By SUNNY IKHIOYA
Barely a week after the rebuke of the American Embassy security alarm by officials of our foreign affairs ministry, deadly attacks overwhelmed the country, including the Plateau and Benue states killings. What is this telling us? Sometimes, it is better to remain quiet than to keep defending the indefensible.
With the present happening, the two clergy men who went to the US Congress to testify have turned out to be right after all. When we focus on excuses and rebukes on critics, we indirectly miss the big picture, which is the solution. Even the Sultan of Sokoto is appalled.
“We have released so many statements of condemnations, but how many times do we need to condemn these killings before our political leaders and security agencies stop or reduce the insecurity in the country to the barest minimum?” he said. It is clear that state security architecture does not have the ability to contain the multi dimensional security threat facing the nation. If that is the case, what then is the solution? Why are we refusing to accept the truth about our situation? What are we afraid of? Who is benefitting from the whole chaos that is being created?
Clearly, we have been totally brainwashed, so much so that we could no longer find our direction. Some people say it is targeted at the 2027 elections, in the manner of 2015 against the government of Goodluck Jonathan, especially as it concerns the massive influx of strangers to the Southern part of the country. We are seeing a repeat of the movements, people invading our forests, taking over farmlands, kidnapping for ransom, banditry and even terrorism. Some openly display sophisticated weapons that our security personnel do not possess.
What is happening to us? What have we become as a people, weak and voiceless in the face of perpetual attacks by strangers? And government appears seemingly helpless. Again, I ask: what do we have to do in the face of relentless threats to our common existence? It is not a matter of sophistry dished out in the manner of pacifying a people who are very angry. It demands immediate and urgent actions. It is time for us to democratise our security and put security in the hands of the people. We have made the point before that terrorists, insurgents and bandits cannot be defeated through negotiations. The only language they understand is superior and reciprocal force.
How we miss the great Akete, Rotimi Akeredolu SAN, former governor of Ondo State, the one who gave voice to the weak and voiceless, with his great confrontation of an hypocritical state, who rule this country by different standards. While governors in the North are setting up security outfits like the Hisbah in Kano, they want us in the South to remain sitting ducks, to be manipulated at their pleasure. Where are the governors of the Southern and Middle Belt regions? What are they doing about the insecurity in their lands? What are they using the security votes for? It is said that “a stitch in time saves nine.”
The most serious challenge facing us as a nation today is insecurity; without it being settled, we will continue to grope in confusion and despair, the economy will not work and the much sought after foreign direct investment will elude us. The leadership of the South is seriously failing its people in this regard. It must speak out and come up with solutions. If we do not know what to do, experts in the business have already given us clues on the path to follow.
In a news article published by the Sahara Reporters on April 1, 2025, it leads with the headline: “Don’t Expect Army, Police, Others To Protect All Of You; Mobilise To Defend Yourself Against Terrorists”. They attributed this quote to the Director General of State Security, DSS. According to the news: “The Director-general of the Department of State Services, DSS, Mr. Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi has stated that Nigerians must take responsibility for their own security, as the military, police, and intelligence agencies do not have the capacity to protect every community from terrorist attacks nationwide.”
This is sincere advice from one of the top security chiefs in our land. The way our security is structured now, it is almost impossible for them to cope with the multi-pronged security challenges, yet a Federal Government official will put up a rebuttal, stating that: “The government has consistently taken decisive actions, including deploying security forces to areas affected by communal violence, engaging in peace-building efforts between farmers and herders, strengthening intelligence operations to track down criminal elements, and implementing policies to address root causes, including land use reforms and economic development initiatives”.
This we know is not always the case. There are many unreported killings happening all over the country which the authorities are not aware of; the situation is becoming scary. As a testament to that, old videos of General Theophilus Danjuwa is already circulating in the social media. Danjuma said: “Some few years ago, I warned that the armed forces were either not capable or unwilling to protect us, and that we must defend ourselves. The first denial of what I said came from the Ministry of Defence…..They wrote their report, which concluded that I was only speaking, that there was no evidence. But now, there is evidence. The whole country is being run over and overrun. One very clear thing that is happening is this: these foreign invaders are not even Muslims. A lot of the casualties inflicted on the frontlines are Muslims. They are destroying even mosques, yet they were allowed to come into the country by our own government.
“Now, as a soldier, my training teaches me that the best defence is attack. Right now, we are all sitting ducks. These people are armed to the teeth with tons of weapons of mass destruction, and we don’t have them. But we have the numbers. We have the land, and this land belongs to us. They are trying to recolonise us and take over our homeland…I will not give you arms. Find out how these people got theirs. Use the same means to defend yourselves. ”
We will be playing with fire if we allow things to continue this way. The Danjuma warning and prescription must be taken seriously.
The post Insecurity: Let us apply Danjuma’s solution appeared first on Vanguard News.
