts in this regard may have yielded the desired result with the return of some of the missing girls. First was Amina Ali who was found on May 2016.
But more significantly was the release of 21 of the school girls by the Boko Haram in October 2016 after negotiations between the group and the Nigerian government reportedly brokered by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government. It was celebration time again when news broke that 82 out of the about 195 still in Boko Haram custody had been released. Indeed the news understandably sparked wild celebrations among many families in Chibok town, Borno State. It was a cheery news that resonated with hope that the over 100 girls still being held may also soon be released by their captors.
The sad side of the security coin: Unfortunately the success story being told of the defeat of the Boko Haram has not stopped the group from carrying out fresh attacks at intermittent intervals. Though President Buhari has declared that the insurgents have been technically defeated, it is still not yet Uhuru for people in the North East. Apart from sporadic attacks on soft targets in the area by the Boko Haram, its leader, Abubakar Shekau, the man likened to the proverbial cat with nine lives and who had been declared killed several times, continues to appear like a bad penny to issue fresh threats of overrunning more Nigerian territories to establish his desired Islamic Caliphate. In one of such attacks on Magumeri community in Borno State in March, no fewer than 20 persons were killed, including some soldiers and policemen.
Return of killer herdsmen: While the Federal Government continues to make a big show of prosecuting the war on Boko Haram with a commendable measure of seriousness, the same, according to some observers, cannot be said of other forms of security challenges in different parts of the country. For instance, under its watch, frequent clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers have continued to escalate. The Federal Government has been accused of often looking the other way while heavily armed Fulani herdsmen embark on murderous invasions of farming communities. Emboldened by this lack of action by government and security agencies, the herdsmen have since the inception of the Buhari administration, continued to carry out fresh attacks not only in the North Central states of Plateau and Benue, but have extended same to the South-West, South-South and South-East zones which are increasingly becoming their preferred theatres of wanton killings and destruction.
Agatu community in Benue State which has been frequently targeted witnessed some of the most horrendous killings with no fewer than 300 lives lost and seven villages razed and sacked during one of such herdsmen invasion. As the people of Benue were counting their losses in human and material terms, it was soon the turn of people in other states, including Enugu, Delta, Ogun and Ekiti who were left to mourn their dead and the destruction of their farms following similar invasions by herdsmen.
Unimpressed by the Federal Government slow response in checking the excesses of the herdsmen, the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, had sponsored an “Anti Grazing Bill 2016” which was subsequently passed by the state House of Assembly. In fact, the bill was specifically provoked by the killing of two persons by suspected herdsmen in Oke Ako community in Ikole Local Government Area of the state. Fayose said that the new law would check cases of incessant attacks or killings of local residents and destruction of farmlands by herdsmen and their cattle as it criminalises grazing in some places in the state.
In the same vein Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, whose state has for years been on the receiving end of bloody herdsmen attacks, on May 22, 2017 assented to a law titled: “Open Grazing and Rearing of Livestock and provide for the Establishment of Ranches and Livestock Administration, Regulation and Control and Other Matters Connected Therewith, 2017.” This was after the state had waited for federal intervention that was late or slow in coming.
And obviously unimpressed by the poor response of the executive to the problem, the Senate on Wednesday May 24, 2017 ordered the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Idris to urgently take steps to arrest killer herdsmen and all armed killers masquerading as herdsmen in communities, forests, and farms across the country. The order was sequel to a motion raised under Order 43 of the Senate Standing Rule and matter of urgent public national importance by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, APC Delta Central, following the killing of Mr. Solomon Ejoh by suspected herdsmen within the Delta Central part of Delta State.
Suspected herdsmen
The motion was titled: “Need for urgent National Security intervention to stop the gruesome killing of Urhobos and other Nigerians in Delta Central Senatorial District and other parts of the nation by terrorist elements masquerading as herdsmen in rural communities, forests and farms.”
An earlier attempt by the National Assembly to respond to the problem by reviving a bill sponsored and presented by Senator Zainab Kure, representing Niger Central in the Seventh Senate has not gone down well with many Nigerians, especially in the Southern part of the country. The reintroduced bill titled: “National Grazing Reserve Establishment Bill, 2016”, was sponsored by Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim, in the House of Representatives and provides for the establishment of the National Grazing Reserves Commission which shall have power to, among other things, establish at least one cattle reserve in each state of the federation.
Return of Niger Delta militants: Nigerians certainly heaved a sigh of relief when the late Umaru Musa Yar’Ádua-led Federal Government succeeded in signing an agreement with aggrieved Niger Delta militants who subsequently laid down their arms under the auspices of an Amnesty Programme. But not long after the Buhari-led Federal Government was sworn in, the militants had made a return and began bombing oil pipelines and platforms in protest against alleged economic marginalisation of the Niger Delta. The renewed militancy would seem to suggest that concerns that spawned past crises which were addressed by the Amnesty Programme of the late Umaru Yar’Ádua and Goodluck Jonathan administrations are presently being ignored or jettisoned.
The conflict spearheaded by the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, through bombings and attacks on major oil facilities almost paralysed the national economy which is heavily dependent on crude oil exploration and export. Indeed, several other militant groups have since sprung up in the area, including the Adaka Boro Avengers, Niger Delta Creek Warriors, Ogunuma Camp of Niger Delta and Niger Delta Revolutionary Crusaders, vowing not to lay down their arms until government satisfactorily addresses the numerous problems caused by crude oil production in the Niger Delta. Even the setting up of a Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, to negotiate a process of assuaging their anger and disenchantment has so far failed to douse tension in the area.
Upsurge in robberies and kidnappings: While security agencies continue to battle various forms of violent crimes, they obviously were not prepared for the upsurge of hostage-taking activities in the country. Between 2013 and 2016, abduction for ransom had escalated in the country, occurring at an alarming frequency. It soon created a palpable feeling of insecurity among the populace who cried out to government for urgent intervention.
While waiting for a coordinated federal response to this, some state governments decided to take matters into their hands. For instance, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State had on February 1, 2017, signed into law the state’s “Kidnapping Prohibition Bill 2016”. The major thrust of the law is the prescription of death penalty for convicted kidnappers whose victims die in custody or in the course of being abducted. Other states that have promulgated similar laws include Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Edo, Kano, Ogun and Oyo.
Rampaging kidnappers
But it would seem that the advent of this law is yet to curtail the rampaging kidnappers as cases of kidnapping, including those involving school children, continue to be recorded on regular basis. Apart from kidnappers, other criminal elements have also in recent time been on rampage. For instance, going by media reports, violent robberies have been on a steady increase across the country. But more prominently in the news in recent times are the Ikorodu and the Arepo creeks where dare-devil robbers have been holding sway, robbing at will and daring security agents to do their worst..
Inter-ethnic, communal clashes/religious crisis: The Buhari administration is also burdened by security challenges bordering on inter-ethnic and communal crises. Among the most prominent in this regard is the Southern Kaduna crisis that has resulted in many killings. While efforts are being made by the Federal and Kaduna State governments to get to the root of the problem, its resolution has so far remained out of sight.
At the same time, government is also in search of solution to inter-communal crises involving communities across state borders, including clashes between communities in Cross River, Ebonyi and and Akwa Ibom resulting in deaths and destruction.
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