Stop kidnapping before Nigeria turns world laughing stock

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THERE should be massive recruitment of Nigerians into the police force and the establishment of more police stations that should be adequately equipped not just to match the strength of the criminal gangs but to be able to subdue them. More men should also be enlisted in the armed forces and more sophisticated weapons purchased for them to boost their capacity to win the anti- terrorism war. The support of the local people is crucial in winning the war, especially in providing the security officers with information on terrorists’ hideouts and their plans. It has been alleged that some security operatives are in the habit of revealing the source of information given by locals on terrorists and other criminals and getting paid for it.

The government must devise a mechanism to detect and identify such operatives and punish them severely because their actions seriously impair and undermine the anti- terror campaign, apart from directly causing the death of innocent Nigerians. Such treasonable practice must stop. The habit of divulging or disclosing sources of information meant to lead to the arrest of criminals should be seen as an act of sabotage and should attract severe sanctions. The act destroys efforts by the government to end insecurity.

There is a need to check the influx of foreigners into Nigeria through the porous borders in the northern part of the country. It may be true that nationals of neighbouring countries, who enter and exit Nigeria freely, are part of the perpetrators of heinous crimes in the country. But our security agencies are hardly seen to clamp down on such criminal foreigners the way innocent Nigerians are harassed and detained in other countries which take the welfare and security of their nationals much more seriously than Nigeria does to Nigerians.

It is also worrisome that security agencies have not been able to successfully track ransom payments, leading to the arrest of kidnappers. This suggests that some powerful people are involved in how the ransom is easily paid to the criminals. The government should have the capacity to fish out these people aiding evil and bring them to justice. There is a clear failure of intelligence on this and other critical aspects of criminality, including how kidnappers and terrorists acquire army uniforms and sophisticated weapons.

One wonders what agencies such as the Department of State Services, Military Intelligence, National Security Agency, and the detective wings of the police are doing to justify the huge budget allocated to them annually. As the Commander- in- Chief of the Armed Forces, President Tinubu should urgently address these lapses before the country is consumed by this wave of criminality.

It must also be said that the high level of corruption in the country, in which some people acquire unmerited wealth and flaunt it in ways that provoke the envy of their neighbours, is a major cause of kidnapping. Those who perceive what is being flaunted as a commonwealth that was acquired illegitimately or fraudulently may be criminally motivated to indulge in kidnapping to get what they consider as their entitlements. Government must block all avenues through which people fraudulently acquire wealth, and promote dignity of labour among the populace. Reports of high- level corruption, especially in the corridors of power, instigate youths to take into kidnapping and other criminal acts to make money quickly. The president, governors, ministers, legislators and other government personnel should set a good example by living a moderate lifestyle, shunning ostentations, and delivering good governance with a conscious aim to lift the masses of Nigerians from poverty and want amid abundant resources.

The hardship people are going through should be sincerely mitigated. Millions of Nigerians are extremely poor such that they cannot feed themselves, provide shelter for themselves and take care of other basic needs of their families. To dissuade their minds from indulging in criminal activities to make ends meet, the government should create opportunities for Nigerians, particularly the poor ones, to generate income to provide for the needs of their families. The economy must be revived for businesses to thrive, jobs to be created and Nigerians to make money to take care of themselves without taking the path of criminality.

The fight against kidnapping in particular, and criminality in general ought to be more holistic than t he present knee- jerk measures that are often inordinately delayed, thus resulting in too little too late. In other climes that lay claim to being progressive, the government will unleash its might severely on violent criminals in a way to send unmistakable signals to other criminals that they commit crimes entirely at their own risk. There should be no room for inaction that boosts the confidence of crime perpetrators who thus become emboldened, knowing that they can go scot- free. No society permits such notions.

While it is true that the current horrible situation of crime prevalence in this country is a reflection of years of massive negligence and impunity on the part of government a nd security agencies, it is not too late for President Tinubu to turn a new leaf and begin to do those things that had been criminally left undone by successive gov - ernments. Top of those necessities is the creation of state police to secure the regions. The Nigeria Police, as presently constituted is a floundering behemoth that can scarcely respond well to mere propping with money.

Evidence of this abounds, and it is no use hoping against hope for a positive change. The policing system needs to be urgently and systematically overhauled to address the ch allenge at hand, using appropriate modern technology, and with the curried assistance of friendly, experienced and developed countries across the world. Eight months after his inauguration, time is not on President Tinubu’s side. Neither will history be kind to him that upon all the glaring mistakes of his predecessors, the president chose not to learn, but to carry on with business as usual, and thus fall by the side, with the ordinar Nigerians being the fall victims.