Introduction
National security is a priority for the economic growth and development of any nation and according to Nwanegbo and Odigbo (2013), the security of a nation is the pillar upon which every meaningful development can be achieved and sustained. Nigeria in the past 2 decades has witnessed an unprecedented series of agitations in the forms of kidnappings, armed robberies, bombings, religious and tribal insurgencies and carnages of all forms and magnitudes. Groups that have publicly taken credit for most of these recurring activities are, a group of Islamic militants called ‘Boko Haram’, interpreted to mean “Western education is evil” and some herdsmen supposedly from the Fulani tribe. As insecurity in Nigeria assumes a higher and more complex dimension, lives and properties of both foreign and domestic residents are not safe whether or not in the urban or the rural parts of the Country. In fairness, insecurity is a problem faced by many countries all over the world and is not unique to Nigeria. For example, the United States, United Kingdom, France and most recently New Zealand have faced similar challenges of insecurity within their borders, however, the difference between these nations and Nigeria is how these threats are managed.
Niger-Delta Insurgency
Initially, the security concerns in the country were mainly attributed to the Niger Delta insurgency in the South-South, however, it would appear that the tension has since been de-escalated with the grant of amnesty to the insurgents in the region by the President Umar Musa Yar’adua administration in 2009. Nevertheless, the security situation in the South-South and other regions of the country remain precarious particularly with the spate of kidnappings being recorded throughout the country. It is noted that the kidnappings and other violent crimes being committed within the Nigerian borders are not only targeted at locals but also international aid workers.
Religious and Tribal insurgency
In the middle belt, scores of lives have been lost due to communal clashes predicated on tribe, religion, land rights, competition over dwindling resources, and settler-indigene disagreements. Another major cause of conflicts and/or insecurity in the middle belt is farmer-herder clashes. These clashes have accounted for hundreds of death across Benue, Nassarawa, Taraba, Plateau and Niger. In fact, records have it that, farmer-herder clashes have occurred in 22 states out of the 36 states of the Federation. Although, the farmer-herder clashes have been said to emanate from religious differences between Muslims and Christians; the popular view appears to be that land rights rather than religion have caused farmer-herder clashes. For example, CNN reports that the Benue Massacre of January 2018 was caused by the Anti-grazing law passed in the State the previous year which the herders opposed for being unnecessarily restrictive and discriminatory.
Domestic Terrorism
The most devastating security challenge in Nigeria is perhaps the Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgency in the North East and North West of Nigeria. Both Boko Haram and ISWAP have been described as terrorist organizations owing to the extensive nature of their attacks which are mostly aimed at disrupting and intimidating the Nigerian State. Ideologically, the terrorist groups stand against western ideals (particularly education) and desire to transform Nigeria into an Islamic State. Records show that Boko Haram and its splinter group ISWAP are accountable for more than 37,500 deaths and the displacement of about 2.5 million people. Boko Haram initially used tactics such as bombing, gun attacks; however, the counter attacks launched by the Nigerian Military in 2015 led the terrorist groups to resort to asymmetric warfare tactics such as kidnapping, rape, recruitment of children and youths, and suicide bombings etc. Today, kidnapping has become the order of the day. Both the terrorist Boko Haram Groups and rogue Fulani herdsmen have now resorted to kidnapping to drive home their demands and/or receive ransoms to procure more arms and other resources. It has been reported that between December 2020 and March 2021, more than 600 school children have been kidnapped by bandits and Boko Haram. Currently, several schools have been shut down in Kaduna, Yobe, Zamfara, Kano, and Niger States. Governments in the affected States have mostly reacted to the kidnaps by paying the ransoms and in some cases offering amnesty to repentant bandits or Boko Haram members with little or no efforts to investigate the crimes. However, concerns have been raised as regards the legality of paying ransoms and offering amnesty to terrorist groups.
Besides the foregoing, in Lagos State where most DLA Piper clients are residents or have their businesses, there were security concerns in October of 2020, when following the END SARS protests, some nefarious individuals began to launch attacks on malls, supermarkets, banks, and several other major businesses resulting in losses/damages running into several millions of dollars. There were also attacks on judicial institutions such as the destruction of the Lagos State High Court and Magistrates Court, Igbosere, Lagos leading to the loss of records and case files dating back several years. Although the situation was immediately brought under control by the Government, the Government’s response to the rebuilding of the court premises has been rather slow. Also, in Lagos, security threats have been posed to businesses by cult groups and robbery gangs such as the “1 Million Boyz”. In reacting to these security threats, the Lagos State Government recently signed into law the Prohibition of Unlawful Societies and Cultism Law of 2021 which prescribes 21 years jail term for cultists in the state and makes the law applicable to the general Lagos populace, unlike its predecessor which applied mainly to students of tertiary institutions.
Piracy
According to the International Maritime Bureau, about 195 cases of piracy were reported in 2020 including at least 135 crew kidnaps. Out of the 135 crew kidnaps recorded in 2020, 95% of the kidnaps occurred on the Gulf of Guinea which affects the trading interests of Nigeria, Togo, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, and Benin Republic. The Gulf of Guinea which stretches across the West African and Central African regions provides a route for transportation of goods to and from Western, Central, and Southern African countries. In recent years, the Gulf of Guinea has become increasingly dangerous due to the activities of heavily armed pirates which hijack or rob vessels on the high sea. Besides the foregoing, Nigeria’s territorial waters are also considered unsafe due to several incidences of armed robbery, oil-bunkering among others. In fact, it has been reported that 7% of Nigeria’s oil wealth is lost through illegal bunkering and the activities of pirates
How Corruption is Sabotaging the fight against insecurity
A report by Transparency International noted that part of the reasons insecurity continues to hold sway in the country is due to the diversion of funds meant for the purchase of weapons and welfare of military personnel by senior military officers and politicians. Thus, the military men at the war front are often ill-equipped to confront the insurgents.
Winning the War against Insecurity and Conclusion
Without a doubt, insecurity negatively affects people, businesses, the country at large. Some scholars have posited that whilst military interventions help in addressing emergency security situations, the only way to achieve lasting peace is by ensuring rule of law and strengthening the judicial arm of Government. In addition to this, it has been suggested that mechanisms are to be put in place to ensure quicker access to justice.
Image Credit: africanews.com
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