Worsening Insecurity: Again, Senate Asks Buhari to Declare War on Terrorists

•Nigeria exceedingly troubled, says Okowa 

•Govs, speakers meet Friday 

•LCCI tasks FG to halt descent into lawlessness, anarchy

Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha, Sunday Aborisade in Abuja, Dike Onwuamaeze in Lagos and James Sowole in Abeokuta

The Senate yesterday reiterated the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, declare total war on terrorists. The upper chamber stated this at plenary, when it also observed a minute’s silence for those killed in a recent attack by bandits on Guni, Munyan Local Government Area of Niger State, which resulted in a boat mishap.

Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, added his voice to the calls for drastic steps to address insecurity. Okowa spoke yesterday in Abekuta during a private visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The governor said Nigeria was deeply troubled and needed the help of stakeholders to pull it back from the brink.

The senate noted with concern that the criminals engaged in massive killings and wanton destruction of property in Niger State, in particular, and Nigeria, in general. It directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials and medical teams to the surviving victims.

The resolutions of the senate were sequel to a motion, titled, “Recent Bandit attack in Guni, Munyan Local Government Area of Niger State, resulting to Boat Mishap.”

The All Progressives Congress (APC) senator for Niger East, Senator Sani Musa, sponsored the motion.

Musa came under Order 42 of the Senate Standing Order, as amended.

He said, “The Senate notes that a boat conveying residents of Guni town capsized in Guni-Zumba River, killing about 20 persons escaping attacks by bandits in Niger State; notes also that the victims, including women and children from Guni in Munyan Local Government Area, were said to have lost their lives on Wednesday morning.

“Observes that the incident comes amid attacks by gunmen across communities in Niger State, which has resulted in killings, abductions, and displacement of scores of residents; observes also that the incident occurred when bandits simultaneously invaded the two communities, forcing the locals to flee;

“Worried that the attacks by armed groups have continued in the North-west and North-central Niger State, despite repeated government assurance to address the escalating atrocities; and

“Worried also that these unscrupulous elements have continued to issue statements via radio and people, security agencies, as well as the government, are all aware of their threats and nothing is being done.”

In Abeokuta, Okowa said Nigeria was extremely troubled and needed the support of stakeholders to pull it back from the precipice.

According to a statement signed by Special Assistant (Media) to Obasanjo, Mr. Kehinde Akinyemi, the governor noted that the troubled state of the country could destroy the economy, with unsavoury consequences for the citizens.

The statement said Okowa stressed the need for all citizens and well-meaning stakeholders to come together to think Nigeria first. He said the security situation in the country was threatening the fabric of its unity, “and not something we have to play with.”

Okowa said, “The situation is getting worrisome and it’s time we all have hands on deck to be able to find solution.

“As it stands today, the APC-run government cannot alone deal with the situation and they need to find wide and a far-reaching consultation, not with those in government alone, but all stakeholders, particularly those who have been part of running this country before and now, including even religious leaders.”

Okowa said Obasanjo and other former leaders and all stakeholders, including the country’s traditional rulers, needed to be consulted to find a lasting solution to the insecurity and economic situation troubling the country. He said consultation was necessary because the situation of the country was getting messier on a daily basis.

The governor described Obasanjo  “as someone who truly understands Nigeria, saying Nigerians should be thanking God for having somebody like him.

“We need to tap from him, especially at a time like this, which will help to shape this nation. And I thanked God for the wonderful discussions that I had with him,” he said.

On his next steps after 2023, Okowa said he was yet to make up his mind on whether to contest the presidential election, saying, “Finding solution to the nation’s problem was more important than the presidential race for him.

“As at today, I have not made up my mind. The important thing is not about myself, it is about the nation, Nigeria. The future of hope.

“What level of consensus can we build in order to achieve our dream? Our dream is to see Nigeria begin to have an improvement in our security and in the level of the economy.  These are things we have not achieved at the moment.

“The country is so stressed. There is so much stress in the land, so much unemployment, so much inflation and, unfortunately, the things that unite us are badly threatened and we cannot even be sure of tomorrow. These are the things we must discuss.

“We must all come together to stop this drift at the moment, that is the type of things we should be more concerned about.”

