Kankara Abduction: The Unanswered Question(s)

By kazeem Olalekan Israel

It is no gainsaying that insecurity has been the order of the day in Nigeria and, under a government that promised to secure lives and properties of the people, its best and brightest people are being killed on a daily basis either by kidnappers, ravaging Fulani vampires, militants, bandits just to mention a few.

Although, the problem of insecurity is not new in Nigeria, but, ever since the emergence of Maj. Gen. Buhari (rtd.) as the President of the country, the country has been witnessing unparalled security challenges despite the fact that this government rode in on the promise of easing the burden of insecurity and, ever since then, insecurity has become a hydra-headed monster which security agents in Nigeria appear incapable of handling most especially when discussing its multifaceted manifestations like bombing, kidnapping, hostage-taking, destruction of properties just to mention a few. And, the aforementioned amongst others have not just created fears in the minds of the people but it has also made our security agents to be over-stretched considering the number of threats they have to quell with little and unsophisticated weapons.

As against the narrative that religion is the major cause of insecurity/terrorism in the country, successive governments have helped aided criminal elements in the society with porous boundaries, unemployment and illiteracy just to mention a few and these have really affected/contributed to the issue of insecurity in the country with our level of threat increasing on a daily basis. Despite that Section 14(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) explicitly states that "the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary objective of every government" and that this government swore an oath to protect lives and properties, insecurity has been on the increase and it is having a negative effect on the general well-being of the people.

It is fast becoming reality that this government cannot effectively guarantee the security of lives and properties of the citizens with different lawless groups holding the Nigerian country to ransom by their conducts which security agencies in the country have not been able to quell as a result of the absence of political will by those at the helm of affairs. It is a known fact that this government has performed abysmally low most especially in the area of security which is having a resultant effect on the economy too with many businesses closing down while others relocates.

It is quite pathetic that some persons have been spewing various narratives to commend the 'efforts' of the Federal Government in seeing to the release of hundreds of schoolboys that were abducted by 'bandits' few days ago in Katsina while the President was on a private visit to his home-State without asking relevant questions that begs for answers from both the State and the Federal Governments in relation to the abduction and release of the schoolboys.

As a matter of fact, if not that the Nigerian people have been psychologically defeated by those entrusted with power, there is no reason to be praise-singing a government for facilitating the release of children that should not have been kidnapped in the first instance but rather to ask questions of how and when the release was made which the government must proffer answers to based on transparency and accountability. Or, isn't it disturbing that school-children were kidnapped via a hundred-plus bikes and transported via roads by their abductors without any effort by security agencies to rescue them with alacrity? Isn't it disturbing that the government has failed to brief the country the medium through which the negotiation that led to their release took place and the effort(s) being made by the government to see to it that such attack does not take place in the nearest future and that the criminals are brought to book?

For the record, the fact that the attack took place while the President was on a visit to the State shows the level of insecurity in the country and it has only give credence to the fact that this government has failed in all ramifications and it would not be wrong to launch a massive campaign for the resignation of the President who has proven to be incapable of directing the affairs of the country.

It is a security-knowledge that within the immediate proximity of the Head of State, a lot of efforts would have been made to beef-up security which include pre-visit aerial surveillance, positioning of snipers and all sorts of defensive measures. In fact, there is always an advanced team responsible for on-the-spot assessment of physical and latent threats while the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the President would have gotten a comprehensive report on current threats in the area to determine if the visit is possible and measures needed to curtail any threat that manifests during intelligence gathering.

For clarity, the 'proximity' include the town and key areas of the State to know the level of threat in areas that the motorcade of the President would pass. So, let us assume without conceding that the motorcade of the President did not pass through Kankara, was there no discussion of certain threats (not necessarily physical and of immediate danger to the President) in key areas of the State by the advanced team of the President who must have been there to perform on-the-spot assessment?

The kidnap (whether planned or not to make it appear that a government which has been unable to rescue Leah Sharibu and curtail activities of lawless groups in the country worked assiduously to see to the release of the abductees within six days) is a serious insult on this government considering the circumstances surrounding the abduction. And, on a final note, it is important to charge this government to fix security challenges we are bedevilled with as a people and stop playing to the gallery.

Kazeem Olalekan Israel writes via [email protected]

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