Follow Us on Google
The recent killing of 45 people in Lafia, Obi and Awe local government areas of Nasarawa State by suspected herdsmen, has again brought to the fore the rising insecurity across the country. Apart from those killed, several others reportedly sustained various degrees of injuries during the incident, which lasted two days.
The Nasarawa mayhem came on the heels of similar assaults on communities in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State that reportedly claimed over 40 lives. Also, the Sokoto State government recorded 23 deaths among travellers attacked by bandits in Isa Local Government Area of the state.
Within the same period, innocent travellers were burnt to ashes by suspected bandits on their way to Gayan in Kaduna State. In Jos, Plateau State, gunmen attacked a convoy of buses conveying people from Bauchi in which 22 passengers were killed. In the same vein, attacks by suspected herdsmen in the boundary area of Ebonyi/Benue, left over 30 Ebonyi indigenes dead some months ago. Other states have also had reasons to lament the loss of loved ones in the hands of criminals.
In the North East, the Boko Haram insurgency has claimed many lives and led to destruction of public and private assets. On account of the ferocity of their attacks, Nigeria has consecutively been ranked alongside Iraq and Afghanistan as the world’s most terrorised nations in the world in the last four years. The rapidity of the attacks and their successes has seemingly made the killings the norm in the country. Hardly does any week pass without gory details of Nigerians massacred by criminal elements such as herdsmen, bandits and outright terrorists.
In the first six weeks of 2021, no less than 1, 525 persons were murdered across the country, according to data obtained from the Nigeria Security Tracker, (NST), a project of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Africa programme.
The Nigeria Security Tracker monitors violence that is both causal and symptomatic of Nigeria’s political instability and citizen alienation. The data arose from weekly surveys of Nigerian and international media.
Undoubtedly, the 1,525 death figure, which covers only reported cases arising from the Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, herdsmen crisis, kidnapping, communal and cult clashes, armed robbery, and brutality of security agents among others, is conservative. Many of the attacks may have gone unreported. Even at that, the increasing number of Nigerians killed as a result of the general insecurity in the country is unacceptable. Unfortunately, efforts by the Federal Government to stem the tide have not been satisfactory. Instead of abating, the security challenge is on a steady rise.
Now that the court has declared bandits as terrorists, this is the time the government should move in and deal with them decisively. Those behind the dastardly attacks on Nigerians must be apprehended and be made to pay for their sins.
Insecurity in Nigeria has become intractable, scaring investors and inducing capital flight. When the current administration was inaugurated in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari promised to tackle insecurity, fix the economy and fight corruption. The nation’s insecurity is daily getting worse as more Nigerians are being killed. The situation is worrisome.
We agree with Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom that the boldness these terrorists are exhibiting daily across the country is a clear indication that the nation is in grave danger and stands the risk of losing its sovereignty if urgent steps are not taken to eliminate them and keep Nigeria safe again.
That is why the government should tighten the noose on those behind the attacks on the citizens. It is good that the President has given assurance that his administration is doing its best to safeguard the people and will leave no stone unturned in fishing out the perpetrators of the recurring senseless and barbaric incidents, and bring them to justice.
Apart from the unending rhetoric and constant pledge of unmasking the criminals and dealing with them, the President should walk the talk by restoring peace in the troubled zones in the country. Therefore, proactive measures to halt the menace must be put in place. The security agencies must be equipped and mobilised for them to confront the terrorists and other criminal elements tormenting the country.
