For close watchers of developments within Nigeria, the recurrence of various shades of security threats, points to an unstable state, which has failed to master the task of keeping its territory safe. Apart from the regular violent crimes, such as armed robbery and kidnapping, which continually undermine human security, uprisings of much more destructive dimensions, have kept the security apparatus stretched beyond its limits. With the activities of the militants in the oil bearing Niger-Delta for instance, the state had no answer. The genuine decade-old agitations of the marginalised region, which began right before Independence were left unattended to. By the time things got out of hand with the bombing of pipelines and the militant attempts to collapse the oil economy, government concocted a half-hearted amnesty programme.

The programme managed to settle the agitators in the creeks, but failed to address the human development issues that gave vent to the militancy in the first place. Government, with the clear absence of strategy and a framework for sustaining the fragile peace, gave the impression that the target of its deal making in the case of the amnesty programme was to restore normal oil production. The real objective was therefore not the resolution of the Niger Delta crisis, but it was clear that the amnesty was a carrot to ensure robust and interrupted revenue generation from the sale of oil. As such, when monies began to pour into the national coffers at a rate good enough for the profligate elite, the state did not deem it necessary to address the fundamental causes of the militant uprising. There was no attempt to give a facelift to the rustic infrastructure in the region giving the nation’s its oil wealth. It was therefore only a matter of time before aggrieved elements found a way to mutate, and return to haunt the state. The current rumblings in the region have again forced government to the table to begin another viscous cycle of buying peace, for black gold to keep flowing.

It was the same ostrich approach that was adopted when the Boko Haram uprising currently ravaging the North East began to gather steam. Many in government considered the nascent terrorists as minor irritants deserving no serious attention. The State failed to take notice when the group began to question the legitimacy of Nigeria as an entity by planting subversive and extremist ideas in the minds of young citizens in that part of the country. Those in charge of governance were not circumspect enough to realise that the information gap in many communities in the North East, had left a void for enemies of the State to exploit. When radical hotheads began sowing ideas that excoriated the corporate foundations of the State, there were no counter ideas. What more, the absence of good and participatory governance further alienated the people, who became the target of the hate messages of deranged groups such as the Boko Haram Sect.

Government lethargy allowed terrorist unfettered ground to push sinister themes like the depraved notion that Western education is forbidden. Similarly, because the security architecture was not conversant with the emerging patterns, and could make no projections, no one bothered to draw up a robust counter insurgency plan with an emphasis on civic outreach. The security architecture was caught napping when the seeds of violent extremism, which had been planted for years began to yield devastating outcomes. As things stand today, Nigeria is counting monumental losses in terms of human lives, displaced citizens in the millions, as well as the prohibitive cost it would take to begin rebuilding the war-ravaged areas of the North East. Ironically, the governance philosophy is still yet to come to terms with the root causes of these kinds of challenge of state authority, which have seriously set the nation back in several respects.

As if doomed never to learn from the experiences of even very recent upheavals that undermine national security, the same cavalier approach is already being adopted in the North West. Particularly in Zamfara State, for many years, the activities of cattle rustlers, marauding gangs and other freelance criminals have been a constant feature. The intensity of the activities of these gangs is fuelling suspicion that there is a nexus between the ongoing efforts to pin down the insurgents in the North East and the upsurge in attacks by criminal gangs in communities in Zamfara State. On a constant basis, communities are being invaded, and scores of people killed, with no response real enough to deter further attacks.

The latest in the disturbing onslaught is the attack by gunmen on the villages of Gusau, Maru, Maradun and Shinkafi Local Council, where 60 persons, including two policemen reportedly lost their lives. It was also reported that 46 were abducted, just as the invaders were said to demand the return of 400 cows, which had been hitherto rescued from rustlers around the axis. From their mode of operations, these criminal groups are not hiding the fact that they sense government is weak, and incapable of giving them a fight. The outlaws must have also studied the system of policing with the conclusion that the distance between the command centre and the scene of their criminal activities would make effective law enforcement very challenging.

Nonetheless, the real mystery that the security agencies must begin to unravel involves answering the question about where these criminals are coming from. With Nigeria’s porous and largely under policed borders, there is the theory that famished elements from the Sahel are making inroads to the country, and are violently harassing settled communities. When it is also considered that the problem of climate change has impacted seriously on livelihoods around the Lake Chad axis, there would be no doubt that criminality will be on the upsurge. Beyond these is the problem of unoccupied territories, vast track of lands, which could likely be the base from which criminal elements have been launching their destructive attacks. Boko Haram has already set the trend with its encampment in the notorious Sambisa forest, until the fight was taken there to dislodge it.

Experts reckon that there are several tracks of similar vast lands, which are unoccupied by communities that have become refuge for those engaged in criminal enterprise. In the past, these places, which are now haven for the underworld used to be policed using periodic drills by the military or excursions by para-military organisations. Through such activities as endurance treks to these isolated parts, control is maintained, and those with criminal intentions are deterred because agencies of the state come in periodically to stamp their authority. These days however, such drills hardly happen anymore. As such, the criminals are allowed space to settle, plan and execute their heinous deeds, only to return to base and enjoy their booty undisturbed. Aided by poor transport and communication infrastructure the underworld has been having its field day, as law enforcement is challenged in these kinds of difficult environments.

Unfortunately, the plight of citizens bearing the brunt of these heinous acts is made more harrowing by the fact that these dastardly acts would always be repeated. It is a situation in which the victims cannot have a closure because as one injury is about to heal, another is inflicted in quick succession. And because there are no oil pipelines or resource related infrastructure in those areas to protect, the response of the state to the continuous killing of innocent citizens has been at best perfunctory. In fact, communities have been left on their own at the mercy of bloody thirsty gangs.

These justify the calls for a change in the policing model. The Nigerian state has no excuse for the continuous loss of lives; if the current policing system is not suitable for the task of containing the wave of killings, then the system should be tweaked immediately. No matter what is said about the constraints, it remains clear that the security of lives and property is a fundamental responsibility of government. If it continues to fail in that responsibility, it sends a subliminal message to citizens in such disturbed places like the communities in Zamfara that self-help is the viable option. Unfortunately, by its nature, self-help has its consequences, which could be as bad as the problem it sought to address in the first place.
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