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Following the recent well-coordinated attacks by gunmen in three local government areas in Plateau State, which left over 200 people dead and several others wounded, some prominent Nigerians and groups have tasked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to rejig the nation’s security architecture and make it more effective in responding to the nation’s recurring security challenges.
The former President of the Senate and accomplished military officer, Senator David Mark, recently stated that the review of the country’s security architecture would help to identify the loopholes in the system and devise new strategies to end the incessant bloodshed in the country.
The retired General, who decried the mindless massacre of over 200 people of Plateau State on Christmas Eve by bandits, said the incident should serve as a wake-up call on the authorities to give the security challenge the needed attention. While stating that “it will not be out of place to declare a state of emergency on security,” Mark emphatically pointed out that “any step taken to end the continued killing of citizens will be worth the trouble.”
David Mark’s statement came at a time the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) and other groups have risen against the wanton killings of the people of Plateau State. Under the leadership of Chief Edwin Clark, the SMBLF had in a letter to President Tinubu raised the alarm that the entire Middle Belt region was currently under the siege of a certain ethnic militia, who were bent on occupying the whole region. In the same vein, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has condemned the rising insecurity across the country. It enjoined that Tinubu must show demonstrable commitment to securing lives and property in Nigeria.
The NBA President, Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau (SAN), had in his New Year message stated that “government through our armed forces and other security agencies, must ensure that no square inch of the Nigerian territory is left ungoverned; no part of Nigeria should be left under the control of criminal elements by whatever name so-called.” Maikyau also advised that “government must make deliberate investment in security, of such a scale and magnitude, which will leave Nigerians in no doubt as to the sincerity of the statement made by the president.”
President Tinubu should heed the timely advice by SMBLF, NBA and other concerned groups and frontally address the nation’s rising security challenges. The nation’s security architecture must be rejigged in terms of equipment, training and number of army and police personnel. The over-centralization of the security agencies needs to be urgently reviewed. The Police Force must be reorganized, equipped and the numerical strength increased to match our increasing population. For more effectiveness of the police force, it is imperative to have both state and community policing system. Without localizing policing, the nation’s intractable insecurity will continue unabated.
Therefore, the recurring bloodletting in Plateau State and other parts of Nigeria must be stopped forthwith. No nation will ever develop when its citizens are daily killed by bandits and terrorists or ethnic militia. Nigeria has no reason to belong to the league of the most terrorized countries in the world. Nigeria has no reason to be categorized as the world poverty capital in spite of our abundant human and natural resources.
Although the nation’s insecurity predates this administration, Tinubu should rise to the occasion because government is a continuum. Moreover, during the 2023 election campaign season, Tinubu promised, among others, to tackle insecurity and the nation’s other existential challenges. This is the right time to demonstrate that he has the capacity to tackle the nation’s rising insecurity and other problems.
The constant wailing and lamentations over the murderous attacks by bandits and terrorists may not be enough to resolve the security challenge. When Vice President Kashim Shettima visited the victims of the Plateau State massacre, he assured the people that President Bola Tinubu administration would not rest on its oars until victims of the gruesome attacks in Plateau State get justice.
Perhaps the only way they can get justice is to ensure that the culprits are apprehended, prosecuted, convicted and given adequate punishment. However, the continued killing in Plateau State after the Christmas Eve massacre does not suggest that the government will ever apprehend the culprits and prosecute them.
Under the insecure atmosphere, the probability that the victims of the heinous Christmas Eve murder will get justice is very slim. Let the President realize that without tackling insecurity, the government will likely not achieve much in other sectors.
