.Security Services must leverage innovation, technology, says Don
.’We must embrace state police, community policing’
.Kidnappers have infiltrated our security agencies –Pastor Obi
.Report anyone seen with ammunition, Force PRO urges Nigerians
A conflict resolution expert and human rights activist, Dr. Chris Kwaja has lamented that Nigeria was on a brink of systemic failure due to government inability to guarantee safety of its citizens and property.
But he advocated continuous modernisation of the nation’s security architecture and services even as he tasked security agencies to leverage innovation, deployment of software and hardware technology that improve administrative and operational efficiency.
Speaking in similar vein, Chief Chekwas Okorie, the pioneer National Chairman, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Presidential candidate of the defunct United Progressive Party (UPP) insisted that time is ripe for the country to embrace State Police and Community Policing even if it will take a constitutional amendment to achieve, adding that “that the President can use his power at the moment which doesn’t conflict with any section of the constitution to achieve it”.
However, Kwaja, a former director of research, planning and documentation to former Governor Jonah Jang – led administration in Plateau State, said the continued threats, abduction, maiming and killings of innocent citizens in Nigeria by kidnappers, insurgency and bandits has rendered Nigerian security architecture vulnerable overtime.
He revealed that succeeding governments have prioritised defence and security in the annual national budgets but yet no tangible result achieved in ending the menace.
Dr.Kwaja, who was guest speaker at a one day summit on peace and security, organized by Plateau State Youth Council (PYC), in collaboration with Plateau state ministry for Youth and sports development, held in Azi Nyako Dadin Kowa, Jos South LGA,Saturday weekend, described trending kidnapping and killings in Plateau and Nigeria’s capital city Abuja and other parts of the country as unfortunate and barbaric.
He urged the Federal Government to stop lip-service and rise to the occasion of safeguarding Nigerians.
“Our intelligence services must be robust, earnest, and deftly integrated with other actors in the security sector. Years of extensive financing must reflect in the continuous modernisation of our security architecture and services. Security Services must leverage innovation in the industry, deploying software and hardware technology that improves administrative and operational efficiency.
“We also need to ensure increased police presence in suburbs, city centres and outskirts of cities that are prone to security breaches. There are no public records of additional recruits to military personnel, with available records showing a static figure of 223,000 members since 2018. It is critical to boost the manpower of our security agencies.
“The debate for the decentralisation of security architecture must reach a pragmatic conclusion and proceed to implement a framework that solves local crimes and security issues with local attention from the affected state governments.
“The welfare of all servicemen, from the paramilitary to the police and soldiers on the frontlines must receive the utmost attention.”
Meanwhile, Chief Okorie, has said, “the Inspector General of Police was quoted to have said that they are deploying technology in terms of intelligence and that they would get more of the drones in the air for surveillance and identification of where these kidnappers are located for the purpose of rallying them up. Well, that is all we had expected all these years and even before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government came into power.
“These are technologies that have been there all over the world. It is not as expensive as buying Tucano Aircraft. It is something that is affordable and all you need do, is to train your people on how to use it and it is not operated by man.Man only stays in the control room and get all the intelligence that will assist security agencies to get to their targets
“Now these things have not been done and now, the IGP is saying it is going to be done. Nigerians are just hoping that they would work the talk. It’s really embarrassing that kidnappers will walk into a place and get away with as many persons as 20, 30 and they take them into the bush and not into any residential places. The excuse is that they are using the people as shield, they don’t want any other damage. That is not good enough, it can’t happen in other country that is fighting this kind of menace.
“But beyond that, is to take seriously the demand by overwhelming majority of Nigerians to allow for State Police and Community Policing. Even if it will take a constitutional amendment to achieve. The President can use his power at the moment which doesn’t conflict with any section of the constitution to achieve it .
“As the commander -in-chief of the Armed Forces, he can direct the Inspector General of Police or the Police Service Commission to redeploy all policemen to their local government and states of origin, such redeployment could be done from the lowest rank of Police officers to the DPO level. That is easy to do. Relocating Police officers will cost little or nothing to do to achieve effective policing of our areas.
“The authorities know that those who can’t speak the local language, nor belong to the religion that the inhabitants of the areas practice. They can achieve little or nothing where they are deployed because there is little they can do without being part of the community they are deployed.
