By Musa Ilallah
It is true that the country has witnessed an upsurge of criminal activities in the last six months or so. It may also appear that security agencies are overwhelmed in a way by such incidents because of their wide spread in the country.
From the North to the South, from the East to the West, the story has invariably been very gloomy with insurgents, bandits, cultists, kidnappers, cattle rustlers, murderers, armed robbers, unknown gunmen, cyber criminals/internet fraudstars and all sorts of criminals unsettling the country with hundreds of lives lost and properties worth billions of Naira destroyed and billions of Naira stolen.
Others are Imo, Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi in the South East. In the South South, States affected are Delta, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Edo, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom. In the South West States hit are Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ekiti.
The bottlenecks however are far from hiding their ugly heads out of sight. From the cries of insufficient budgetary allocations for security agencies to reports of allegations of sabotage and compromise by those charged with the responsibility to execute the war, either in the battle front or off the field, there is an increase in crime recently. Others include allegations of tacit support by some members of communities being on the payroll of criminals serving as informants.
Their comments are rather drumming up rhythms of war, disintegration, break-up of the country thus over heating the polity. Such comments by any interpretation are not only uncomplimentary but they are also views that should not be allowed to go without response by government since they are capable of endangering the current democracy being practiced in the country.
“Herdsmen attacks: Buhari part of Fulani agenda to conquer Nigeria, Tiv youths allege”, Daily Post 1/5/21; “Presidential Villa empty, Nigeria’s future must be discussed-Oby Ezekwesilli” in Daily Post of 1/5/21; “Buhari must do something or else we will take the law into our hands, Niger Delta youth leader declared”, Austine Media of 1/5/21.
One can confidently and without any fear of contradiction say that such comments are not only undemocratic but also deliberate attempts to drag the country into the mud and consequently cause disunity and anarchy in the country.
It is well noted that patriotic and well meaning Nigerians from all walks of life and across all the divides reacted in choruses angrilly to such comments that are capable of plunging the country into a major crisis that would be difficult to contain. According to them such comments amount to a call for a take over of a democratically elected government through means other than constitutionally recognised election through the ballot boxes conducted by INEC.
The group urged Nigerians to rally behind their President and support the Armed Forces against terrorists and criminals while denouncing voices of chaos and anarchy calling for the President’s resignation or impeachment.
The current security challenges are not insurmountable. The Armed Forces of Nigeria in partnership with other security agencies are working assiduously to ameliorate the challenge, Onyeama Nwachukwu, Nigeria’s Acting Director Defence Information further stated.
The DSS, in the strongest terms, warned past political and religious leaders calling for “forceful change of government or mass action against it and cause disintegration of Nigeria” against doing so. It condemned the unsavoury statements by misguided elements who have continued to threaten the government, sovereignty and corporate existence of this country.
From all indications those calling for PMB’s resignation or impeachment are reading a script by unpatriotic Nigerians and their likes, led by the opposition PDP towards destabilising the polity for them to reap where they did not sow as we approach 2023.
It is therefore not surprising that the Presidency categorically stated that the opposition party is working with disgruntled external forces comprising of religious and past political leaders to overthrow President Buhari’s government.
A statement signed by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity explained “further unimpeachable evidence shows that these disruptive elements are recruiting the leadership of of some ethnic groups and politicians round the country to throw it into turmoil. This has further confirmed that there are political undertones to the recent attacks on the government under the guise of worsening insecurity in the country. Conclusively, the hues and cries about insecurity today are targeted at derailing the Buhari administration.”
Another commendable approach to boosting the deadly blow to insecurity was the establishment of a National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the country. The centre will serve as an institutional mechanism for policy guidance, research and monitoring of all aspects of small arms and light weapons as part of an ongoing restructuring of Nigeria’s security architecture.
The consolation is that government is not only disturbed with increase in crimes in our midst but also religiously pulling all it’s human and material resources to deal with the current security challenge bedeviling the country