President Muhammadu Buhari finally did the needful, proscribing every bandit group and officially gazetting them as terrorists. Though late in coming, it was one action that many Nigerian voices had advocated strongly. For instance, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State had been a very strong and consistent voice on this.
He has never relented in asking that those who had made themselves outlaws, picked up deadly weapons against society and in the process waived their own right to live freely, be annihilated or stamped out from earth’s surface. El-Rufai wears the shoes as governor of a state in a region where banditry has had its worst effect.
Looking at his geopolitical zone, from the office he occupies, El-Rufai sees, and knows, that only mass military action can defeat banditry. The tagging of bandits as terrorists, therefore, answers directly to his call. It vindicates him. But there is one more thing to do.
In demanding that bandits be listed as terrorist, El-Rufai had argued that the action would empower the military to move steadily towards a more conventional approach to annihilation of the bandits without fear of accusation of abuse of human rights by international groups and friends of the country. However, the massacre of 200 humans last week by bandits in Zamfara State despite the approval and deployment of military action says something about a lacuna.
That lacuna speaks to the need to engage the next gear and consider El-Rufai’s further proposal. In October 2021, the governor called on the Federal Government to, again, think outside the box, “put more boots on the ground” to engage bandits. This clearly speaks to the fact that the military is stretched and without the needed numbers. As a matter of fact, the military is engaged in almost every state of the federation and El-Rufai says “there are simply not enough boots on the ground to have credible deployments in most places to protect communities, deter crime and enforce law and order.”
This puts a strain on the military’s human resources. The implication of this is that the military may need to be repopulated in order to create the possibility of military and security personnel outnumbering bandits. El-Rufai recommends the engagement of 1,000 youths in each local government of the country to create a 774,000 strong ‘force’ that would be empowered and equipped to fight bandits and other criminal groups.
He had said: “I call for a consensus between the Federal Government and the 36 states on an emergency programme of recruitment into the security agencies. Government can change the game significantly by hiring 1,000 willing youths from each of the 774 LGAs in the country into the security agencies.
“This will be a surge in numbers that is unprecedented since the civil war. An influx of 774,000 new boots on the ground will be a significant blow against criminals and an employment boost.”
This may sound like a formalization of the numerous unconventional measures taken, and still being taken, by states to confront terrorism and criminality. As it is, almost every state of the country has created a vigilante service to assist the police and military in crime detection, prevention and even arrests of criminals. Formalizing these through a Federal Government arrangement that guarantees their job and remunerates them accordingly may actually be what is needed at this time to outnumber and subdue bandits and other criminal groups and secure the country. And, there is meaning in this too; 1,000 youths engaged from and posted to work within their locale will be a boost to the security of the country. Knowledge of the environment and understanding of the language comes handy in achieving results.
To most Nigerians, this strategy works better and could be more effective in addressing security challenge, especially with the changing dynamics of banditry and other criminal activities. For some time, bandits focused on cattle rustling in the North. But that drift has changed. It is now about kidnapping for ransom, which is also a threat in most parts of the country.
States have resources to assist the Federal Government in doing this. These states have been assisting the Federal Government in equipping security agencies with materials and logistics. I do not, therefore, think, and believe, that expanding such assistance, in the event 774,000 more boots are added to security agencies, will break the states. For a moment, I imagine the impact of all boots out on the field on simultaneous operations.
And, there is reason to do this. Banditry, and other forms of criminal activities, have had a direct negative impact on food production. It has chased farmers from their farms.
Those who couldn’t pay levies to enable them harvest their crops, as demanded by bandits, have had to abandon their crops in their farms. In many cases, bandits have had to harvest those crops and used them to feed themselves and their captives.
Many have also migrated from their local communities. The consequence is increase in food prices and a disruption of the value chain. This has been the narrative on the security of the country because government was unwilling to look outside its immediate circle for solutions. It even spurned advice freely given by others. But there is always an exhaustion point.
For good reason, therefore, the Federal Government ought no longer to go on believing that the solution to the security challenge facing the country can only come from its appointed sources.
The reality here is the obvious realization that their best has yet to achieve desired result. Looking elsewhere for solutions is not a sign of failure but a sign of the ability to learn new tricks even in old age. Man dies only when he stops learning.
Societies come to their end when they stop evolving. Every evolving society keeps itself open to new ideas and methods. That is how great societies are built. For us to come to terms with workable solutions to banditry, there is the need to saturate the space with more boots.
Outnumber the bandits, close the space and make movement difficult for them. That is one lesson to learn from Jose Mourinho when he parks the bus against opposing teams in a football match, making his defence impenetrable and scoring impossible.