
During the week, on Wednesday to be precise, a national daily splashed the following truly frightening headline on its front page: ‘1,153 civilians, 176 security personnel killed in 3 months – Report’. Yes, this was the number of Nigerians killed just within the space of 90 days in a country which is not at war! And yet, knowing us, even this headline will not be enough to jolt those in positions of authority to acknowledge that things are definitely not alright in the nation, and come up with concrete steps to changing the narrative.
I’m not even sure that during the height of the Syrian Civil War, which broke out in March 2011 was this number of people killed in such a short time. According to the report collated by SBM Intelligence, a research organisation that compiles and analyses data about happenings in Nigeria, a total of 1,153 civilians, 105 soldiers, 67 police officers, two immigration officers, one civil defence officer and one Customs officer, were killed in violent incidents across the country, between July and September this year.
It further goes on to say: “The report compiled news reports within the period on killings by Boko Haram insurgents, gang clashes, bandits and other criminals. “Other casualties were 27 cultists, 29 members of Indigenous People of Biafra, 10 vigilantes, 23 kidnappers, and 24 armed robbers.”
The report showed that the North-West had the highest number of killings with 961 deaths, 495 of which were recorded in Zamfara State; North-Central, 646; North- East, 336; South-East, 137; South-South, 105 and South-West, 102. According to the report, Imo State is the epicentre of the killings in the Southern part of the country with 59 deaths.
If a private concern was able to come up with this, one can only imagine what information is available to senior political figures, who should have access to a much wider field of intelligence assets, ranging from the Police, Department of State Services (DSS), Military and so on, and yet neither the Presidency or our National Assembly members appear fazed by the constant bloodletting, which is why so far, no visible steps have been taken to ensure that such headlines no longer make the front pages of newspapers. Unfortunately, this has been one of a number of topics that I have written on quite frequently, but rather than things improving, the situation is only getting worse. For instance, two years ago, on April 13, 2019 to be precise in an article titled: “The ‘killing fields’ of Nigeria”, I wrote: “Events the last few months in Nigeria, particularly in the middle belt area of the country is a sad commentary about how far we have fallen as a nation especially when it comes to the sanctity of human life.
“Virtually every day now there are non-stop reports of killings upon killings of innocent citizens by ‘suspected’ Fulani herdsmen and other bandits.” And then on June 13, 2020, I penned another article titled: “Insecurity: And the bloodletting continues” which was in reaction to the continued wanton loss of lives across the country with hundreds of lives still being lost to the dastardly antics of non-state actors. Then on August 14 in another article captioned: “2023 loading as the nation continues to bleed” I pointed out that despite President Muhammadu Buhari bowing to pressure, and finally changed the leadership of his Service Chiefs in February this year, which saw the removal of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar and their replacement with Major-General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff; and Air-Vice Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao, Chief of Air Staff the security situation has not improved.
“More than 24 months later, despite a change in the personnel heading the nation’s security architecture, sadly the lyrics of the song have not changed with daily reports of killings, abductions and banditry still dominating the headlines. “In roughly 21 months’ time, Nigerians will have another opportunity to change the lyrics.
Hopefully this time around, we will weigh up our options dispassionately and vote for the right people – this should ensure that they will play a harmonious song that will delight all of us!” I wrote. This shows a clear pattern of the failure of the government to get a grip with the scourge, which incidentally is the primary function of it being in power. A clearly exasperated Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Mathew Kukah on Tuesday, voiced the anguish of millions of Nigerians, when he said banditry, Boko Haram and kidnapping were symptoms and manifestations of many sins in the polity.
Kukah, who was delivering a lecture in Lagos as part of activities marking the 120th anniversary of the African Church and a reunification service, called on Nigerians to stand in solidarity with victims of insecurity. “Before the crisis got to where we are, there were always manifestations. With the insecurity in the North East, people in the South-West may say that ‘it has not got to us’ and enjoy it,” Kukah said. The reverend father has a point because before the present administration took office six years ago, security concerns were mainly confined to the North Eastern part of the country, where the Boko Haram held large swaths of Borno State and for millions of other Nigerians the ‘war’ could have been happening in another country since they were able to move around freely carrying on their daily chores.
But like cancer, which if not treated spreads, now nowhere is safe with banditry and kidnapping taking place all over the place turning the lives of many upside down as they scramble to raise money for their kidnapped loved one or family member.
It also shows clearly that the root of the problem goes much deeper than just rejigging the security architecture of the country. After all the Service Chiefs were changed eight months ago, and to a very large extent, nothing has really changed in the ability of the people to sleep with both eyes closed or travelling freely along the major highways without fear of being abducted. Clearly one of the main ways of reducing this scourge is by improving the economy, which will then create jobs.
Just a few days ago the former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi pointed out that Muhammadu Buhari government’s pledge to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years “is not attainable”. Speaking to a private television station on Monday, Obi, the vice presidential candidate in the 2019 general election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), criticised the Federal Government for the ‘worsening poverty rate’ in the country.
“The plan of this administration to pull 10 million people out of poverty annually is not attainable. In six years, they have drawn more people into poverty,” he said. It is thus crystal clear that unless the government is able to reverse the economic slide and create jobs, then the security situation will only continue to deteriorate.