Governors, Speakers Meet Friday over Insecurity, Other National Issues

Worried by the rising insecurity and tension across the country, governors of the 36 state of the federation and speakers of the Houses of Assembly have fixed an emergency meeting in Abuja on Friday. The meeting aims to discuss insecurity and other issues of national importance. Head, Media and Public Affairs, at the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Mr. Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja.

Bello-Barkindo said participants would brainstorm to find urgent solutions to pertinent issues of national importance.

“It is expected that executive-legislature harmony would occupy the minds of the 72 people in attendance,” Bello-Barkindo quoted the NGF Director-General, Mr. Asishana Okauru, as saying.

LCCI Tasks FG to Halt Descent into Lawlessness, Anarchy

Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) called on President Muhammadu Buhari to convene a National Council of State meeting that would deliberate on the rising wave of insecurity in the country and its implications for Nigeria’s democracy and economy.

LCCI stated that the security challenges were, “spiralling into general lawlessness and anarchy”. It called on the federal and state governments to expedite actions to restore peace, law, and order in the country before the full-scale launch of political campaigns for the 2023 general election.

It warned that if Nigeria failed to “commit to a new order and a more enabled and innovative security architecture, soon, security will suffer a heavier blow once politics takes centre stage in governance,”

LCC1 said, “The major challenge waiting for the incoming Nigerian president (likely a civilian) will be to resolve the security crisis. Still, first, we must restore and preserve law and order in Nigeria today for us to be able to hold the elections next year.”

These views were contained in a statement issued by the President of LCCI, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, on the, “worsening security challenges,” in which the chamber expressed serious concern that the current wave of insecurity in the country is having a telling impact on businesses and the Nigerian economy, adding that the trend is an apparent threat to the country’s forthcoming general elections in 2023 and its democracy.”

Olawale-Cole stated that it would be challenging to hold credible, free, and fair elections that would reflect the choices of the electorate in the face of rising insecurity in the country.

He described the terrorists’ attacks on the Kaduna airport and the Kaduna-Abuja-bound train last month as “frightening and increasingly threatening to the well-being of Nigerians.”

Olawale-Cole said,  “Also, the Global Conflict Tracker hosted by the United States Council on Foreign Relations recorded that attacks by bandits across the North-west have claimed at least 5,000 lives since 2018. Since 2009, nearly 350,000 people have been killed in the North-eastern part of the country due largely to the activities of Boko Haram Islamist insurgents. The number of displaced people in the Lake Chad Basin is about three million.   

“Insecurity in Nigeria is multidimensional and pervasive, ranging from armed banditry, kidnapping, attacks on state infrastructure, perennial herder-farmer clashes to gang violence, attacks on police stations, prisons, airports, and power transformers, inter-communal violence, ritual killings, mob justice, and casual intimidation of ordinary citizens by the law enforcement agents.”

The chamber also described what was currently going on in the South-south region, as, “an economic war as the government struggles to maintain the peace required to achieve optimal crude oil exploration for foreign exchange earnings. Nigeria earns about 80 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings from the oil and gas sector.

“There are political agitations in the South-east, secessionist agitations in the South-west. Today, we have terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping in the northern part that have taken frightening dimensions and colorations.”

The LCCI recommended, “Nigeria needs a surveillance infrastructure that is monitored in real-time to respond to emergencies and foil planned crimes. This calls for more technology deployment to gather intelligence, provide 24/7 responsive surveillance, and track persons’ movements and activities, especially in already troubled areas.”

It also identified youth unemployment as a critical factor fueling insecurity in Nigeria. The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that youth unemployment is at 42.5 per cent and youth underemployment at 21 per cent. “This is a driving factor for the insecurity crises in Nigeria. We need more jobs to engage our youths productively,” the chamber said.

The LCCI stated that Nigeria must tackle gun control crisis, where unauthorised and unidentified people possess firearms without strict control.

The chamber said, “It is estimated that more than six million small arms are in the hands of civilian non-state actors.

“Drug abuse by our youth must be curtailed, and drug traffickers adequately prosecuted and punished as a deterrent. 

“The huge amount of N2.41 trillion earmarked for the defence and security sector in the 2022 budget might have reflected the government’s commitment to resolving security challenges. We, however, need to be prudent with spending and put in place checks to prevent the diversion of funds to other uses like sponsoring political activities.”