State Of Emergency As Panacea For Insecurity

By Davidson Iriekpen

With escalating state of insecurity in the North and the failure of the federal government’s strategies to curb the menace, the declaration of state of emergency on insecurity has become increasingly unavoidable as regional leaders re-echo this demand, Davidson Iriekpen writes.

President Bola Tinubu 

The state of insecurity in Nigeria has continued to worsen despite efforts to address it. Those in denial of this truth are playing politics with insecurity due largely to the fact that they are probably not directly affected yet.  

Of all regions of the country, the North has been the most ravaged, with the dire consequences spreading to the South.

Whilst the country has been contending with Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorist groups for over 15 years now in the North-east geopolitical zone, a new group, Mahmuda, has come up in the North-central states of Kwara and Niger.

In parts of the North-west, the Lakurawa and Ansaru groups have gained notoriety, killing people and rustling cattle.

There is also al-Shabaab, whose members invaded Owo town in Ondo State and massacred over 40 worshippers.

In all of these, there are marauding bandits who pose a significant security threat. They are notorious for their brutality, as they attack villages, kidnap residents for ransom, and loot property as they move from one place to the other.

Nigerian communities are increasingly being ravaged by these criminal elements who operate with impunity. The country has become a fertile ground for them to operate.

This widespread instability has caused mass displacement of residents of many communities, fuelling humanitarian crises, joblessness, and increased poverty.

In the last two weeks alone, about 200 people have been reported killed across the country.

On August 19, gunmen launched a deadly attack on a mosque in Unguwan Mantau village, Katsina State, killing worshippers and injuring several others during early morning prayers.

The region has also been shaken by the execution of 35 abductees in Zamfara State despite ransom payments, as well as separate assaults in Kauru and Kudan Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kaduna State, where eight people were killed and eight others injured.

Almost on a daily basis, Borno, Benue, Plateau and Niger states bleed while Kwara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Taraba states are not left of the carnage.

Travelling by road, which many used enjoyed in the past has become a nightmare for fear of being kidnapped, tortured and made to part with millions of naira.

Hundreds of security operatives have also been killed by these nefarious elements.

Recently, former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, revealed that the local government areas in his senatorial district are in firm control of bandits.

In parts Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara and many other states in the North, residents pay levies to terrorists to access their farms, harvest or sell their produce. In some case, they also pay to get permission to hold ceremonies. This is how bad the situation is.

Nigeria is in dire straits. Many strongly believe that once the security situation in the North is tackled or brought under control, it will also significantly reduce the problem in the southern parts of the country.

For instance, last weekend, gunmen suspected to be kidnappers and armed with sophisticated weapons, killed eight officials of the Edo State Command of the NSCDC and abducted a Chinese expatriate in Okpella, Etsako East Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

Last Monday, five soldiers were killed in Zamfara State.

It was therefore not surprising that the Northern Elders Forum’s (NEF) recently called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately declare a state of emergency in northern Nigeria. In a communiqué signed by its spokesperson, Prof. Abubakar Jiddere, the forum expressed grave concern over the “relentless wave of violent attacks, abductions, and killings” across the region, stressing that the federal government can no longer afford to delay decisive action.

The group warned that if the worsening situation is not urgently addressed, communities could resort to “self-help,” which could trigger anarchy and undermine the country’s democratic stability and regional peace.

NEF called on Tinubu’s administration to adopt a multi-pronged strategy that includes declaring a state of emergency in Northern Nigeria to reflect the extraordinary scale of the crisis.

It also called for the deployment of adequately trained, armed, and equipped security forces with clear rules of engagement to protect civilians and secure border regions.

Last week, another northern group, the Northern Ethnic National Forum (NENF), called on President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on security in the region. 

The group, a coalition of leaders from the diverse ethnic nationalities of northern Nigeria dedicated to promoting unity and advocating good governance, also urged the president to immediately sack the nation’s service chiefs, citing worsening violence and leadership failures in tackling insecurity.

In a statement by its Convener, Dominic Alancha, the group said that while the administration had taken bold economic reforms, the deteriorating security situation and ineffective leadership demanded urgent corrective action. It accused the service chiefs of failing to deliver despite huge security funding, insisting that the entire system required a “fundamental overhaul.”

Declaring that its demands were driven by patriotism rather than malice, the group warned that the survival and prosperity of Nigeria, especially the North, hangs in the balance. It stressed that its call was not for militarisation but for a “targeted, multi-agency, and resource-intensive emergency operation to flush out terrorists, dismantle their networks, and restore permanent order.”

Similarly, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, called on the federal government to declare war on insecurity, saying that no nation can prosper while its citizens live under siege.

Obi, who was reacting to reports the killing of over 100 people in violent attacks across Borno, Sokoto, Katsina, and Edo states last weekend, explained that it was time to declare a national war on insecurity, to mobilise every resource, every agency, every state, and to suspend all distractions in order to reclaim the country from lawlessness.

“No nation can prosper while it lives under siege, history shows that insecurity is the quickest path to national collapse, Somalia and Libya stand as painful warnings. We must act now, with urgency and courage, to prevent a total descent into anarchy and rebuild Nigeria into a safe, secure, and productive nation for all,” he said.

With disturbing reports of violence across the country, isn’t it high time the federal government took decisive action to end the insecurity ravaging Nigeria? Has it forgotten that one of their primary responsibilities is to protect citizens’ lives?

Nigerian leaders can do better as speeches and rhetoric are no substitute for real action. With insecurity, there is no policy the government, whether federal or state, can drive effectively. Insecurity is also a disincentive to investments.

Each day that another Nigerian life is lost marks a failure of leadership. The government must act boldly, particularly by granting states more control over their security. Nigerians cannot continue to perish in the hands of marauders while the president and other leaders sleep peacefully.