Tackling cross-boundary crime in Nigeria: The Ogun-Oyo example

…News Commentary on the Ogun, Oyo Joint Security Effort

By AIG Olusola Subair (retd)

Given the significant volume of traffic it experiences daily and its importance to Nigeria’s socio-economic life, any report of crimes around the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway naturally makes the headlines. Besides being a major gateway into the country’s commercial capital, its importance lies in the fact that it intersects three states – Lagos, Ogun and Oyo.

When criminal activities are also reported in other parts of these states, especially the border communities, then it calls for concern and further reinforces the need to bolster security at the affected areas.

It is against this backdrop that the Ogun – Oyo Joint Security Meeting held in Abeokuta, on Wednesday, this week, comes as a welcome development.

The meeting convened at the instance of Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, and his Oyo State counterpart, Engr. Seyi  Makinde, seemed driven by the conviction that no state is truly secure if a neighbouring state is burdened by criminality. Given how highways crisscross various states in the federation in a way that almost literally blurs boundaries, it is increasingly evident that no single state can live as though it were an island.

Beyond the imperative of securing their various states and curbing cross-boundary crime, there is an even greater socio-economic significance that underlines this meeting: Ogun and Oyo are the closest states to Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Both states have lately experienced an unusual rise in brazen crime such as abductions, mostly along federal highways where the sister states have common boundaries.

A couple of weekends ago, a Toyota Sienna bus heading for Lagos from Ibadan was reportedly attacked by kidnappers who suddenly emerged from the bush at Onigaari end of the expressway and started shooting repeatedly.

A commercial driver, identified as Oluwatosin Aruwajoye, was killed in the process and five passengers abducted, while another victim, one Ibrahim Tiamiyu, was shot in the thigh. One of the passengers was said to have narrowly escaped.

A week later, a Nollywood actress, Bimpe Akintunde, shared how she and her daughter had a close shave with kidnappers along the same Onigaari axis on their way to Lagos from Ibadan. It was also reported that some hoodlums, donning military-style camouflage similarly abducted seven wedding guests at the Isara, Ogun State end of the expressway. The victims had attended a wedding in Ibadan the previous day (January 16) and were returning to their base in Lagos when one of the vehicles carrying them broke down on the road. One of the victims, Folahan Akinsola, said that they were attempting to tow the faulty vehicle when the kidnappers struck in the morning. And the dastardly stories go on…

Beyond the imperative of securing their various states and curbing cross-boundary crime, there is an even greater socio-economic significance that underlines this meeting: Ogun and Oyo are the closest states to Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

It is gratifying that both governors have pledged their commitment to collaborate in tackling an incipient problem that threatens security in the two states. When security breaks down, its adverse effects are usually non-discriminatory; the impact is felt across party divide. That is a very instructive message conveyed by this meeting between two governors with differing political affiliations. As Governor Makinde rightly noted: “It’s not about partisan politics; it’s all about service to our people.”

But despite the symbolic gesture of reassurance that the meeting offers, the public would experience a greater sense of relief if they saw an increased presence of security personnel in their neighbourhoods, particularly in remote communities that are often soft targets for criminals.

For many, the recent spike in crime is a further validation for the introduction of “Amotekun,” or the South-Western Nigeria Security Network, by South-West states to complement the role played by the conventional law-enforcement agencies. It also beams an uncomfortable searchlight on the operational mode of the Nigeria Police.

Despite its listing as an exclusive function, years of inadequate funding and outright misappropriation of funds have essentially made responsibility for police welfare a shared function between the federal government and states.

Such shared burden has, ironically, failed to yield for the governors any leverage in the control of security personnel deployed in their states. This is often a sore point, especially from the governors’ standpoint, given that they are, statutorily, the chief security officers of their states who, to all intents and purposes, bear the rage of the people when the security situation goes awry as it has in recent weeks.

But governance abhors excuses, not least in a democracy. It is so because the primary responsibility of government is the welfare and security of the people. There should not be any room for laxity. That is why this statement by Gov. Abiodun is particularly telling:

“On assumption of office on May 29, 2019, as the Chief Security Officer of the state, I decided to take some immediate steps, the first of which was to call a meeting of all our security chiefs. I was amazed to find out that a security meeting of that nature had not been held three years before that day, which was May 30th.”

There is no doubt that security agencies tend to work better when they collaborate as an operational unit. It is in this light that the relaunch of “OPERATION MESA” – one of the most potent examples of inter-agency collaboration comprising the military, police, Department of State Services, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps and Amotekun – by the Ogun State governor is quite commendable.

The roll-out of the equipment donated to the agency during the relaunch was impressive. They include hundreds of security patrol vans, motorcycles, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) fitted with state-of-the-art communication equipment; and other protective gears for security agencies. But sometimes the problem is not so much a question of absence of hardware and logistical support as it is about maintenance and the will to replace when they wear out.

Governor Abiodun allayed such worries when he said at the launch: “We are launching OP-MESA with a few equipment, in the first instance. We are providing them with fifteen pickup trucks, communication equipment, and two armoured personnel carriers. We will be providing them with this support every quarter, meaning that, in the next quarter, we will give them another fifteen vehicles; another quarter, another fifteen vehicles until we reach the number that they require.”

Similar actions have also been taken to bolster the capacity of security agencies in Oyo State. Governor Seyi  Makinde’s voluntary policing initiative that embraced non-state actors like vigilante groups and traditional institutions has proved helpful.

Both states’ combined support has helped in bridging the manpower needs and equipment shortfalls often cited as factors that severely limit the capacity of the police to be truly responsive.

The hope is that this security summit signals a new beginning in policing to such extent that it “makes life unbearable for criminals,” as Governor Abiodun rightly noted, especially at the remote flanks of both states that had been a cause for worry lately.

Also, being possibly the first such between any two states in Nigeria, it is hoped that it inspires other states to replicate similar collaborative dialogue to tackle security challenges peculiar to their states.