Insecurity: House Of Reps Seeks Answers

As constant as the northern star, insecurity hovers round the Nigerian milieu, growing from worse to worst for over the past decade.

Nobody less than the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen captured the current mood and the deteriorating state of insecurity in the country when he declared that, the events of the past week revealed a deeply troubling escalation in violence across several states.

“The last few weeks have been difficult for our country. Communities have suffered severe attacks, including killings and multiple abductions targeting civilians, security personnel and other vulnerable groups. These incidents occurred in rapid succession and affected different parts of the country, underscoring the scale and coordination of the threat we face.

“The attack in Kebbi State shocked the nation. The abduction of students in Niger State caused deep distress. The kidnapping of worshippers in Kwara State brought fear to many communities. Families are grieving. Citizens are anxious. These incidents remind us of the scale of the threat we face and the seriousness of the work before us,” Abbas said during a special plenary session on national security.

The House on Tuesday dedicated the plenary session to deliberate on the state of national security with a view to identifying the causes, effects and proffering solutions which would be conveyed via resolutions to the executive.

The special plenary, observed by officials from the United States Embassy, Speaker of the Parliament of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Hon. Lanien Blanchette, along with Members of Parliament and Cabinet Ministers, featured presentations from security related committees and regional caucuses leaders in the House.

Worried by this deteriorating security challenges, the man who might have seen it all, having served as chairman of the House committee on defence in the preceding and present Assembly, Hon. Babajimi Benson, identified some cogs in the wheel of the fight against this deadly menace and the way out.

The Nigerian security challenges have attracted global attention with the recent designation of the nation as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ by United States and indication to intervene in the carnage-like state of Nigeria.

To this end, Benson highlighted some fundamental problems stifling the success of the Nigerian military in combating and curtailing the activities of the terror groups in Nigeria and how to tackle them internally.

He underscored the fact that Nigeria’s participation in peacekeeping operations under the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) during the 1990s when the nation’s troops played leading roles in Liberia and Sierra Leone, resulting in stabilisation, peace negotiations in both nations, significantly depleted the country’s military hardware.

“The Nigerian military has excelled in many different fronts, including Liberia and Sierra Leone. We went into those countries with full force and with our full arsenal that was purchased under the regime of the late President Shehu Shagari.

“We went, we saw and we conquered, but we did something that no nation would ever do. We were honest. We went there to assist our sister nations. We did not stay to milk and make money out of their predicament. What most nations do is to recoup and replace the equipment that they expended in those countries. Nigeria didn’t do that.

“So, we are suffering from the decay of trying to replace equipment to date. It’s been a very difficult and onerous task. We have not had friends, indeed, who will support us in building the arsenal we had in the days of yore,” Benson noted.

He also alluded to France’s military withdrawal from Sahel countries as major setback for Nigeria. As a nation, we are grappling with depleted military equipment and also facing the security vacuum created by France’s exit from that volatile region known for intensified jihadist violence.

“France has left the Sahel countries and there are no boots on the ground there. The armed forces of France used to prevent ISIL and other extremists from strolling into Nigeria. They are out of that place now. And the countries there are run by military juntas.

“That’s a big problem. We also have the problem of Libya. Ever since Gaddafi was deposed, Libya has been in a sorry state. Light weapons and heavy-duty weapons have had a free-flow influx into Nigeria, thus exacerbating the original huge problems that we’re facing,” the lawmaker said.

While emphasising that no meaningful development could be attained without security, he identified some very important issues that must be addressed from the home front to help mitigate the activities of terrorists and bandits.

Benson called for improvement of the working conditions of police and armed forces; cashless policy, local government autonomy, state police and effective oversight from the National Assembly.

“Despite all these threats, we have strategic leadership. We also have strong institutions, and ongoing reforms, which include, as we speak, a grand plan to improve the welfare of the police and the armed forces.

“There is a committee set up to look into the institutions, the security architecture and institutions, the police barracks, and the training institutions. That committee is led by none other than the Governor of Enugu State. It’s a work in progress.

“Our Nigerian military is not overstretched. The responsibilities of the Nigerian military are overstretched. It is time to restore the police to their rightful place.

“As the first line of internal defense, the House Committee on Defense and other committees will collaborate with the Committee on Police to advance legislation for community and state policing with strong oversight.

