Starting The Real War Against Insecurity

Last Wednesday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced a nationwide security emergency and ordered additional recruitment into the country’s armed forces. Apart from authourising the army to recruit more personnel, the police are also to recruit an additional 20,000 personnel to bring the total number to 50,000. To demonstrate the commitment of his government to providing enough officers to take charge of the security situation that is gradually overwhelming, Tinubu ordered the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to withdraw police officers attached to Very Important Persons (VIPs). Through that singular order, over 11,000 policemen and women are now back to their duty points of safeguarding the security of our country.

This Time Around

The president did not only stop at that; he gave a marching order to the Department of State Service (DSS) to deploy trained forest guards to flush out criminal elements occupying the forests. In the president’s words: “The DSS also has my authority to immediately deploy all the forest guards already trained to flush out the terrorists and bandits lurking in our forests. The agency also has my directive to recruit more men to man the forests. There will be no more hiding places for agents of evil. My fellow Nigerians, this is a national emergency, and we are responding by deploying more boots on the ground, especially in security-challenged areas. The times require all hands on deck. As Nigerians, we should all get involved in securing our nation”.

Over two years since the inauguration of the Tinubu-led administration, this week’s declaration of a nationwide security emergency by the president remains the peak of the government’s resolve to deal with monsters of insecurity raging against the country. Following the schoolgirls’ abduction in Kebbi State and their subsequent rescue, including attacks on Eruku in Kwara State and the mass abduction of students in Kontagora, Niger State, these incidents have sent clear pointers that Nigeria needs help from the devastating attacks caused by terror elements.

Effective Response

As the government continues to review the security situation, it must take into consideration that the deplorable situation now provides campaign materials, ahead of 2027. With the United States President Donald Trump drawing global attention to the current killings, President Tinubu seems determined not to leave any stone unturned in dealing with the problem. That is why this week Thursday’s approval of the Nigerian team for the US-Nigeria security working group by the president holds bright prospects in dealing with terror groups in the country.

It should be stressed here that defeating terror groups can only be attained through resolving the internal contradictions that have discouraged our citizens from uniting to overcome these terror groups. Collaborating with foreign nations for technical assistance cannot be ruled out. I have always believed, as I do now, that Trump’s declaration of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) was a divine intervention to halt the culture of bloodshed in the country. Since Trump’s designation of the country as CPC, terror elements seem to have activated attacks to prove a point, but the real intention is to showcase their invisibility in causing damage. In the end, the world is now getting to know that the mass killings and the global outrage have remained effective in moving the government to act fast.

Beyond The Present

It’s cheering that certain measures are being put in place to retrieve our nation from the jaws of terror. The recent closure of Unity Schools over rising abduction cases is troubling. We cannot allow bloodthirsty brigands to continue portraying Nigeria as a killing field. We have the capacity to combat these killers and avoid our country sliding into oblivion.

For now, the proliferation of arms in the country has become the order of the day. When lawless men acquire arms to inflict collateral damage on citizens, the nation is left to bleed to death. The war against terrorists can’t be won in the air; terrorists’ firepower is on the ground. Our security forces must review measures to defeat the murderers on the ground. Spending billions of dollars to acquire sophisticated jets to bomb the forests is not enough. We must never continue to be a laughing stock among the comity of nations.

Deploying forest guards to flush out terrorists is key, but we must avoid a situation where the guards are infiltrated to undermine their efforts. Communities under attack should be involved in the protection of their forests. Each state must be allowed to introduce vigilante groups to avert further bloodshed in the country. More than this, the northern leadership must align with Tinubu’s administration in reining in the destructive prowess of these criminal elements. As Senator Shehu Sani said, the killers and victims are mostly northerners. A return to the past is unavoidable if we are serious about averting the incoming Armageddon.

The import of Tinubu’s declaration of a nationwide security emergency carries with it the possibility of annihilating the firepower of the enemies of the state. For insecurity to be fought, those whose security is under threat must be involved. The president should never rescind his decision on the deployment of security personnel to VIPs. At least, some of the VIPs can employ jobless youths and train them to provide security services for these big men and women. There are bright rays of hope emerging from the dark tunnel of the past, but insecurity has blighted Tinubu’s measured achievements and led his critics to cast aspersions on the government’s achievements. The government should ensure that these dealers in bloodshed are not provided with the oxygen to throw our country into chaos through their dastardly crimes.