The wave of insurgency, kidnapping, armed robbery and different forms of insecurity being perpetrated by Nigerians across the country on a daily basis has national discourse. Also, the death of prominent residents and security officers in the nation’s capital prompted PAUL OKAH to, in this report, ask who is safe?
Prior to the 2015 general elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC) based its campaign promises on tackling insecurity, reviving the economy and fighting the monumental corruption allegedly perpetrated by the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
However, the issue of insecurity has been on the front burner as Nigerians have been killed by insurgents in different parts of the country, particularly by Boko Haram in the North-east. This is even as farmers and herders’ crises have led to the death of uncountable Nigerians.
Also, the nation’s capital city is not spared of the security quagmire, as many residents have died in the hands of kidnappers, one chance robbers, petty thieves, assassins and others, even as many lives were lost in Shi’ites and security forces clashed.
Global Rights’ report
On February 12, 2020, in a document sent Blueprint Weekend by its executive director, Abiodun Baiyewu, titled Mass Atrocities Casualties Tracking Report 2019,” an international organisation, Global Rights, revealed that over 3,000 people were violently killed in Nigeria in 2019 alone and fixed May 28, 2020, as “national day of mourning.”
According to Global Rights, not less than 3,188 lives were lost between January and December, 2019, from violent incidents in Nigeria, with Borno state recording the highest number of casualties and Abia state recording the least.
The report tracked casualties of conflicts, violent clashes and extra-judicial killings across Nigeria, including gang clashes, extra-judicial killings, resource crises, kidnappings and, Boko-Haram/ISWAP attacks, indicating that 2,707 of those killed were civilians, while 481 were state security agents, adding that the state with the highest number of fatalities was Borno state in the North-east, followed by Zamfara state in the North-west.
According to the report, ten most vulnerable states in Nigeria by the number of deaths recorded were: Borno (728), Zamfara (450), Kaduna (280), Katsina (254), Taraba (181), Rivers (176), Benue (167), Niger (100), Sokoto (90) and Kogi (88).
It identified the month of June as recording the highest number of deaths with at least 504 lives lost. Banditry and extra-judicial killings moved at an incremental pace westward, affecting communities in Niger and Kogi states, adding that, in November, there were at least deaths of 112, some of which were related to electoral violence occasioned in the run-up to, during and after the Kogi and Bayelsa states rerun elections.
On the methodology adopted, the organisation stated that it relied only on verified data, adding that the figures provided represented the “least possible number of casualties with the actual casualty figures likely to be much higher.”
The NGO, however, concluded the report by saying that it believes Nigeria can surmount its challenges and become a safe haven for development, but that it will take a great deal of political will, trust-building across ethnic, religious, class and other interest groups, especially addressing historical violence and injustices and making clear attempts at remedying them.
“The numbers were slightly lower compared to 2018 in which period we recorded 3,428 deaths (a difference of 240 killings). Disaggregated, there were at least 481 security personnel and 2,707 civilians killed. From the foregoing figures, it is apparent that Nigeria’s threshold for violence is very high. Its hard core impact on the security and social wellbeing of both civilian and security populations can only be imagined. It brings to mind Section 14(2) (b) of the Constitution, which provides that ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.’
“The proliferation of small arms and light weapons across Nigeria is worrisome. Elections are getting more violent: politics in Nigeria is still a game of ‘win at all cost, or lose at your peril – no retreat, no surrender,’ incentivising violence. Communities’ distrust of government’s willingness and more recently – power, to protect them from aggression – has also contributed to Nigeria’s underground arms market. Finally, its porous borders facilitate their easy import,” the report stated further.
However, away from the report by Global Rights, the media has been awash with killings of Nigerians by insurgents and criminals in different parts of the country. Even the FCT, the seat of power, is not spared or immune to the carnage perpetrated by criminals.
Aso Rock not left out
Recently, as proof that nowhere is safe in Nigeria, on Monday, February 17, 2020, an Assistant Director of Administration in the State House, Abuja, Laetitia Dagan, was murdered in her house.
In a statement on February 18, 2020, the deputy director, information in the State House, Attah Esa, said 47-year-old Ms Dagan, from Plateau state, worked in her office on Monday till 8:00pm.
“But by 11 p.m., she was gruesomely murdered in her apartment by unknown persons,” he said.
In his reaction, the permanent secretary, State House, Jalal Arabi, during a condolence visit to the deceased’s family, described the killing of Ms. Dagan as “a painful loss, not only to her immediate family, but also the entire State House, even as he expressed confidence that “the police will fish out the killers of Laetitia and the law will take its course.”
“She was a dedicated, hard-working officer and we all feel pained by her dastardly and untimely death. We all share in your grief and pains, but be consoled by the fact that she lived a good life and contributed her best to the services of her nation,” he said.
