Kidnapping, Plateau killings: At the mercy of security men?

By Adekunle Adekoya

THE Yoruba people of South-Western Nigeria have an anecdotal saying that is applicable to the present state of insecurity in Nigeria. “Ti nani nani ba nna ni, ti gbani gbani nworan lai daa l’ekun, a je wipe gbani gbani lo ni ki nani nani maa nani lo.”

The nearest equivalent of this saying, when translated is: “If someone is beating you, and a bystander is looking on unperturbed, then the bystander is likely in support of the person beating you.”

I think, in all matters particular, this is not just applicable to the insecurity situation, but actually indicates the state of affairs as regards the ability or otherwise of the security apparatus to deal with the mounting scourge of insecurity. The Plateau killings of last December remain fresh and all of us, those that still have the milk of human kindness that is, and those who have empathy for the plight of their fellow men are still having it tough to discern how the security architecture could be caught, intelligence, weapons and all, pants down to the extent that marauders could unleash mayhem on communities in Mangu area of Plateau State in well-planned, orchestrated attacks.

As usual, the response of the state and its security architecture was to shut the barn doors after all the horses had escaped. That was in addition to useless rhetoric on how committed government is to ending insecurity. Barely a  fortnight after, the killers, in defiance of curfew imposed on the troubled areas, returned, and repeated what they know how to do. No less than 30 persons were killed, while the number of houses burnt down remained uncountable.

The question in all of this is: Just where are the security agencies? After the December attacks, and the assets deployed by the Police and the military, should this have occurred so soon after, if at all? It is this that has prompted people to suggest that rogue elements sensitively positioned in the security organisations are complicit in these attacks. What they stand to gain, I don’t know; only those concerned can say. It is somewhat difficult for one to swallow the fact that securitymen who swore oaths of allegiance to the country can turn around to swallow the same oath by aiding and abetting bare-faced criminals.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a huge problem on his hands, regarding insecurity alone. Clearly he inherited a lot of liabilities from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, under whom the insecurity problem festered like an open wound. It made me wonder what became of Buhari’s education as a trained security man and reserve general of the Nigerian Army. Between 2015 and last year, there was ample time and enough resources to dedicate against fighting the marauders that have seized our country’s jugular. By allowing the bandits have their way, they got bolder, while the security agencies became more and more powerless against them. It would seem that the bandits and kidnappers who “went on leave” to allow conclusion of the transition and let President Tinubu settle down, have resumed, with greater ferocity. As I write, there is palpable fear among residents of towns like Bwari and Kubwa in Abuja following a rash of kidnap incidents, even as tension mounts on the Plateau.

What is more worrisome about the entire saga is what has become of the KYC and NIN exercises. KYC is the Know-Your-Customer programme by which the telecoms regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, mandated telcos operating in Nigeria to capture the biometric details of their subscribers for identification purposes. In addition to this, the National Identity Management Commission has been registering Nigerians towards issuing us National Identification Numbers, NIN. Apart from these, whosoever operates a bank account in this country must have what is called BVN — Bank Verification Number. We were all captured, with biometrics. There is almost no government service that can be rendered without the applicant supplying his/her NIN now.

With NIN, BVN, phone numbers at the disposal of the security agencies, how do kidnappers make calls and demand ransom, which gets paid, and they are not arrested? Can’t the caller be traced, identified and apprehended? Boy Scouts policing, abi? Smells fishy, right? Will the security agencies say they are not availing themselves of these resources which government told us we must do, to further enhance national security?

If kidnappers are still in business, abducting people, demanding and receiving ransom and we have security men, then it is clear that the rank and file of our security organs are populated by rogue elements in sensitive positions. If marauders wielding assault rifles can sack entire communities in Plateau State and perpetrate genocide and arson, it means the security people are either not doing their jobs as expected, are lax, have abdicated their responsibilities, or are simply complicit in the commission of these crimes. A thousand and one meetings of the president and service chiefs will not solve the problem. The president, as commander-in-chief, must be decisive in seeking solutions to this problem, as it is at the base of our food security issues. What needs to be done must be done and Nigerians must be able to sleep with two eyes closed.

"With NIN, BVN, phone numbers at the disposal of the security agencies, how do kidnappers make calls and demand ransom, which gets paid, and they are not arrested?"

**Adekoya is the Deputy Editor, Vanguard newspaper