By Sam Kayode
Looking through my binoculars, I have observed that most residents in Nigeria are so used to the old ways of doing things which is tied to quick fixing and short cuts to almost every challenge of life.
This is why most think that mere agitation for the release of one set of captive will be the end of this lingering sing-song that has been let loose in the land by theses scare cat criminals called bandits.
“Release our students” for instance has become a mere social album released intermittently because even the political leaders are busy trying to solve this damnation in a quick fix manner from the head instead of permanently from the root.
This is why abductions have become a commercial business run by bandits who have no respect for our security operatives because they do not dominate the landscape as in other climes using men and materials.
The interagency corporation in terms of intelligence sharing has equally become so weak since 1999 that the policy itself has deteriorated to a mere chorus either in a staccato or crescendo format to suit the ears of foreign watchers like the Americans who seem to care.
We also know that the disparity between the vocal range of the Department of State Service (DSS) and the military is so wide that it will take the grace of God for them to continue to sing in harmony as was preached by General Chris Musa before he was dropped as Chief of Defense staff.
Until they all find their bearings by working harmoniously, these criminals extorting Nigerians in the savannah will continue to have their say with impunity.
Abductions and kidnappings will surely linger for a long time until this government swallows its pride and requests for massive help from willing friends or mercenaries to take out these criminals in the bush once and for all.
What will it profit the residents if the people of Ngoshe is freed today and another retired military personnel is picked up in Kankara, Matazu or even Borgu tomorrow. It would be a case of one step forward and two steps backwards.
And they always check out for our loopholes and grab vulnerable people after some respite. Who will stop them?
Very few State actors within the general security network bother about taking these criminals out of their hide outs as long as their loved ones have been freed from their grips.
These urchins can continue to stay in the savannah and now some parts of the rain forests in the South West of the country carrying out their criminality on vulnerable people to make them cry.
Some of the residents they have humiliated include political, military and traditional rulers and they don’t care a hoot about our common humanity.
Yet the Federal government in the last eleven years continue to treat their known sponsors like sacred cows who should not be touched.
Desperate cries for the establishment of state police which will master their known terrain under the control of the sub nationals is being treated with kid gloves by those who should speed up the process in the National Assembly.
Ignorant observers create fears about how Governors will utilize the outfit as weapons of control and all manner of figments in their poisoned imaginations. But come to think of it, is it not better for the sub nationals to control the vast expanse of forests in their states where the federal police has failed in the last three decades or more? Why the unnecessary delay and injection of misinformation concerning the formation of state police which has been long overdue? Is the funds needed for each state to establish its own outfit up to how much has been taken from our commonwealth in the last three decades? Why are people in authority so wicked in the way they manage the followership in this country?
For some of these reasons, I don’t believe that the release of captives in Kwara this weekend will ever stop another set of residents from being captured in two weeks time from Zamfara.
This is because these criminals will always get more vulnerable people to monitor especially in our largely unmanned forest terrain and pick them up like hawks clutching their preys in their claws.
Poor residents, desperate to free their loved ones empower these criminals with “anything they want” under the sun besides humongous amounts of cash making them richer by the days.
It’s a very sad reality that any layman can see the lacuna in our various communities for easy capture of our people because of the way our security architecture is designed.
Off course the bottom line of all this hide and seek game is the demand for more money because the whole phenomenon has become an industry for the criminals who keep prospering while fighting for a “known cause” against the rest of us.
From Boko Haram to Lakurawa, Biafrans and even Islamic State of West African Province (iswap) fighters, they all have fixated known causes not hidden to keen observers in the country.
And if the collection of ransom in cash, motorcycles, foodstuffs and many other mundane food items like Biscuits and chewing gums must stop, an extra amount of trained intelligence manpower must by injected into the security services as a beef up.
Where the Federal Police can afford only 10,000 personnel to a state, the state may be able to recruit twice that amount of personnel to serve it’s regional interest.
A rich state like Lagos can afford up to 50,000 personnel in its State Police kitty with almost half of that figure embedded in the intelligence update arena.
That is why need more police presence and dominance in our internal security networks. And with the latest appointment of Major General
Adeyinka Famadewa retired as special adviser on homeland security to oversee and coordinate internal security and intelligence integration across the country, the stage should be set for a better and real time liaison of intel between the sub nationals and some of the lackadaisical federals who still believe in doing things the same old ways they were taught 50 years ago.
How to stop these criminals from prospering from the blood of Nigerians
Security managers have to stop doing things the same way they are used to doing them after the civil war and move to the next known level of sophistry.
The key intelligence people must move from manual to the highest form of digital sophistication and collaborate with the big players in the world to get results.
The military intelligence and the cyber tech squad must increase their romance with each other. Above all the military boots on the ground has to be hurriedly increased to at least 500,000 men in the army alone so they can dominate our porous borders where these criminals walk in to destabilize the country.
The Nigerian Air Force and navy can share the remaining boots air marked for 250,000 men each ready to protect a population of at least 250 million people before the end of 2036.
Again, the, trainers in the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA) for instance should go beyond the conventional ways they are used to doing things and incorporate asymmetric formations into their curriculum the way institutions like West Point and Sandhurst have done even before the commencement of the rebellion against organized governments by extremists in many parts of the world.
The earlier the better for our security network which is heavily appropriated in trillions of naira yet grossly underfunded each fiscal year. This gives rise to the inability of defense managers most times to being unable to buy the basic and advanced Intel equipment for utilization to fight back.
Nothing stops the aviation corp of the army to have in their possessions hundreds of sophisticated helicopters which will do justice to commanders whenever they need them to take out bandits in the bush.
Their funding should be done specifically by trust funds meant to support the Intel services in the security services.
Even when the British and American troops on ground have been enabling our personnel with some of these rare equipment within the last decade, the effect in terms of optics is minimal compared to a situation where our men will own and operate theirs.
For us residents who live and work in the “Hadin Kai” theatre, we know that the British have been doing their best with theses Intel supports but it has never been enough to cover even 10 percent of the vast forests which stretches from Samibisa up to the Tumbus islands of the lake Chad or way beyond the Mandara mountains down to the central African region.
Most commanders in the Frontline have operated under a trial and error basis when it comes to discerning critical Intel. But thank God, the collaboration with the Americans have started yielding tangible fruits beyond some reasonable doubts.
Key intelligence agencies have to start acting in real time to save more lives if they are supported with these expensive equipment to respond to assist the ten agencies now dishing out intels to the national security adviser.
This is because responding in real time is key to stop these criminals from their lingering operations in the country. Consequently, it is only the right intelligence that can take out the estimated 30,000 criminals the Americans alerted the nation about and not necessarily brute force known to the military.
These people use asymmetric tactics meaning that they operate against known convention of warfare created verbally or through fixated policies.
Our dedicated operatives also have to stop clamoring for half bread by ensuring that our political servants in government like the state service boys and service Chiefs go after and take out all 30,000 of the criminals as has been revealed by those who have the right equipment to see the bandits as they roam about our bushes with impunity.
Mark my words if the security operatives do not move to the next level in terms of Intel sharing and management, many more will have to be abducted. Hundreds more will suffer in the process and die before the next June 12 democracy day.
And please don’t ever ask me why. Nigeria has a lot of fixing to do in the security sector for residents to sleep with both eyes closed.
Sam Kayode writes from Maiduguri
