ANOTHER TRAVEL ADVISORY, SECURITY ALERTS ON NIGERIA: Pertinent Questions FGN And Security Agencies Must Answer. By Zik Gbemre
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| Muhammadu Buhari Nigeria's President. |
The question I keep asking Nigerian security operatives on the security alert raised first by the US, now followed by UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland and the list is expanding, placing Nigeria as unsafe country to reside and visit is, what are the Military, Department of State Security (DSS) and Police doing to guarantee lives and property as these rumours spread like wide fire?
I keep asking those responsible for providing security in Nigeria why the police are more concerned than the DSS and the military in their responses or refusal to respond to the pertinent questions.
We don't have any country other than this, no matter the divisions among major and minority tribes, divisions in diverse major foreign or traditional religions in Nigeria. I have not seen any seriousness shown by the Federal Government of Nigeria and security operatives.
It does seems they don’t care. All we hear from the Federal Government is to advise Nigerians to ignore the US, UK. We should all recollect what happened in Lybia when sensitive security issues were rumoured but no person took it seriously and that led to killing of a US Ambassador and diplomatic staff.
Truth is, the DSS don't have intelligence capability to address critical security concerns everywhere around us. Is it not a shame that millions of barrels of crude oil is stolen daily without the notice of the DSS and Navy? What intelligence are they providing to the country when they claim ignorance of the large scale illegal bunkering in deep seas, shallow offshore and the land areas?
They are either fully involved in the crime or they are ignorant, negligent and incompetent to fight it. If they are ignorant, it means they sit in the office and rely on petitions to act. Volunteers may not be willing to give information to DSS and Police because they will end up inviting them to their offices for interrogation and sometime reveal their identity to the criminals or suspects.
I think Nigeria security operatives are outdated in intelligence gathering. Kuje Prisons invasion by terrorists in Abuja was not pre-empted and thwarted by the DSS, Police and Military intelligence. If they knew they would have done the needful to beef up security in and around that Maximum Prison and not wait in the comfort of their offices to react after the damage is done.
The populace have lost hope in public security, the reason family members of those kidnapped no longer report cases to the Police and DSS. They rather negotiate with miscreants who are mostly accomplices who speed up payment of ransoms.
The alert raised by the super-power countries in Nigeria is being downplayed and undermined by the Federal Government. There is the popular arrogant phrase by the DSS and Police that, "will you come and teach me my security job?" Of course Nigerians need to teach the security operatives their job since they don't have the capacity for intelligence gathering. They don't know their job.
Security is not about wearing black suits as DSS to accompany public office holders. It is much more than that. Intelligence is not sitting tight in air-conditioned offices to wait for petitions. Most of the intelligence officers seem to be too cocky with unnecessary ego while seeking information to do their job.
The target area, on the critical security alerts, may not be only in Abuja. It could involve other sensitive cities economically viable, like Warri, Port-Harcourt, Lagos, Enugu, Kano, Kaduna, Jos. By now we should be seeing joint teams of the Police, DSS, Military patrolling these economic hubs with armouries. We should be seeing surveillance helicopters patrolling the air space to detect/trace terrorist camps in the bushes.
Nothing to suggest that Nigeria is safe to reside and visit. The average policeman is on the roads to extort motorists, intimidate and harass innocent citizens with frivolous allegations and neglecting critical security challenges. The police are happy when they see frivolous petitions they will act on to extort money from innocent people.
Precisely, 29th October 2022, a man was arrested by police officers who called themselves Police Public Complaints (PPC) from the Warri Area Commander office. His offense was that he didn't pay agency fee to an imaginary agent in a property situated, off Jakpa Road, Effurun in Delta State, he bought directly from the owner of the house.
According to the man, he bought his house directly from the owner and didn't pass through any agent. Assuming without conceding there was an agent, is it the police's responsibility to meddle in this kind of matter? When has the Nigerian Police become debts and rents collectors? That is not the duty of the police.
The Nigerian Police will act upon the most frivolous petition with the lure or prospect of extortion from such unjustified petition. What is the duty of the court if police becomes debts and rents collectors? No offence was committed by the man, but was arrested and detained by Warri Area Commander on the orders of the Officer-in-Charge (O/C) of Police Public Complaints of the Commander.
Nigerian security operatives have abandoned their primary roles in society. They are not concerned with the critical security challenges facing the country at the moment. The Federal government should honestly address the security alert raised by the super-power countries. It is time the Police, DSS, Military be reminded of their primary responsibilities.
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