ABUJA – Some security experts have called for the government political willingness, sophisticated weapon and establishment of National Anti-Terrorism Court to end insecurity in the country.
The experts made the call on Saturday during the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) National Security Summit, themed “Building a Resilient Nation: Strategic Partnerships for Peace, Stability and National Development” in Abuja.
The Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal, Mai-Nasara Kogo, who expressed concern over the rising insecurity in the country, proffered some security strategic principles for the government to adopt.
Kogo said, “It’s necessary for one to peak interest going by the constitutional provisions under sections 21, 22, 23, and 24. Citizens are to partake and to institutionalise interest in what affects them.
“And what affects Nigerians now more than ever before under sections 14 of section 1 and 14 of section 2 of the constitution is the sovereignty of the people.
“The sovereignty lies in the ability of the government to discharge the number one fundamental mandate of governance, which is insurance of security of lives and properties of the citizenry.
“So, therefore, it is very germane on me to partake in showing my interest, especially owing to the fact that it is seemingly intractable for the security agencies to really resolve. I have been advocating for this for over 20 years.”
The legal practitioner said he unveiled nine-point strategy on how to bring about panacea to what he called “homunculus monster”, insecurity.
“If we can apply those nine things, let me mention them briefly. Number one is the government political willingness to deal with the monster.
“The number one factor is for the government to be prepared. How can the government be prepared? We should see the government visibly penalising those governmental officers saddled with the responsibility.”
He said the immediate past administration used billions of naira to purchase Tucano aircrafts, drones and organised a retreat in Kaduna to unveil the drones.
“We were informed that even if it’s a rat in the bush, they will be able to see it, and the drones had the capacity to move in a speed with which to be able to relinquish, to quench down whatever is the problem.
“We have not seen that active. Where are those equipments?
“And then how about the accusations being levelled by the insurgents themselves that they have some accomplices. They have some people that they are collaborating with within the armed forces.What has been done to them?
“How about the number of trucks that have been apprehended, container loads with arms and ammunitions, with camouflaged uniforms, with cartridges, with a lot of things.
“We have not seen anybody being penalised on that. How about those that are slaughtering on daily basis, innocent citizens that have dispersed towns and villages? We have not seen physically what has been done to some of them.
“So, government should be prepared to deal with this squarely,” Kogo said.
According to him, there is need to establish National Anti-Terrorism Court so that it will be a judicial panel.
“Whosoever is found devoid of unnecessary legal technicalities should be sentenced to death. We should be prepared to inflict death penalty.
“Also, we have to really look into our security architecture. Our number of security forces, the military, the police, all the paramilitary agencies are just a little above one million.
“How can one million security forces be able to guarantee security for 230 million Nigerians? Government should be prepared to beef up the numbers.”
The tribunal chairman added that government should be prepared to bring numbers commensurate with the population.
“Government should be prepared equally to bring about superior weaponry to the members of the armed forces that are sacrificing their lives in this fight. Superior weaponry is needed.
“In a situation whereby bandits are allowed to be going about with their AK47 and then our policemen are using sticks, definitely it’s not fair, it’s not commensurate. We need superior weaponry to be able to deal with them.”
According to Kogo, there is need to bring back the functional institutionalised local government system of administration under section 7 of the constitution.
“State governments have taken away local government system of administration.
“The governors have emasculated the local government system despite the federal architecture’s repeated pronouncements of the independence and liberation of the local government.
“When you take it away, that thing that will fill up the vacuum will be insecurity, will be general unemployment, will be a lot of things that the presence of the local government used to fill up.”
Kogo also decried the porosity of the nation’s borders, urging the leadership of the Nigeria Immigration Service to redouble its efforts to contain the menace.
“We have to look at our borders. There are over 10,000 porous borders in our district.
“Our immigration officers should leave the comfort of their air-conditioned offices in the metropolis, should go and mount our borders.”
He also underscored the need for the country to have a good robust relationship with its neighbouring countries.
“We should be able to take terrorism as a matter of international concern. We should be able to trace from where are they bringing up the weaponry.
“We should be able to trace that one and use international criminal court and international police interpol to be able to deal with their international collaborators.
“Apart from that, government should be prepared to really work out support for this type of civilian JTF.
“If we can apply these principles, we will have a solution to the insecurity problems.
“I have been advocating for this for 22 years, but up to now, the inability of the government to admit this type of advice, to put them into practical solutions, is another thing.”
Also speaking, Rep. Biodun Omoleye, a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Ijero/Ekiti West/Efon Federal Constituency, called for the decentralisation of security agencies, to boost their presence at the federal, state and local government levels.
According to Omoleye, the time has come for Nigeria to fully democratise the security system, for it to be effectively delivered on the mandate that we expect.
“As a member of the National Assembly, we are working on a bill now that will bring about state police for the very first time. And this is the practical democratised move to decentralise policing in Nigeria.
“It is when security is decentralised that it can be effective. The over-centralisation that we are currently practising is ineffective.
“Besides, the burden of policing is too cumbersome for a police with a demography that is inappropriate to the entire national population,” he said.
In his address of welcome, Muhammad Bara’u, Deputy National Director of Administration, CJTF, said the directorate remained committed to ensuring organizational structures continue to function effectively, with professionalism, integrity, and respect for due process.
Bara’u said over the years, the Civilian JTF has continued to grow through the commitment and sacrifice of patriotic Nigerians who believe that security is everyone’s responsibility.
“Across various parts of the country, our members have continued to support lawful efforts aimed at promoting peace, protecting lives and property, and strengthening cooperation between communities and relevant authorities.
“As the Directorate of Administration, we recognise that no organisation can succeed without a solid administrative foundation.
“We have continued to strengthen our internal systems by improving personnel records, enhancing communication among commands, supporting organizational development, promoting discipline, and encouraging transparency and accountability in our administrative processes.” (NAN)
