Northerners sacrificed a lot for President Muhammadu Buhari to win elections in 2015, but we neglected by Mr President. The love we showed him is not being reciprocated, we are not safe at all, we live in fear, we are dying. We were promised security, yet nothing has changed but instead Insecurity has escalated. Is this a betrayal?
We shed tears every day, because we are not safe, we are dying, bandits, terrorists killing people every blessed day, kidnappers kidnapping innocent people and requesting for ransom. Although, the country as a whole is facing the challenge but the North Nigeria is worse hit.
The groups terrorising the North deploy sophisticated weapons in their operations; again, often due to the porous Nigeria-Niger border and arms trafficking. The illicit proliferation of weapons exerts a considerable impact on peace and security and increases the incidence of terrorists’ activities in the region.
In many instances, the rising incidents of violent attacks are symptoms of weak, exclusionary, or exploitative governance systems in North-west..Compounding factors include weak institutional capacity within the police; extreme inequality, poverty, unemployment; and citizens’ alienation from the government.
Indeed, five of the country’s 10 poorest states—Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, and Jigawa—are in the North-west region. Statistics shows that population explosion, poor governance, and high incidence of poverty could render many unemployed youths more vulnerable to recruitment by terror groups in the region. Closely connected to this is the intensive desertification of the Sahara. Climate change is wreaking havoc on people’s livelihoods and facilitating the recruitment of poor farmers and vulnerable youths into terrorist groups in the region.
The state security response to the rising insecurity in the region is compromised by the decadelong war with Boko Haram in the North-east, deteriorating security in the Niger Delta, farmer-herder conflicts in North-central and Southern Nigeria, and other forms of criminality across the country. In fact, the Nigerian military are on active deployment in no fewer than 30 states of the federation, tackling internal security threats that ordinarily should have been left to the police to contain. With security forces stretched, terror groups have been able to operate with little resistance in the North-west. Furthermore, terrorists and criminals appear to be emboldened given the federal government’s weakening engagement.
In an attempt to stop these attacks, and due to larger failures on the part of the federal government, the state governments of Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara initiated direct negotiations with these criminal groups. As part of these negotiations, the governors offered the criminal groups amnesty and other incentives to end violent attacks. Some have even agreed to release all arrested persons from such groups in exchange for hostages.
So far, these agreements have failed for a number of reasons: First, these criminal groups lack central command and a common goal, so it has been difficult to bring them all to a common negotiation. Moreover, agreements made with one group are not binding on others.
Second, the dialogues excluded the local communities that bear the brunt of violence and expect the state to deliver compensation, justice, and protection as a condition for durable peace. Collapsed negotiations have led to renewed attacks by the criminal groups, while the farmers and vigilantes acting on their behalf have also remained completely unaccountable.
Beyond these negotiations is the problem that the state governments have no capacity to enforce the agreements and are barely equipped to address many of the underlying causes of insecurity, including shrinking space for grazing and porous borders.
Competition over access to mineral resource deposits in Katsina and Zamfara states exacerbates already-existing tensions. Often terror groups control the minefields and are able to act with impunity because of the undue patronage they benefit from the authorities through connivance. The syndicates also fund banditry and cattle rustling in mining communities, displacing and inciting violence among Fulani pastoralists and farming communities.
To tackle these issues, the federal government must collaborate with state governments to address the immediate challenge of border porosity. Concerted efforts to recruit, train, and post adequately equipped Customs and immigration personnel to the region can boost surveillance and stem the tide of the free flow of arms into the country.
Moreover, addressing corruption here is pivotal, because border patrol is a major racket for security forces and government officials. The ongoing military response must also be sustained through strategic coordination with the counterterrorism unit of the Nigeria Police Force, while the recent introduction of drone surveillance and anti-banditry bombardment is maintained.
Furthermore, the federal government must prioritise law enforcement solutions in tackling rising insecurity in the North-west. Policing is critical to intelligence gathering in identifying and tracking the cells of criminal groups in the states and aiding community response to insecurity.
Another effort towards border security is the creation of a bilateral joint task force between Nigeria and Niger Republic to serve as a trans-border security force resourced and managed through the immigration and Customs services of both countries. The joint task force should be matched with immediate and precise action to prevent wide-scale terrorists and bandits’ movements across the borders.
Strategic investments in human and infrastructural development can work to solve the long-term, underlying challenges created by poor governance and deepening poverty that feed such insecurity.
The federal and state governments must collaborate with the established religious and traditional institutions to build community resilience against terrorism.
God bless Nigeria and bring peace and harmony among us.
Ibrahim Musbahu, Department of Mass Communication,Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Bauchi, Bauchi state 08163810645[email protected]
