Bandits/Kidnapping: Stakeholders advocate synergy as panacea to end insecurity

…As Dambazau calls for urgent reform

By Matthew Denis Abuja

Stakeholders have demanded for synergy among the security agencies as panacea to end insecurity. This recommendation was made by participants of the Blueprint annual lecture including Former Minister of Defence and Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau and Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello.

On insecurity, Gov. Bello emphasized that he is synergizing with the security architectures in the state to eliminate the miscreants in the forests posing threat to peaceful existence of the people.

Recently, Nigeria was ranked 75th out of 141 countries surveyed on the 2022 global safety perception index amid worsening insecurity which continues to claim lives daily.

The Lloyd’s Register Foundation Safety Perceptions Index (SPI), produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace measured the levels of worry, likelihood, and experience of risk across five domains which are health, personal, violence, environment, and the workplace.

Nigeria had an overall score of 0.21 while for worry, likelihood, and experience it scored 0.30, 0.22, and 0.18 points respectively.

Issues around kidnapping, terrorism, communal and ethnic clashes, police violence, and criminal activities among many other problems have become rampant in Nigeria, and have significantly impacted the country in terms of economic prosperity, population, etc.

To end insecurity, the Former Minister of Defence and Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau has called for  synergy among the security agencies and reform of the Security architectures.

General Dambazau who made the keynote address as the guest speaker of Blueprint Annual Awards in Abuja  said, “The reforms of the security sector in line with the current and future security challenges are inevitable, and there are no options other than to carry them out. And the sooner we commence the process, the better.

“I believe that this should be the very first item on the agenda of the government coming in May 2023. Aside the issues or factors earlier mentioned, the reasons why these reforms are necessary are that firstly, there appears to be no synergy among the security agencies in terms of cooperation, coordination, and collaboration while carrying out their activities, rather they operate in silos with no role convergence; they hoard information; and are reluctant to share intelligence, as if they are in competition.

“There is poor security governance, making accountability and transparency almost impossible; and thirdly, there are duplication of efforts, leading to wastages of resources. According to him unsuccessful attempts at reforms have been made in the past, but using a stove-pipe approach, rather than looking at the sector holistically.

He said, “There have been several committees of police reforms that ended with reports that were left on the shelves. Today it is the military that performs most routine policing duties, and in fact this is another cogent reason why security sector reforms are necessary.

“The police are only one of the three legs of the criminal justice system, and the other two legs, the courts, and prisons, are also weak institutions, a situation that leads to poor delivery of justice, being one of the major reasons for the insecurity in Nigeria, especially in situations where victims suffer neglect.

“The domestication and implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019 would strengthen the criminal justice system by ensuring minimum delays in the investigations and trials of offenders; provide alternative means of dispute resolutions; ensure adequate rehabilitation of convicts; and provide non-custodial correctional services.

“By implication, these provisions in the Acts would lead to the reduction in prison congestion, and quick delivery of justice.”

He stressed that a significant part of security sector reforms is security governance, centered on strengthening the effectiveness of security institutions.

“One of the areas we need to focus our attention on is emergency response planning and coordination. National response to emergencies must be robust and people-centric, taking advantage of the unique competencies and resources of each entity at all levels. If we had effective and integrated system that responds to national emergencies, the terrorists would not have had the audacity to conduct their Abuja-Kaduna train and Kuje prisons attacks, and even left the scenes without trace after spending hours conducting their operations.

“Another area of focus, also relating to our experience, is defence material needs identification, procurement, and acquisition procedures and processes. Who has the mandate for defence procurements?

“Inadequate oversight, lack of transparency, and poor accountability allow corruption and abuse to thrive, thereby weakening the capabilities of the armed forces.

“The misplacements, underutilization, and misuse of civilian security agencies and personnel are issues of interest for security sector reforms. The Nigerian Customs Service, for example, aside the revenue it makes for the government, what informs the positioning of such a strategic border security agency to be under the supervision of Ministry of Finance? Likewise, why should a public safety agency, the Federal Road Safety Corps, be under the supervision of the Office of the SGF, when it is clearly the mandate of the Ministry of Interior? Or the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, a health security outfit, not under the supervision of Ministry of Health? These are only a few examples.”

Dambazau stated that with these misplacements of supervision and oversight of civilian security agencies and institutions, we cannot guarantee effective and efficient performance, neither can we guarantee accountability and transparency.

“The police are both underutilized and misused, a situation that poses difficulties in efficient law enforcement. With a strength of about 400,000, a significant percentage are deployed for private security for individuals, organizations, and institutions. The best example for an agency being under-utilized is the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and they could serve same purpose as the US National Guard, thus creating a force between the military and the police. If my push, as then Minister of Interior, for the establishment of the Agro Rangers unit in the Corps had been funded to take off, most of the attacks on farmers and cattle rustling, would have been checkmated, thereby protecting our food security.

“We urgently need to reform Nigeria’s security sector for efficiency and effectiveness, if we must guarantee the nation’s peace, security and stability. The reforms would redefine, restructure, and re-professionalize the entire sector in a holistic manner, and would provide a security sector that is effective and efficient in matching contemporary and future security threats to Nigeria.

“I must draw our attention here that to be successful, the reforms of the security sector must also consider the importance of the welfare of security personnel, their salaries and allowances; medical backup; housing; education for their children; death benefits; gratuities and pensions; and any incentives that would boost their morale and make them sacrifice more in the interest of the security and well-being.”