To the country's shock and dismay, not less than 500 people, including children and women, were abducted across the North-East and North- West two weeks ago.
Last week, however, and thanks to the gallantry of our Armed Forces, 32 abductors were rescued in Kaduna and Katsina states. Even though this number is paltry and pales into insignificance when compared with the number of those recently abducted and hundreds of others who were earlier kidnapped and are yet to be rescued or released by their cruel abductors, the recent daring rescue missions and air interdiction by our Armed Forces inspire hope.
Token as this sublime effort may seem, our Armed Forces deserve commendation. The rescue efforts speak eloquently to what our Armed Forces can accomplish, even in the most challenging of circumstances. They speak to the can-do spirit for which they are renowned in various war theatres, local and international. The rescue missions also inspire hope at a time of despondency and bewilderment.
It is when our Armed Forces display such uncommon gallantry and sense of mission that our sad narrative begins to change and to assume an uplifting colouration. And it is such gung-ho spirit that inspires confidence in the people and encourages them to support our security agencies in an unwavering and wholehearted manner.
By rising, stoutly, to one of our serious challenges and threats, our Armed Forces have demonstrated and underscored the fact that the war on terror, banditry and kidnapping can be won.
While showering kudos on our Armed Forces for these pivotal acts of valour, one must re-state the need for continued synergy and co-operation among our security agencies. For apart from eschewing needless interagency rivalry, it helps to optimise and focus resources on the challenges being confronted. Where there is cooperation, each agency brings to bear its special talent to the task at hand. And working in concert, and with a common goal or purpose, victory is inevitable.
Our Armed Forces must continue to operate with optimum professionalism and neutrality, especially when dealing with domestic conflicts. It is when the people see these attributes on display that they are easily galvanised and they give their unwavering support. An adjunct to this is that while they carry themselves with utmost professionalism and neutrality, our Armed Forces must at the same time identify and uproot the bad eggs, fifth columnists and quislings in their ranks. There is no gainsaying it that the alleged activities of fifth columnists have undermined the war on terror and the confidence of Nigerians in it. Several videos have gone viral which allege that certain members of our Armed Forces may either be in cahoots with the terrorists or that they may be abetting them. Such allegations should be promptly investigated. Once verified, the fifth columnists should be dealt with as provided by law.
Rather than always respond to terror and terror-related attacks, the security agencies must be proactive. Emphasis should be placed on gathering intelligence which helps to prevent these heinous activities before they are perpetrated. The recent strafing of a cache of arms stored by terrorists in Niger State in lieu of prospective attacks or abductions is an excellent instance of proactivity. It should be sustained.
Even though this writer has made several calls for an increase of boots on the ground, given the huge number of terrorist gangs and their adeptness in exploiting ungoverned spaces and their proclivity to migrate across the vast expanse of the North, the country must invest in technology. We must procure up-to-date equipment and weapons that are superior to those being wielded by these terrorists. It does not make sense that the terrorists we seek to hunt down and decimate appear to be armed with better and superior weapons than our Armed Forces. Where our Armed Forces seem deprived, they will sadly and easily be outgunned by the terrorists, in spite of their professionalism. The terrorists, in such an unwholesome scenario, will have an edge over our Armed Forces. Besides, in such an untoward context, our Armed Forces could be prone to suffering casualties and a decline in morale.
If the recent revelation about the appalling state of the FCT Police Command by the FCT's Minister, Nyesome Wike, that it is bereft of a Situation Room, trackers, drones and rugged motorcycles to co-ordinate and carry out robust surveillance of the territory were to serve as a measuring rod, it means that nearly all our Commands across the country are merely thriving on outdated, if not primitive, equipment. If the FCT Police Command, which is proximate to the Police Headquarters, is in such an abject and sorry state, it is better left to the imagination the squalid state in which other Commands are. It raises and conjures the poignant, time-honoured question: if gold rusts, what will iron do? If the FCT Command, which should Police and secure the entire federal capital territory plus such sensitive institutions as the Three-Arms-Zone, the diplomatic missions, etc, is in such a sordid state what becomes of State Commands?
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What this revelation suggests is that there must be an urgent audit of all State Commands. A true state of affairs, in terms of equipment and the ability to deploy timeously, must be carried out with despatch.
By the same token, badly needed equipment should be procured forthwith to enable our security agencies to carry out their onerous mandates. It does not help that while the terrorists and bandits are extracting billions of Naira in ransom from their helpless victims and the government, and are deploying the said huge sums to upgrade and to further hold the country in thraldom, our security agencies are compelled to make do with obsolete equipment, assuming such obsolete equipment exist.
It is when we properly equip and empower our Armed Forces and security agencies that they can in turn defend the country, secure its citizens and vanquish the terrorists. It is also the best way to arrest our speedy decline into anarchy and state failure.
Dazang, former Director of Voter Education at INEC, wrote from Abuja via: [email protected]
