Acquainting citizens with tips to mitigate the claws of insecurity-induced trauma
The narratives of how Nigerians are falling prey to plots of insecurity menaces on daily basis have become troublesome. Reports of unfortunate insecurity mischiefs Nigerians are falling prey to as victims of criminal tendencies by mischievous opportunitists have continued to affirm the fact that the clogs of insecurity have become so deep seated that its resonance across the Country, paints a picture depicting a state of anarchy in which no where seems to be safe. Hence, the preponderance of criminal escapades particularly those crafted as misadventures to make money through illicit means have become hydra-headed, picturing the state where life in its primitive nature was “poor, brutish, short and nasty” as painted by the English Philosopher, Thomas Hobbes.
The perception of thoughts on the deep seated dimensions of the menaces of variant forms of escapades compounding to constitute ravages of insecurity in the Country have become so pronounced that the divergent sides pose nothing but confusion of conditions. It is observable that the complexities of social conditions appear to be taking toll of discordance with failures of societal institutions. Hence, the reality of the interconnectivity of institutions gives reflection to the prevailing woes as an expression of the defects in certain institutions springing forth negatives in other institutions. Hence, the impacts from the deficiencies of one institution with its effects on others bearing connectivity to it, are compounding with those which others portend to render the entire society in shambles.
Therefore, it has become reflective that the reflex of the downturn of the economy has posed threats to social configurations, such that the debilitating effects in reducing more individuals to resorting to illegal escapades to make ends meet, has taken troll on worsening insecurity narratives against peaceful coexistence in the Country. The claws of such mischievous escapades as high profile robbery, kidnapping, terrorism, banditry, petty-robbery/pick-pocketing and hijacking/snatching of belongings, among others, can be observed to have grown to assume deepening dimensions.
The orientation of robbery in the Country appears recently to have assumed several dimesions at varying degrees of operations. While there are those whose targets are on business entities such as banks, malls, filling stations and corporate organisations, there are those who have centralised on attacking homes. The strategies of these menaces appear to be at varying degrees with corresponding devices to plot their mischievous schemes. Even for those who attack homes; while there are those who do so by forming weapon-wielding-gangs, there are those who are more individualistic with the use of light instruments and devices for their pilfering operations by breaking through weak security barricades in homes. For this category, there are those who make efforts to penetrate homes with weak doors and windows to dispossess occupants of their mobile belongings, such as phones, laptops, iron, electronic gadgets and other moveable possessions.
There are the categories of those who could be classified as street urchins who specialise in pick-pocketing and item-snatching such as phones, bags and other snatch-able belongings while on transit, particularly in cities across the Country. Such urchins are known to be common in the metropoleis of cities as Lagos, Ibadan, Onitsha in Anambra, Sango in Ogun State, Warri in Delta, among others. Some of these charlatans could be spotted along high-ways, and market places, among other commercialised or crowded places. Taking chance of traffic gridlock has been an operating strategy they exploit. Some of them who hold light weapons use same to scare commuters to dispossess them of their belongings. There are the category of those who are specialised in car snatching with strategies to dispossess car owners of their luxuries.
The menace of kidnapping has been known to have experienced growth from kidnap-for-ritual to kidnap-for-ransom. Recently, the phenomenon has grown to an estate of misadventurous enterprise with the perpetrators demanding millions to secure the release of their victims. More recently, insecurity has become worsened with the extension of the tentacles of banditry in the Country. While insurgency of the Boko-Haram/ISWAP terrorists have lasted over a decade, the terror of bandits have recently overshadowed the cloud with turbulence which has destabilised hitherto peaceful communities across the Country. The tentacles of the menace has seen unpleasant ravages of turbulence taking toll of confusing dimensions with extending tentacles expanding to cover targets of soft spots for victims. From onslaught on farmers and their communities, bandits have recently moved to kidnapping school children and even students in higher institutions. States in the North West have recently been plunged under the ravages of the claws of banditry.
The profile of clogs of insecurity threats have become verbose in discourse. Much would be said if the menaces of organised fraud and cyber-crime, human trafficking, drug trafficking and abuse, rape and gangsterism are brought into the discourse. As the threats of insecurity menaces continue to expand with traumatising impacts on citizens in the Country, the need to employ overarching strategies to reduce the impacts on the citizenry is paramount. Since deficits in security provisions have left behind conditions under which security agencies cannot provide straight cut operations to bring immediate end to these menaces, the necessity to adopt citizenry sensitisation as a strategy to acquaint them with security tips is paramount. This is important to get innocent citizens orientated against falling prey of the preponderance of several ovulating escapades of misadventures constituting insecurity in the Country.
A development which gives resemblance to the idea is the move by the Police Public Enlightenment Campaign Forum to partner the Kaduna State Government in training 5,758 youths on intelligence gathering and curbing crime in the State.
The Chief Sheriff and National Coordinator of the forum, DSP Abdullahi Al-Asad Umar Ladan Spy, who stated this while briefing journalists in Kaduna, said that the collaboration was designed to ensure that 250 youths are trained from each of the local government areas in the state. According to him, the selected youths are also expected to be trained on community policing and electronic security technology, soft and hard wares. Disclosing that the training will commence soon, he further explained that the partnership is directly with the State’s Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Kaduna State.
The trauma, increasing number of Nigerians are subjected and exposed to by the ravages of insecurity menaces is becoming deep seated. The profile recently has assumed troublesome dimensions. The trauma suffered by those who have been kidnapped, robbed, unwillingly trafficked and abused, among others, is known not to be restricted to them alone, but also to their immediate families and loved ones. The depression that arouse from these traumatic experiences is known to live with many throughout their life time. There are those who did not live meaningfully to survive the excruciation and emaciation of such trauma. The pain caused to their loved ones constitute another potential extension of trauma and/or depression.
The effects of a traumatic population is by all means counter-productive and counter-reactive to the demands of development. It is by every means a huge drawback to development quest. Hence, since the realities of the present conditions have pose situations where the deep seated trend of insecurity escapades have become so domiciled within the societal fabrics beyond what only security agencies can handle, the need to turn to the citizens to empower them with enlightenment on how to take personal security responsibility has become sacrosanct.
In this regard, the necessity for conscious enlightenment courses to develop the sensitivity of all citizens to the nitty gritty of security threats, tips on how to identify them, guard against them and necessary steps to take to confront them, is sacrosanct. This, to a large extent, will constitute a formidable force for intelligence gathering to aid the security agencies in their operations. To this end, the deficits in the security provisions in the Country would, by and large, be covered up by the interconnectivity between the citizenry and security formations in the Country.