Footballer killed in Ogun
Reactions have continued to trail the death of Remo Stars Football Club’s defender and assistant captain, Tiyamu Kazeem (popularly known as Kaka), on February 22, this year, with the police, residents and the football club’s management trading blames.
According to a statement to the media by the Media Officer of the club, Dimeji Oshode, on Saturday, an officer of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ogun state caused the death of Kazeem after arresting him on the allegation of being an internet fraudster and insisted on taking him to a nearby police station, but allegedly pushing him from their van onto an oncoming speeding car.
The statement read in part, “The SARS officers stopped Tiyamiyu Kazeem insisting that he was a Yahoo Boy. He brought out his identity card to identify himself as a player of Remo Stars FC, but the officer insisted on taking him to the nearest police station in Sagamu. Kazeem and Sanni followed the SARS officers, only for them to notice that they (the SARS men) were driving towards Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway.
“The guys asked to know where the SARS officers were taking them to, but this prompted them to stop the car and pushed Kazeem out of the car, and an unknown vehicle knocked him down. He was rushed to Fakoya Hospital in Sagamu, where he was confirmed dead. He was a humble and reliable defender for Remo Stars FC in the on-going 2019/2020 Nigeria National League.”
However, the Ogun state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said Kazeem was arrested by a police inspector from the Zonal Intervention Squad for wearing a military cap and gave details on circumstances surrounding the footballer’s death.
“The fact of the matter is that an Inspector of police from ZIS went to arrest the deceased for putting on a military cap. On their way to Abeokuta, the vehicle developed a mechanical fault and while trying to rectify it, the man jumped down and took to his heels. While crossing the road, a fast moving, oncoming vehicle crushed him to death,” he said.
Kazeem’s death led to a pandemonium in Sagamu as angry residents and aggrieved youths marched to the palace of the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, chanting anti-SARS slogans and demanding sanctions for the ‘killer’ cop.
Change of service chiefs needful
With the wave of insecurity witnessed across the country, many Nigerians have demanded a change in the leadership of service chiefs, saying it would help to improve the security situation in Nigeria.
In an exclusive interview with Blueprint Weekend, the convener/national coordinator, Project Rescue Nigeria Foundation, Raphael Nnaemeka Irem, said it was high time the federal government rose to call by Nigerians for a change of guards at the headship of service chiefs, especially with the killing of a prominent Aso Rock staffer on February 17, 2020.
He said: “Forty-seven-year-old Ms Laeticia Dagan from Plateau state was said to have been killed in her residence by an unknown person or persons and for a reason yet to be disclosed. She was killed in her Abuja home. Though they are reports that the police have arrested a suspect in the murder, we in Project Rescue Nigeria Foundation are in a state of shock and grief because of yet another gruesome story concerning our beloved country.
“But while our heart goes out to the family of Ms Dagan over their unquantifiable loss, we are dumbfounded and left wondering why insecurity has continued to be on the increase in Nigeria. Recently, there was a call for the sack of the service chiefs for incompetency, which came after series of endless security failures, but the presidency has been pouring cold water on this agitation.”
NASS’ interventions
Severally, members of the National Assembly have always intervened in matters concerning the safety of Nigerians, either by introducing bills, summoning heads of security agents or lending voice to agitations of their constituents.
Recently, on February 19, 2020, a bill for the establishment of the national commission against the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, sponsored by Senator Smart Adeyemi (APC, Kogi West), passed second reading in the Senate, having been read for the first time on December 18, 2019.
The Eight Senate had similar deliberation in May 2018. The lawmakers had even summoned a former director-general of the State Security Service, Lawan Daura; the comptroller-general of Customs, Hameed Ali; and the national security adviser, Babagana Monguno, over the illegal possession of firearms by non-authorised Nigerians.
On Tuesday, during the lead debate, Adeyemi highlighted the objectives of the bill to include, among others “(to) identify sources and main routes of small arms, ammunition and light weapon; identify why illicit trade thrives in Nigeria; liaise with the relevant authorities, agencies and organisations with the aim of tackling the menace.”
Also, on February 20, 2020, the Senate began deliberations on a bill that seeks to establish an agency that would see to the rehabilitation, deradicalisation and integration of repentant insurgents in the country as a bill, sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe East Senatorial district, was read for the first time on the floor of the Senate. Though presently being criticised by Nigerians, the bill offers further concession to Boko Haram militants who opt for cease fire.
Humanitarian affairs ministry goes spiritual
On February 24, 2020, in a statement the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, the permanent secretary, directors and staff of the ministry resolved to fast and embark on special supplications to God in solidarity with the government and people of Borno state and other parts of the North-east.
In a notice issued to staff of the ministry, the minister urged the staff to voluntarily fast and pray for a quick end to the carnage caused in Borno and other parts of the North-east by Boko Haram, even as the spiritual exercise was accepted enthusiastically by the staff of the ministry.