“Our military remains courageous and resilient, but they must be armed not only with bravery, but with modern tools. We must immediately invest in modern warfare tools. We must immediately partner with our non-aligned friends, with America, with the EU, with China, with Pakistan,” he said.

The lawmaker acknowledged the renewed hope given by the National Security Adviser, that the American government has signed an MOU with Nigeria to assist in providing actionable intelligence towards eradicating the bandits.

Benson noted that security could only be won when information flows seamlessly and rapidly, as against when the information is used to take action. He said since research had shown that 80% of terrorist attacks in Nigeria occur in three locations: schools, religious centres and farms, it’s ideal to categorise all schools, religious centres and farms in each local government area based on their current and projected vulnerability.

“Let us never forget, security is not about how we spend on defense, but about ensuring every citizen feels safe in their home, their marketplace, and in their farmlands. We also need to secure our borders. The inflow of weapons, drugs, and foreign fighters continues to fuel insecurity.

“The House must support a strengthened border security command and an integrated border management system. The House must support the joint operations with Cameroon, Niger, Benin, and Chad. The House must support technology-driven checkpoints using biometrics and surveillance.

“We’re hoping to grow our economy into a $1 trillion economy. The process is on. Our exchange rate is stable. Our external reserve is growing, but we have frailties which have to do with security.

“Our security infrastructure stepped up for us to attain the eminence that our good qualities offer. Though a bullet can overcome a terrorist, only good governance, opportunity and inclusion can overcome terrorism.

“No doubt, we must begin to strengthen intelligence and early warning systems. We must begin with actionable intelligence. No modern security system succeeds without the ability to detect threats before they escalate. The House, with its committee, is working on this.

“The House is working on strengthening the coordination between the DIA, the DSS, the police, the NIA and state security units. The House is working assiduously to establish regional intelligence fusion centres across the six geopolitical zones.

“The House is in support of the deployment of modern surveillance technologies, drones, sensors and data analytics. We are proud of the meeting with the NSA and the trip to America. Tangible results have been gotten,” Benson added.

He pledged the defence committee’s commitment to working tirelessly with the executive, the military leadership, allies and partners to deliver a strong, modern and people-centred security system for Nigeria.

The submissions of the chairman of the defence committee were shared by the chairmen of the House committee on Police, Army, Navy, Air Force and National Intelligence who also called for improved funding, increased personnel recruitment, better equipment, collaboration and intelligence gathering as well as sharing.

Upholding these notions, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu admitted the security challenges ravaging the country and said the solution to them requires structural legislative reform, not merely reactive military responses.

Kalu observed that the Nigerian police is constrained by centralised command, inadequate funding and lack of accountability, hence the need to move the force from exclusive to concurrent list.

He said despite strong anti-kidnapping laws like life imprisonment, death penalty for kidnapping, the practise continues because it is alleged that government entities negotiate with bandits and pay ransom.

Kalu called for legal prohibition of ransom negotiation and mandating criminal justice process over amnesty programmes, stressing the need for a legislation to provide criminal penalties for government officials who negotiate ransom or authorise unstructured amnesty deals.

“Legally prohibit ransom negotiations and mandate criminal justice process over amnesty programs. Criminal penalties for government officials who negotiate ransoms or authorise unstructured amnesty deals. Mandate prosecution through criminal justice system for all banditry suspects.

“Establish transparent criteria for any future Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programmes (following proper conflict resolution protocols, not ad-hoc political deals). Create Parliamentary Oversight Committee to monitor implementation.

Federal-only policing model cannot meet diverse, localised security needs of 36 states and 774 LGAs. Let’s tell ourselves the truth. Whether we call it state police, whether we call it community police, whether we call it local government police, the need to decentralise has become very necessary. State police reform must allow Nigerian police force accountability reform to avoid replicating dysfunctional structure at the state level.

“Legislative solution required is Constitutional amendment to move policing to Concurrent List (amend Section 214 and Second Schedule): This is currently ongoing.

Critical Sequencing: State Police reform must follow NPF accountability reforms to avoid replicating dysfunction at state level.

“As a roundup, finally, these reforms are expensive. That will be the argument of some of you, I will respond by saying, the cause of insecurity far exceeds the cause of reform,” Kalu said.