TWO weeks ago, the Nigerian nation woke up to a very disturbing development. It is not just that it happened, but the bizarre manner in which it was executed. Seventeen Nigerian soldiers were ambushed and mowed down by militants in the Okuama community in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State.
The casualties comprised a Lieutenant Colonel, two Majors, one Captain and 12 soldiers. They were said to be on a peacekeeping mission in Okuama when they were waylaid and killed.
Also, last week the Police released the names of six policemen similarly killed by characters of the same mould in Ohoro Forest in the same Delta State. They were said to be on a rescue mission to locate three of their colleagues who were reported lost in the forest. Six others are still not found after the incident.
Ambushing and slaying security operatives on duty is becoming a recurrent story across the country, particularly in the South-South and South East regions of the country. Similar but less frequent incidents occur in the north. The situation in the north could be seen from the point that soldiers and other security agencies are battling insurgency and banditry in the North East and North West.
The smooth operation of bandits, kidnappers and other violent armed groups across the country is beginning to give the impression that non-state actors have seized the soul of the country with security personnel and the masses at high risk. There is general lawlessness everywhere including the streets where hoodlums run riot and the people no longer have respect for rules and laws. This ought not to be!
It is disheartening and in some cases embarrassing that we have come to this pass as a country where the country’s security apparatus have become sitting targets for rag-tag armed agents of aggrieved and entitled entities. In the past, we have had similar gruesome killings in Zango Kataf in Kaduna, Odi in Bayelsa and Zaki Biam in Benue States, which led to violent reprisal attacks by the military. There have also been frequent ambushes and fatal attacks on government security agents on duty in Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Anambra and Delta States.
It is becoming obvious that violent non-state actors claiming some entitlements are being given energy to now operate with impunity by their sponsors while being remotely encouraged by some groups parading as civil society organisations. Who are these sponsors? Who are these uncivil society organisations? They walk the highest and lowest corridors of power in plain sight across our country with impunity, and our mechanisms of justice are often reluctant to touch them.
The government must take a decisive step to halt this nonsense now and deal decisively with sponsors and promoters of these violent groups that have seized the land. People and entities must not be allowed to hide under some phony fundamental rights and assumed deprivations to disturb the rest of society.
It has become customary for people and organisations to make excuses for very serious infractions in society, even those that cause tension and apprehension. No excuse is good enough to attack and kill members of the country’s security forces, and no action should be considered too harsh for perpetrators and their sponsors. Whatever action is taken against perpetrators of these mindless acts must be deterrent enough. At the same time, by no means should the military visit vengeance on the innocent communities where these lawless groups operate. Too often has the military responded to these crimes by imparting massive human rights violations on the very citizens they are supposed to protect. Thus the people caught in the middle become double victims.
A country’s armed force is its pride. When it is reduced to sitting ducks by rag-tag armies of non-state actors as it is happening now, the country has lost its pride. It has surrendered its authority to insurgents and criminals. The country must regain its pride, irrespective of the reason for the existence of violent groups.
For starters, government should be worried about the number of arms-bearing groups in the country. Even the registered ones outside the conventional forces are filled with characters whose integrity cannot be vouched. Some of the characters enlist for various reasons and use the cover of such organisations to have access to arms and ammunition which they deploy for their selfish purposes. It is high time government carried out a comprehensive interrogation of all arms-bearing organisations in the country and streamlined their operations, bringing them under government regulation and oversight, with stringent control of arms allocation and use.
The events of the past two decades, where armed groups ride roughshod against state actors and society, are enough reasons for government to move decisively against such actors. Some vested interests within society cannot continue to hide under some excuses of deprivations to unleash mayhem and become a distraction to the state and government. The menace of these actors, including those of desperate politicians, has wreaked havoc in several communities and stalled development in several parts of the country. Some claim to be fighting for the same people they have put under siege. No country grows and develops where every Tom, Dick and Harry wields arms and holds society to ransom at the slightest provocation – real or imagined.
Government must desist from treating criminal elements of whatever description with kid gloves. Those who take up arms against the state must be seen and dealt with as insurgents. Giving amnesty to such characters for whatever reasons seems to have emboldened others who also expect such treatment when they cross the red line. Their sponsors and supporters, through financial backing and advocacy, must be told in strict terms that the government would no longer tolerate such indulgences because the people suffer the fallouts at the end of the day. Democracy must not be seen and regarded as a licence for impunity.
Government must also address those issues that give impetus to the sprouting of such groups, beginning with its own failure in providing security, economic growth and top-to-bottom anti-corruption efforts. It would be hamstrung to take decisive actions against insurgents if there are subtle triggers for their existence. Again, no reason is good enough to take up arms against the state and society. Those who do so must be ready to face the consequences, and government must be decisive about it if it is to remain relevant.
At the same time, the military and police must observe the highest standards of human rights in their counter insurgency efforts – flattening villages in reprisal attacks will only foster more violent reactions. It must be pointed out that there are other avenues to resolved disputes, no matter the grievance or level of provocation; resorting to arms is only an extremist option. Such options often turn out to be championed and sustained by vested interests rather than for the common good.
The country spends a lot of money to train personnel of the armed forces and cannot continue to lose such competencies in the hands of vested interests that have no regard for the state and its people. It should be pointed out here that apart from being members of the armed forces, the personnel belong to families and have responsibilities to such families. They are not robots in military fatigues to be shot at and brought down like decoys, simply because of whatever aggrievement.
The slain soldiers were laid to rest at the military cemetery in Abuja on Wednesday where President Bola Ahmed Tinubu vowed to hunt down and bring the perpetrators to justice. Already, the Defence Headquarters has declared eight persons wanted in connection with the Okuama madness. What happens to the perpetrators of this despicable act will determine how serious government is in protecting both the personnel of the armed forces from wanton attacks and the people from persistent abductions and violent visitations.
As demanded by the Nigerian Guild of Editors, government at all levels must intensify efforts in addressing the various security challenges across the country in line with the statutory requirements of protecting the life and property of citizens.
The armed forces deserve the respect of all and sundry as they go about their statutory responsibility of protecting the nation and its people. Personnel of security agencies must also conduct themselves and carry out their activities with integrity and decorum. Government must curb the spate of lawlessness that has taken over the land. Rules and laws are scarcely obeyed across board, and we risk hugging Thomas Hobbes’s state of nature if government fails to act decisively now!
