… Advises Tinubu on what to do
By Seye Ojo, Ibadan
“In order to end insecurity, enhance people’s welfare and ensure the sustenance of Nigeria as one of the top investments’ destinations in Africa as desired by the government, there is the urgent need by the Federal Government and security agencies to be more innovative and decisive.”
The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and socio-political organization, Afenifere, made this declaration yesterday in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi.
The statement stemmed from the recent reports of banditry and kidnapping in Ogun, Edo, Ekiti, Oyo, Kogi, Zamfara and Niger states, which made a research organization to declare Nigeria as one of the top nations where kidnap ranks highest globally.
“Recent reports claimed that on Monday, May 13, eight cocoa farmers were kidnapped at Marindoti Cocoa Farmers’ settlement in Ovia South-West Local Government Area of Edo State. Three students of Millicent Secondary School in the same area on their way to writing their Senior Secondary School Examination were also kidnapped at the same time.
“A sum of N31 million was reportedly paid as ransom for three people who were kidnapped at Longe village on Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road last week Sunday. On Thursday, May 16, one Alhaja Seliat Adeniji (nee Raji) was kidnapped in her Ebedi home in Iseyin, Oyo State. Her guard was killed in the process.
“Hon. Bello Hassan representing Zurmi/Shinkafi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives last Tuesday claimed that terrorists have sacked about 50 communities and abducted over 500 people in his area of Zamfara State as bandits overran Zurmi, the second most populous town in the state, killing palace officers, as well as policemen.
“Students of educational institutions and residents of villages in Abuja, among others, were kidnapped at random.
“Fulani herders and farmers’ clashes kept occurring in Osun, Ondo and Oyo states; Otu, Igbeti and Alaga in Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State being the latest victims. Banditry, including armed robbery, kidnapping are still occurring on Southwest roads such as Lagos-Ibadan, Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode; Akure-Ilesa-Ibadan; Ore-Ijebu Ode-Lagos, Ikirun-Osogbo-Ilesa; Lokoja-Abuja, Owo-Benin and Ibadan-Iseyin-Saki. Attacks by cultists added to the nefarious activities in Lagos and Ogun States,” the group pointed out.
To put a serious check on all these, Afenifere spokesman said that there is the urgent need to dig deep into the root causes of the menace and to be decisive in applying the necessary measures.
“The starting point is to probe into the motivation for kidnapping and related banditry. Three identified motives are economic, ideology and politics. Each of these has sub-strata and sometimes interlopes. For instance, the economic factor of banditry could have territorial claim as an underpinning. It can also be as a result of some interests wanting to assert political superiority. These are relatively easier to deal with if the authorities and the people in the given area are committed to dealing with it.
“The other aspect is one based on ideology. Most of the time such an ideology is religious or faith-based. In a situation where a given people are brainwashed to believe that only those who share the same ideology with them are qualified to live freely, the authorities and the society have a lot of work to do.
“As stated inter alia, sometimes the line between economic, ideological and political reasons for terrorism or kidnapping got blurred. While the reason may sometimes not be so clear-cut, the means of subduing the menace can be handy if the authorities are desirous of putting an end to the menace.
“The starting point is within and around the communities where the menace is rampant. As we stated in our earlier submissions on this issue, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, cultism etc, kept occurring because people are aiding and abetting the perpetrators wittingly and unwittingly. As such, it is imperative to induce, if not impose town-hall meetings in which residents in specific places would be compelled to talk to themselves, identify themselves and be made to enter into covenants of peaceful co-existence with one another,” he said.
Afenifere, therefore, urged President Tinubu to get state and local government police off the ground immediately through the invocation of an Executive Order while the process of amending the Constitution continues.
“Close circuit television sets, deployment of modern technology for security purposes, including drones must be effected immediately,” the Afenifere spokesman suggested.