By Omoniyi Salaudeen

The recent attack on some communities in Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi local government areas of Plateau State on Christmas eve has thrown up fresh debate about the imperative of the state-controlled policing system for rapid response to security threats.

While some public affairs commentators blamed the sad incident on the seemingly lackluster attitude of the military to timely respond to the simultaneous attacks on 15 communities, making the gunmen have a field day, others linked the carnage to lack of synergy between the security agencies.

Whatever might have accounted for the staggering loss of innocent lives, over 100 in one swoop, the horrendous and reprehensive act still leaves a sour taste in the mouths of many concerned stakeholders.  The Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in a quick response, said that the failure of the Federal Government to restructure Nigeria and introduce a state policing system was behind the growing attacks across the country.

The President General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, in a statement by the group’s Secretary General, Chiedozie Ogbonnia, described the incident as an “orchestrated act of genocide,” lamenting that the Federal Government had refused to heed the call for restructuring and state policing system as panacea for the incessant loss of lives and property in the various states of the country.

The Ohanaeze statement reads in part: “The Igbo leader lamented that the Federal Government has refused to heed the Ohanaeze’s call for restructuring and state policing system as a panacea for the incessant loss of lives and property in the various states of the country.

“It has become very obvious that the federal security architecture has proved very ineffective for our diverse demography.”

Iwuanyanwu argued that the attacks and killings had persisted in Nigeria because those who perpetrated the attacks in the past often had been left unpunished.

He, therefore, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to bring to book those behind the callous crime in Plateau State.

The leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, also lending credence to the strident call for an overhaul of the country’s security architecture, maintained that restructuring of Nigeria was the only way to stop what he described as a barbaric bloodbath such as the recent killings in Plateau State.

In an open letter to President Tinubu, he said that it had become imperative for the president to restructure the country, especially considering that he had always been an advocate of the principle of restructuring, even before he became a senator and governor of Lagos State.

“It is perplexing how a large group of terrorists can carry out such devastating attacks on 17 villages in two nights, resulting in the loss of countless lives, only to vanish without a trace. It is disheartening that we continue to allow them to escape in this manner.

“Furthermore, it is concerning to note that despite the significant amount of money spent on our securities and secret services, the interventions implemented have produced no tangible results.

“This is one of the main reasons many Nigerians are calling for the restructuring of the country, allowing people in different states to live freely and develop their regions or states without intimidation or oppression from any quarter.

“Currently, we are not practicing a true federal system where people can freely move and exercise their rights to freedom of speech and association. We need a federation where all citizens are equal and there is mutual respect for one another. In this federation, each state or region should be able to develop at its own pace, utilising the resources available within their boundaries without any hindrance as it was in the First Republic, which was confirmed in the 1963 Republican Constitution,” he said.

Clark, who noted that Tinubu had one time, advocated a sovereign national conference, which was even more inclusive than the current restructuring they were demanding for Nigeria, urged him to do the needful for an enduring legacy.

Before the latest killing in Plateau, the ghost of agitation for restructuring came alive again as eminent leaders of thought present at the MUSON Centre, Lagos, to witness the presentation of the book entitled: “Brutally Frank,” an autobiography of Clark, unanimously renewed the call for a revisit and implementation of the report of the 2014 national confab to achieve the desire for a true federal structure.

The leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, while speaking at the event, declared that “until we change this constitution, we will go nowhere.”

His words: “I came closer to Clark at the 2014 national conference. We were in the same row of old people. You could see knowledge, experience, and patriotism in the contribution of these old people. I want to advise those of you who are younger not to play with the report of the 2014 national conference. Whether you like it or not, that conference will go down in history as the best thing former President Goodluck Jonathan did for this country. And I say it publicly again without any fear of contradiction that you can never get the kind of composition that was recorded in that conference again in Nigeria. It cuts across every segment of the country. And we were lucky to have a chairman who managed delicate issues effectively.

“The job for us in this country today is to insist that right now, the constitution of the country must be changed to a federal constitution in accordance with the report of the 2014 National Conference. Take that report, take el-Rufai’s report, set up a committee to reconcile them, and go where we are going. Any other thing is pretense.

“When you talk about the unity of this country, the economic progress of this country, until we change this constitution, we will go nowhere.”

