The federal government Monday hinted that it’s working towards ensuring the Nigerian space is well secured and rid of all forms of insecurity currently bedevilling the nation.
It also said the war against insecurity is being won by the armed forces and other security agencies after years of internal displacement of the citizens.
These messages were separately conveyed by the quartet of Minister of Interior Rauf Aregesola, Minister of Defence Major-General Bashir Salih Magashi (rtd), Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed and Minister of Police Affairs Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi at a media parley in Abuja.
Also at the session were the Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor, Comptroller General Nigerian Immigration Service Isah Jere Idris, Comptroller General Nigeria Custodial Service (NCoS) Haliru Nababa, Comptroller General Federal Fire Service Abdulganeey Jaji as well as representatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Mohammed speaks
Addressing the gathering, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Mohammed, said the fight against terrorism and insecurity was being won by the security forces and that the Muhammadu Buhari administration would do everything to protect the lives and property of Nigerians.
Lai said: “As you are all aware, the issue of security has dominated our national discourse in recent times, against the background of the terrorism, banditry and kidnapping in the North-east, North-west and North-central; separatist violence and crude oil theft in the South-east and South-south as well as cultism, armed robbery and sundry crimes in the South-west.
“Today, we are here to tell you that while we may not be there yet, our military and other security agencies have succeeded and are succeeding in substantially restoring security across the nation.
“As far as the daunting security challenges we face are concerned, we can tell you that the worst is over. Never again will terrorists and bandits and their cohorts hold sway in our country.
“As I said at a summit organized by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations in Abuja on Aug. 23rd 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to the military to crush those terrorising our citizens is working, hence peace and security are gradually being restored to the country.
“Let me quote Mr. President himself on his directive to the military: ‘Judging by the available reports to me and news that have begun emerging in the last few days, I will say they have heard this instruction and are responding appropriately. In the past couple of days, you must have heard about the number of terrorists neutralized by the military, and number of hostages freed.
“These efforts will not stop, or reduce. We must take the fight to the terrorists and demonstrate that there is no hiding place for them within the borders of our country. Each one of them will be hunted, and pursued and spoken to in the language that they understand’. End of quote.’’
“These are great words of assurance, coming directly from the President and Commander-in-Chief himself. The security challenges we have face, as an Administration, have been daunting – from terrorism to banditry to kidnapping to separatist violence to crude oil theft to armed robbery and sundry crimes. It’s undoubtedly the greatest challenge to the peace and security of our great nation since the civil war from 1967 to 1970. It is the kind of challenge that would have overwhelmed many nations. But thanks to the purposeful leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, we can say, I want to repeat, that the worst is over and peace and security are gradually returning to the land.
“Please don’t misunderstand or misrepresent this assertion. We may still witness isolated cases of security challenges here and there, but it will not be on the scale that we have witnessed in the past.
“We want to use this opportunity to salute Mr. President for his leadership. When many threw their arms up in the air and felt it was all over, President Buhari remained resolute. When many called for the use of foreign mercenaries to tackle the challenges, especially terrorism and banditry, President Buhari never wavered in his belief in the ability of our gallant men and women in uniform to rise to the occasion, and rise to the occasion they did.
“Some said the security challenges have overwhelmed the military, but the military has now demonstrated that no group of ragtag criminals can ever overwhelm them. Terrorists and bandits and co can run but cannot hide, and this has been demonstrated by the arrest of those who attacked a church in Owo.
“These criminals can run but cannot hide, as we have seen in the decimation of the cowards who ambushed the Brigade of Guards troops in Abuja. I am sure you will hear from my colleagues how our military and other security agencies have been decimating the top echelon of ISWAP and Boko Haram, how armed bandits camps and resources have been destroyed, and how the capacity of IPOB/ESN has been substantially degraded.”
Magashi
Also speaking, Minister of Defence Major-General Magashi said the worst turn of insecurity in Nigeria was over.
Magashi said the military and other security agencies had contained the daunting security challenges facing the country.
He urged Nigerians to alert security agents if they observed any criminal activities in their community, stating that security is the business of everyone.
“We have now put the terrorists, bandits and their like on the run and we will not relent until they have been crushed.
“We must also realise that security is the business of everyone, hence the tagline ‘if you see something, say something’.
“Terrorists or bandits are not spirits. They are human beings, and some of them reside in our communities. They must all be exposed and crushed for peace to reign,” Magashi said.
Aregebsola speaks
In similar remarks, the interior affairs minister, Ogbeni Aregbesola assured the nation that the Buhari administration was up to the task of securing the nation.
He said: “The nation has faced and continues to face security challenges all over the country, whose origin mostly preceded the Muhammadu Buhari administration. These are insurgents in the North-east, bandits in parts of the North-west and North-central, militants in the South-south, separatists in the South-east and ritual killers in the South-west. All over the country, we have constant attacks on pipelines, electricity cables and other critical national infrastructure, crude and refined oil theft, kidnapping for ransom and farmers-herders clashes.
“The security agencies rose to this challenge and largely degraded the groups and persons constituting the threats. What we face mostly are flashes of cowardly attacks from the rumps of groups that have been routed in one location, moving to another to give the false impression that they are still strong. Our ultimate goal is to eliminate them altogether and restore total and lasting peace over every inch of Nigerian soil. Every inch of the Nigerian soil will be safe by December. Take it home.”
On the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), he said the facility “has been able to keep the inmates in safe custody and prevented any jailbreak from inside. Although a few of the custodial centres of recent have suffered a spate of unprovoked but cowardly attacks, thankfully, that is clearly behind us now. We have been able to strengthen the custodial facilities with very tough measures. They are now strong, well-fortified and impregnable. If anyone or group dares to test our will now, they may not live to regret it.”
“There are a total of 75,601 inmates, including 1,271 military detainees, in all the nation’s custodial centres. These are made of 74,044 males and 1,557 females. Of this figure, only 19,064 (representing 25 per cent) are convicts. The rest are awaiting trial persons. Of the convicts, 3,150 are on death row waiting for execution because state governors have not assented to their execution warrants.
“From the above figures, one of the biggest challenges we have in the custodial facilities therefore is the awaiting trial persons constituting a whopping 75 per cent of the inmates’ population and disproportionately usurping resources and space. Once again, I will like to appeal to state governments to speedy up the justice delivery system so that justice will be quickly delivered for them.
“Many of them have been in detention for periods longer than the maximum jail terms prescribed for the offences they were alleged to have committed. Justice delayed for these detainees is justice denied.
Prosecution and defence counsels also deliberately ask for long adjournments (as delay tactics meant to wear each other out) and obtain advantage for their sides. This should be discouraged. There should be a judicial reform that will bring all criminal cases to an end within a specific period once trial begins, as obtains in some other countries. This will clearly eliminate the unsavoury state of long and seemingly indeterminate detention periods for awaiting trial persons.”
