Interrogating The Spate Of Insecurity

By Precious Atigogo

The spate of insecurity has become a course for grave concern to the Nigerian society. One of the main function of government in any clime is to ensure the security of lives and property of its citizens. Regrettably, it has become a pipe dream.

One cannot flip the pages of a newspaper comfortably without seeing mind chilling headlines as such “ unknown gunmen kill 56 persons in Enugu communities” bandits sacks communities, kill 80 persons” body of Catholic priest found dead in Edo” and the likes. This is a sad reality today!

There is high spate of kidnappings, Fulani herdsmen/farmers’ clash, bandits and Boko Haram insurgents laying waste to thousands in the North, unknown gunmen in the South-East and South-South, cult clashes, sea piracy, armed robbery operations and militancy among others too numerous to recount.

Recently, an international human rights organisation under the aegis of Centre for Democracy and Development said at least 60,000 persons have been killed in 18 Northern states of Nigeria in the last ten years due to insecurity. While 1,863 were killed in the South-East

According to the report, in the South-South region of the country, sea piracy and robbery remained key concerns as illegal bunkering, political violence, herders/farmer clashes, oil spill, cultism, marginalisation, human trafficking, ritual killing are said to be fuelling violence and insecurity.

Apparently, the growing insecurity and violence in the country is also fuelled by shifting livelihoods, circulation of small arms and light weapons, corruption and inadequate access to justice, geographic and regional dynamics as well as ideological grievances.

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Nigerians cannot sleep with their eyes closed due to insecurity; inter-state travel has become extremely difficult for fear of bandits in the North and unknown gunmen in the East. Our children are not safe in schools, workers are also not safe in their places of work, and life has become meaningless. Life is unbearable!

The resultant effect of insecurity is food scarcity, increase in prices of goods and services,extreme hunger and deprivation, Nigerians’ jetting out of the country in search of greener pastures as the likes.

In retrospect, there was a seaming sigh of relief when former President Buhari came on board, however, the insecurity level reached an all time high. Buhari left Nigeria worst than he met it. One of Buhari’s campaign promises was to reduce insecurity to barest minimum, but he failed woefully.

President Bola Tinubu has mounted the saddle barely two months and Nigerians are watching and waiting to see how he addresses this hydra-headed issue of insecurity.

To address the prevailing situation, local and national stakeholders would need to be willing to try new approaches to curtailing insecurity, as the kinetic approaches favoured by the federal government may remain a mirage.

Peacebuilding interventions are urgently needed in most, if not all, geopolitical zones to improve community cohesion in conflict-affected areas.