Pan Yoruba group, Afenifere has said the steps needed to be taken to combat kidnapping and terrorism threatening the peace of Nigeria are within the ambit of the authorities if they are sincere and ready to stop the menace.
In a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, the foremost Yoruba group said the stakeholders have what it takes to end kidnapping and terrorism or to reduce it drastically, if they are serious.
Afenifere said the stakeholders are government, security agencies and the people, adding that an adjunct to the list is network service providers in the communication industry.
“We start from the seemingly weakest yet very significant sector, the telecommunication. A few years ago, when Nigerians were stampeded to register for the National Identification Number, Bank Verification Number as well as registering their telephone numbers and matching some of these numbers, the argument put up was that doing so would make it easier for criminals to be nabbed by security agencies.
“Years down the line, years after the registrations have taken place and years after virtually every person using or owning telephone number(s) are in the database accessible to the government, criminality and terrorism are not only still with us, they are also festering with unprecedented ferocity!”
Afenifere noted that failure to use tracking methods to nab criminals, especially those using telephone sets to communicate, is a serious indictment on those who were supposed to include such in their intelligence gathering and criminal fighting strategies.
“It is on record that police do use ‘tracking’ to trace culprits when a high-ranking personality is the victim whose high-valued phone etc. were stolen. Why the same police, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the military (Army) have not effectively utilized this important technology in fighting criminality is confounding! Yet, there is no record so far that any telecommunication company that owns the telephone line used by suspected criminals failed to co-operate with security operatives in this respect.”
The organisation stated that people in the particular area where banditry seems to have become a regular feature was the next to be addressed.
“Some victims of kidnapping have narrated that there is usually an insider or insiders in how they were kidnapped. In other words, there are collaborators.
Afenifere stated that it had already indicated that leaders in given areas need to consult among themselves and be blunt with one another – as well as with their youths.
It noted that, “As is often said, without local collaborators, it would be difficult for marauders from outside to successfully carry out their obnoxious mission and go scot-free!
“Some victims of the killings and arson in Plateau State last Christmas eve stated that they severally sent distress calls to the security agencies, especially the military, when their areas were taken over by terrorists without any help coming when expected.
That the terrorists were able to operate for so long a time and in areas covering three local governments geographically was an indictment. A similar attitude was said to have occurred in the kidnap incidents that took place in Abuja last week and previously in the neighbouring states. It was something that ought to attract sanction to prevent a recurrence,” Afenifere said.