Prof. Anya O. Anya also lent his voice, saying that the implementation of the 2014 confab was the only sure way to achieve the desired restructuring of the country and true federalism.

He said: “I am confident that one day, the report of the national conference will be fully implemented. The reason is simple. There were over 600 decisions and every single one enjoyed the support of more than 70 per cent of those attending. Would you think that it was possible to have Nigerians gathered as we were gathered and all decisions enjoyed 70 per cent support? You wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but it happened. That is why I believe that ultimately, we will find our way back.”

Senator Anthony Adefuye, reiterating the same call for restructuring, argued that “if those decisions had been adopted, Nigeria would not be where it is today.”

As of today, virtually every region of the country is beset by one peculiar security challenge or another which has been difficult for the military to effectively nip in the bud.    

In the Southeast, for instance, gunmen believed to be sympathetic to the Biafra agitators have been linked to attacks and killings in the region.

Similarly, the peace of the South-south has always been threatened by disruptive activities of militants and suspected kidnappers engaging in abduction of oil workers, ransom taking, and crude oil theft.

While the Northwest has continued to grapple with banditry, kidnapping, and ransom-taking, Boko Haram insurgents are still holding sway in the Northeast with hundreds of thousands killed and displaced in the region.

General Ishola Williams (rtd), while sharing his thoughts on the matter in an interview with Sunday Sun, stressed the need for a holistic review of the security architecture of the country.

He argued that the task of securing local communities should be the responsibility of the state police and the mobile police and not the army.

He said: “I have always maintained that we need a redesign of our security architecture because terrorism can only be eliminated at the state level not at the federal level. It is impossible. It can only be eliminated at the state level.

“If they want to find a way to minimize the situation in which we are, we need to establish state police, which will have community police backed by the mobile police to engage in counter-terrorism. It is not the duty of the military to engage in fighting terrorism.

“We have the structure already; it is only a matter of redesigning the security architecture and making it perform its functions and when necessary coordinates.

“The police have an anti-terrorism unit that has been trained on how to deal with terrorists, but they are not giving them responsibility for what they are supposed to be doing. If the police take up the challenge of fighting terrorists, the military will have time to concentrate on Boko Haram and ISWAT. The state police will focus on prevention of crime at the state and local government levels. That is how security architecture works. If there is law and order at the state and local government levels, there will be law and order throughout Nigeria.

“Boko Haram insurgents have never left Borno and Yobe states because they want to form their caliphate. Therefore, it is the exclusive preserve of the military to curtail them because they are threatening the territorial integrity of the country.”

Gen. Williams blamed the National Assembly for its failure to pass the necessary law to support the creation of state police. 

Meanwhile, a former governor of Plateau State, now a Senator, representing Plateau North Senatorial District, Jonah Jang, has charged the National Assembly, to expedite action on the call for the creation of state police to forestall a reoccurrence of the recent incident in the state. 

He said: “While we agree with the president that the culprits must be apprehended and made to face prosecution, we must note that these directives have been issued repeatedly. Yet, neither arrests nor prosecutions have been made in the past. It is, therefore, pertinent that at this point, there is the need to attend to the call for state police as part of measures for boosting security, ensuring early response in crises, and confronting the challenges of insecurity headlong.

“While we agree with the president that the culprits must be apprehended and made to face prosecution, we must note that these directives have been issued repeatedly. Yet, neither arrests nor prosecutions have been made in the past. It is, therefore, pertinent that at this point, there is the need to attend to the call for state police as part of measures for boosting security, ensuring early response to crises, and confronting the challenges of insecurity headlong.

“The National Assembly must take this call seriously and rise to the occasion, act in the interest of the Plateau People, and consider the issue as a matter of urgent importance. While we commend the efforts of the Federal and Plateau State governments in responding to the recent attacks, we reckon that more can be done to stop the seeming non-stop attacks and needless loss of the lives of innocent villagers who are murdered while in their sleep or as the struggle on their farms to eke a living for themselves.”

His immediate successor, Simon Lalong, also blamed the military for its failure to respond to the bloody attack on innocent villagers in the state.

Beyond the blame game, there is a need for a review of strategy to put an end to the rising insecurity in the country.

Both the executive and the legislature have their roles to play in this regard.  But the big question is: Who will bell the cat?