“But if you bring their own people to their community, they know their culture, they know their pattern of worship, they understand their language and they don’t need to look for big grammar to communicate. Again the rural community will be more confident to share intelligence with their own people than strangers.
“This is a reality that we must face. The indigenous Police officers know their terrain, they know their forest and they would be more effective in Policing their community and farms than strangers/mercenaries. Police authorities deploy their officers to many places where they go to extort money from helpless Nigerians without meaningful policing.
Kidnappers have infiltrated our security agencies –Pastor Obi
On his part, Pastor Chinedu Obi, who is based in Abuja said, “The current kidnapping in parts of the country is a complicated one because from the experience of my sister who was kidnapped last week at Otukpa –Obollo Afor while travelling to Anambra state for the burial of our grand mother and was kept in kidnappers hideout for fives days in the forest and other similar cases.
“Well, going by the conversation I had with the leader of the kidnappers in the course of negotiation, you will find out that among the kidnappers, there are various categories of kidnappers. Some are local kidnappers, professional kidnappers and some of them are security agents that have joined kidnapping as a source of livelihood.
“The one I spoke with who is the leader of the gang from our interactions I discovered he was a military personnel. So, that is where the problem lies – when a security officer who is supposed to guard and protect the people had turned to join the kidnappers.
“So, it is a major problem because any plan from the government to end this menace will fail since kidnappers have infiltrated the security agencies. And so, any plan by the government to end it is already known to them and automatically, they will change their strategy. This is one of the major problems that we are facing.
“However, if indeed the government wants to fight the ongoing kidnapping in the country, our security agencies should explore the use of Satellites because I know that where I am staying in Abuja, there is a satellite that views the whole area and people in the Satellite room can locate where and where the kidnappers are hiding.
“Again, our security agencies can equally use drones and with the aid of that technology, you can picture where the kidnappers are located. There are sophisticated drones that are capable of picturing and differentiating the kidnappers from their victims and be able to neutralize them.
“These are the measures that the government can adopt if it is serious with the fight against kidnapping because from my sister’s experience, the kidnappers carry out their operations three times in a week uninterrupted .They kidnapped her last week Thursday, then by Friday the following day, they kidnapped another set of people. It is something they do often and it pays because they are gathering huge sums of money from families of their victims. How can you stop the evil practice when their sponsors are big people in government.
“Again, I strongly believe that the final solution to end the current wave of kidnapping in parts of the country, is to restructure this country. If we restructure this country in line with the six political zones to become countries of themselves, each zone will handle its economy, security and other affairs confronting them as independent entities, the country will be the best for all.
“The task of handling security issues will be within the geopolitical zones. Each zone will tackle it’s security and once this happens all this rubbish will stop because each zone will have its own Army just like United States of America (USA). In USA all the countries that constitute the continent have their Presidents, they have their own Police and they have the army, yet at the end of the day they have the general army of USA. The Police, Army in the respective states that constitute the USA are answerable to the governing system in their states.
So, once this happens, you will find out that all these criminality that we experience today will stop because every zone will want to safeguard their own geopolitical zone”.
Report anyone seen with ammunition, Force PRO urges Nigerians
The Police Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has urged Nigerians to report anyone seen with live ammunition to curb arms proliferation in Nigeria.
This was contained in a statement shared on Sunday on his official X account.
Sharing a picture of live ammunition, Adejobi said, “These are live ammunition, called “èpà” or “groundnuts” in the street.
“They are deadly, not to be seen with anyone except security agents. Statutory security agents, no other ones.
“If you see them with any friend or civilian, please expose him or her. We need to collectively curb the proliferation of arms and ammunition in Nigeria.”
Recall that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Adegoke Fayoade on Thursday paraded 34 suspects of crimes including armed robbery, stealing, cultism and unlawful possession of firearms one month into office.
In what Fayoade called a mark of his achievements since taking office, the police commissioner listed no fewer than 14 cases cracked and a recovery of a total of 16 firearms including a toy pistol, 72 live cartridges, 75 live ammunition, one expended cartridge and one pistol magazine.
The police also recovered six axes, four daggers, one digger, five cutlasses, two vehicles, one POS Machine, fake registration plates and various charms.
