By Elempe Dele, Edo.
Last week, I wrote an instructive article on ‘Nigerian Security: the Gun Control Debate’ which was published in some daily newspapers. However, in retrospection, I know the federal government that is luckwarm in the matter of security and other challenges will not pay attention to making available firemans to the vulnerable.
So we must look inward at state levels to surmount this creepy challenge that has been taking lives and hampering businesses. Just yesterday, it was alleged that the Auchi-Benin road was blocked by kidnappers, killed some two members of the local vigilante group that were out to resist them with local guns and went away with scores of travellers in a bid to collect ransom from their families. This incident is not domesticated to Edo State alone; almost all major highways and roads in the country are festering cesspools for this sorry development.
The Abuja-Kaduna highway could be likened to a highway in Kabul, Afghanistan or Yemen. The kidnappers don’t waste their times stopping cars again, they just shoot at the cars and take away the living while the dead are left for the government and their people to retrieve.
Last week, there was a survival in one of the Abuja-Kaduna attacks fortunately; he was shot in the head and the kidnappers insisted they were going to take him along but he couldn’t stand nor walk on his own so they left him along the road to die and they went with others, that’s how he was rescued minutes later.
One of the best internal security initiative in Nigeria today is found in Osun State where local hunters as a union and vigilante groups are integrated into the security network in the state. These groups are financed by the state and it seem to be a masterstroke in practical thinking towards this unimaginable security challenge that has overtaken the country.
This group has been institutionalized to complement Amotekun, the local ‘police’ created a while ago to combat crime. These hunter’s group have a firm understanding of the Osun forest, while the vigilante and Amotekun members have the urban understanding. For the hunters, no kidnappers den in the forest can flourish because it will be discovered on time and cleared.
They scan and comb the sprawling Osun forest at frequent intervals to check for criminal elements while the vigilante groups and Amotekun do the same with the cities and villages.
In addition to this, I think the Federal Government can make laws to allow these local security personnel carry the type of sophisticated weapons these kidnappers carry so that they can be effective in discharging their duties instead of handing them dane guns to fight criminals with AK47. And their renumeration should be worth the while so that members can be fully dedicated to the job just like every police employed by the government.
At this point, the governments should understand without being told the critical importance of safety as Nigeria is slowly becoming one of the worst countries to live in terms of security. It is more likely to be kidnapped than it is likely to get to your destination when traveling.
The kidnappers are swarming on all the highways looking for victims and there seem to be no solution in sight from our regular security personnels who seem to be overwhelmed by the unfortunate situation.
