INSECURITY: CSO calls for state of emergency
Apparently irked by the security situation across the country, a civil society, Coalition of Society for Safety of Life has called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency on security at all levels.
This according to them is because of prevalent kidnapping and banditry that are fast spreading across the length and breath of the country. The organisation during its annual press conference declared that Nigeria is under siege from assorted criminals and safety of lives is becoming a mirage. ‘No part of the country is immuned at the moment’ the coalition declared.
Amid economic adversity, widespread poverty and anxiety, criminals are tormenting Nigerians and overwhelming the security apparatus. Many girls and young women are currently being held by bandits in Zamfara, Katsina, Borno and Kaduna states.
In September, gunmen kidnapped 11 people travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on the Ugbokolo/Otukpa federal highway. It was the second time in one week that gunmen would intercept Benue Links buses and kidnap passengers. On September 10, no fewer than 10 passengers in two buses were also kidnapped on the Ajaokuta/Okene Road.
The Christ Apostolic Church Nigeria some weeks ago advised its members to stop travelling in branded buses. This followed the interception and kidnap of 25 of its choristers by gunmen on September 29 at Ifon, Ose Local Government Area, Ondo State.
While the police rescued eight of those abducted within hours, the remaining victims regained their freedom only on October 6, after their families paid a combined ransom of N50million ransom. A music band also suffered a similar fate on Lokoja-Abuja road before they were rescued a week after an undisclosed ransom was paid.
For Mrs Omolara Osunkoya, a Lagos resident was a victim of kidnapping in a scenario known in local parlance as OneChance. She attributed her escape to divine intervention as she narrowly escaped death along with three others from a forest in Ada, Osun state. She was said to have ran away from her abode in Lagos as repeated kidnap has also been witnessed in recent times.
Sources confirmed that incidents of kidnap through the notorious OneChance operation has been on the rise in recent times, while many were unreported to the security establishment. It seems citizens carry their crosses alone with no visible solution in sight.
While the family of Omolara were happy she returned alive, the story of a teenager kidnapped in a similar circumstance at Isheri was disheartening. After two weeks of searching for her whereabouts, her corpse was later found deposited in a bush in Ogun state.
Like an epidemic, military men are also not spared from this insecurity situation, daredevil gunmen kidnapped a retired army general, R.C Duru, in Owerri, Imo State, and took him and his Mercedes Benz SUV away. The vehicle was later found abandoned in Mbaitoli while the victim has yet to be found.
Nowhere is safe; people are snatched on their farms, homes, work places, on the major and secondary roads, and in schools and hostels. Kidnappers operate in and around the Federal Capital Territory, sometimes right within the city precincts and its gated residential estates.
The hoodlums now target girls. Moving in a convoy of about 50 motorcycles, bandits last month raided a female hostel of the Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara State, and took away 30 students. Another gang this month abducted five female students from their hostel at the Federal University, Dutsin-ma, Katsina State.
SBM Intelligence reported that between July 2022 and June 2023, 3,620 people were abducted in over 582 kidnapping incidents across the country, with reported combined ransom demand of N5 billion, and an actual ransom payment of over N302 million. This figure is reckoned to be understated due to under-reporting.
IDPs centres are presently over stretched as people now abandon their homes to seek refuge at the NGOs funded centres. With that, two IDP central in Borno were recently attacked and five people reportedly killed.
While state governments claim they can no longer afford to wait for protection from an over-stretched federal police agency, they demand a constitution amendment that will afford them to establish their own security outfits, fund, equip, train and arm them adequately. More importantly, are there measures in place to cater for victims of kidnap, banditry and terrorism?
-Jite Abdul
