25022021 - Way out of Nigeria’s security problems

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Vanguard, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021—5
POCKET CARTOON
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NDDC VISITS RIVERS: Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers State (R), presenting
a souvenir to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC),
Sen. Peter Nwaoboshi, during the visit of the Senate Committee to the governor in Port Harcourt,
yesterday. With them is Minority Leader, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe (M). Photo: NAN.
Way out of Nigeria’s security problems
By Joseph Erunke &
Charles Agwam
ABUJA—Former
M i l i t a r y
President,
General Ibrahim
Babangida, former Head of
State, General Abdulsalami
Abubakar, and Archbishop
Emeritus, Catholic Diocese
of Abuja, John Cardinal
Onaiyekan, have
suggested ways out of the
nation’s security problems.
The trio spoke, as
Northern elders, acting
under the aegis of North-
East Elders for Peace and
Development, yesterday,
disowned Islamic cleric,
Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, for
profiling the military as
contributors to the security
problems in the country.
Gumi had alleged in a
television interview on
Monday that southerners
in the military were
responsible for killing of
bandits in Nigeria.
The Northern elders
spoke on a day Bauchi State
governor, Bala
Mohammed, said he had
no apology to make to
anyone for defending
Fulani herders against
alleged ethnic profiling of
herdsmen.
What to do —
Babangida
Receiving Nigerian
Governors’ Forum
members who were on a
courtesy visit to his Hilltop
mansion in Minna, Niger
State, late Tuesday,
Babangida said the threats
faced by Nigeria at present
can be dealt with, if those
in position of authority
planned appropriately.
According to him,
quashing the threats posed
by kidnappers, bandits,
and insurgents require a lot
of planning, and not a
short-term plan.
General Babangida, retd,
said he has obtained
information suggesting
that security agencies were
working together to map
out new strategies on how
to deal with the situation.
The former president,
who noted that he was
concerned about the
situation in the country,
urged the government and
the citizenry to join forces
to overcome the problem.
“At this point in time, interagency
cooperation is very
important to deal with
these threats staring the
country in the face,”
Babangida said.
Negotiating with
bandits not
solution —
Abdulsalami
Also receiving the
governors in his residence
in Minna, former Head of
State, General Abdulsalami
Abubakar, retd, said
negotiating with terrorists
and bandits is not the best
way to tackle the insecurity
in the country.
He said the best way to
solve Nigeria’s banditry
and kidnapping issues was
to first make sure that the
crimes were not committed.
While admitting that
sometimes negotiations
might be used to save the
lives of kidnap victims,
General Abdulsalami said
the nation needs tight
security to checkmate the
miscreants before they
strike.
Alluding to the Kagara
school abduction,
Abdulsalami said: “Even if
anyone knows where the
students are, it will be
foolhardy to storm the place
in a bid to fight and bring
them back.”
He, however, urged the
authorities to ensure that
security is beefed up to
forestall further
occurrences.
According to him, the
nation’s security
architecture is
overstretched and the
Police Force is underpopulated,
hence the need
for support from the citizens
and an increase in
manpower.
General Abdulsalami
appealed that all hands
must be on deck to ensure
that insecurity in the
country was tackled
appropriately.
“Let us go back to when
we were our brothers’
keepers,” Abdulsalami
pleaded.
The elder statesman said
it is sad that citizens are
now being seen as
strangers and looked at with
suspicion when they leave
their states of origin to visit
other parts of the country.
Recall that the NGF, led
by the chairman and
governor of Ekiti State,
Kayode Fayemi, were in
Minna, Niger State, on a
solidarity visit to the State
governor, Abubakar Bello,
over the kidnap of students
and staff of Government
Science College, Kagara,
last Wednesday.
Onaiyekan warns
against dialogue
with criminals
Speaking in a similar vein
yesterday, former Catholic
Archbishop of Abuja, John
Cardinal Onaiyekan,
warned against dialogue
with criminals who
masquerade as bandits,
saying doing so will further
compound the security
problems in the country.
He also cautioned the
Federal Government
against granting amnesty
to criminals until there is
evidence of true
repentance.
He spoke against the
backdrop of a statement by
the chairman of Nigeria
Governors’ Forum, NGF,
Kayode Fayemi, that there
is nothing wrong in
dialogue with bandits.
Fayemi had stated this
when he led governors on
a solidarity visit to Niger
State governor, Abubakar
Bello, following the
abduction of students of
Government Science
College, Kagara, last
Wednesday. The abductees
are yet to be released.
Onaiyekan, who gave the
warning in an interview on
Channels Television
breakfast programme,
Sunrise Daily, said
dialogue with criminals
might become an incentive
for others to pick up arms
with the confidence that
they would receive
amnesty.
He said the Federal
Government must not get
to the point of giving the
impression it cannot deal
with criminals holding the
nation hostage.
“I don’t think we should
reach a stage where the
nation simply says we’re
unable to deal with the
situation.
Continues on Page 28
By Cynthia Alo
Should FG grant amnesty to bandits? (4)
F
G should not
grant any amnesty
to the bandits.
They should be in
jail and not use amnesty
to fix social
vices. The law is the
law! Northern elders
need to take their IQ
seriously and stop
blabbering.
— Chukwuma Eke,
Medical Doctor
Watching the SSG
of Niger state and
other Muslim clerics
standing and discussing
with those Bandits in the
forest tells us that Northern
leaders behind the
crisis happening in our
country. Let the Bandits
state what they’re
fighting for and we can
take it from there.
—— Kizito Omenukwa,
Nurse
The IPOB were tagged
terrorist when they don’t
even move about armed,
how come bandits who are
fully armed, and who kidnap
and kill cannot be tagged
same.
Who knows if these bandits
are not the Boko haram sect?
If the federal government grants
them amnesty then automatically
and indirectly Boko Haram has
been granted amnesty.
—- Damian Ocho,
Student
Why should FG
grant amnesty to
bandits? What is the
assurance that they
won’t commit the crime
again? I don’t think its
right to grant amnesty to
bandits. What if they use
that opportunity to commit
the crime again?
—— Cinderella Kene-
Onyiba, Accountant
Amnesty in the first place
is demanded by a set of
people who are legally bound
to be punished for either political
offense or they have been
publicly convicted. Hence the
official pardon can be
weighty... Northern bandits
aren’t remorseful in the least,
more so they should at least
be convicted properly before
expecting reprieve by the government.
——Newton Epepa,
Sales Executive
Granting amnesty to
bandits has never
had any positive impact
in the control of terrorism
anywhere in the
world even in this country.
It rather motivates
other rising group of
bandits with the aim to
be granted amnesty
some day.
— Okeke Henry,
Self Employed