File photo of gunmen
By Bernard Joseph
An average Nigerian would content himself to soak his garri without peanut to accompany it; to enroll his children in overcrowded public schools with dilapidated classrooms; to dress his children in threadbare cloths and cram his family of 7 in one of the rooms in a multi-tenanted bungalow; to cower and avoid his landlord for unpaid rent.
Yet, he has to bear the extra burden of worrying about the attack of herdsmen on his farmland; about the possibility of his children been abducted on their way to school; about the likelihood of his wife been raped on her way to the market; about the chances of himself being attacked by unknown gunmen.
While the rest of the world actively throws their weights around causes that better the lives of their citizenry, my country is busy relishing its global reputation for insecurity. Insecurity has become a hydra-headed monster too wild to be tamed by the inept security agents. This plague of insecurity has brought Nigeria – the so-called giant of Africa, and land that flows with milk and honey – virtually on its knees.
While the nation continues to wallow in extreme poverty, insecurity, educational degradation and recently fuel scarcity, a small number of people feed fat on our misery and live in stupendous affluence – a pitiful development that threatens the security of lives and property, especially in the cosmopolitan cities scattered throughout the nation.
It is unfair to accuse the government of ignoring the scourge of insecurity in the country; what isn’t an unfair accusation, however, is that the attempt of the government to check insecurity is from a place of deceit. The several attempts of the government to put out this monster have been futile because the efforts lack sincerity of purpose and were only intended to silence people who hold opposing political and tribal views. It is pretentious; it is like making so much noise yet saying nothing. Whereas, those with strong connections and allegiances to either political or tribal groups receive protection from the Nigerian president. This unchecked reality has left a serious question in minds of many Nigerians.
It would be recalled that the United States and the United Kingdom had on Sunday warned of a possible terrorist attack in the Federal Capital Territory, especially aimed at government buildings, places of worship and schools, among other targets.
The Federal Government, through her mouthpiece, Lai Mohammed, has dismissed the security alert, claiming that Nigerians are safer now, assuring that the Nigerian Armed Forces are on top of security challenges in the country.
Instead of addressing the situation headlong, the government has warned the embassies to ‘stop causing unnecessary panic in the country’. This shows how the Nigerian government has been paying deaf ears to pertinent security information that could aid the elimination of terrorist groups harboring in the country.
The terrorism (Prohibition and Prevention) bill, 2022, which President Buhari signed into law, allows life imprisonment or the death penalty for anyone found guilty of hostage-taking, kidnapping or hijacking, giving the fight against insecurity in the nation a boost.
The bill states that anyone convicted of suicide bombings and kidnappings, destruction of lives, investments in the public good, private enterprise, a climate of fear, panic, and confusion, and hot and unruly political climate, should receive the same punishment as Hamisu Bala aka Wadume and Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike popularly known as Evans, which is life imprisonment. The same punishment should be meted out to those connected to terrorist groups.
Unfortunately, this bill is relevant only in principle and not in practice. Recently, over 500 Boko Hara terrorists were released and reintegrated into the society. The big is question is: Why the deceit?
According to a popular maxim, “Where there is no punishment for wrongdoing, there are likewise no incentives to do good”.
Finally, there is no political will to turn the tide against criminals, hoodlums, political thugs, or the insurgency that has penetrated the system to the point where we breathe, eat, drink, and bathe in it.
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