Nigeria’s security agencies have become the butts of comedy among the comity of nations. This was much inferred by the United Nations last week. It is only in Nigeria you hear hundreds and dozens of people, including women, girls and children, are abducted for ransom. The world must be wondering: What kind of country is this?
In many parts of the country, mass kidnapping are going on. In the latest round of mass abduction, bandits raided Gonin Gora area of Kaduna metropolis and abducted 16residents last week.
Reports stated that there was no security intervention or whatsoever when the lasted. But the latest news that is trending is that, the bandits that went away with the 16 residents are demanding for a ransom of N40 trillion for their release.
Goni Gora is bounded by Birnin Gwari Local Government with over 150 kilometres stretch of bush, and also has boundary with Niger state. This gives criminal elements unfettered space to operate. Though the community leader praised the efforts of the security agency, the best way to make acceptable commendation is the result obtained.
The narrative by the community leader is disheartening as though the area, Gonin Gora, is an ungoverned space: “The abductions happened twice within four days interval. During the first attack, three people were kidnapped while in the second attack, 13 people were abducted bringing the total number of people being held captive to 16”.
According to John Yusuf, a community leader of the area in a reportedly said that, beside the N40trillion, the bandits also demanded 11 Hilux vans and 150 brand new motorcycles for the release of the victims. “Where are we going to get this kind of money! Even if we sell the entire community, we cannot raise N40 trillion. Even Nigeria as a country has never made a budget of N40 trillion,” Yusuf was quoted to have said.
To say that we are appalled is to grossly understate the obvious. This is the heights of mockery. This is the lowest point that the state of insecurity in Nigeria has brought the country. Banditry has now become a bigger enterprise than the Nigerian state!
Like the community leaders said, Nigeria as a country has never had a budget of N40 trillion, but bandits are making a request bigger than our national budget.
sad, very sad that the Nigerian government and the security agencies, whether the military, police, DSS and paramilitary agencies, have not demonstrated the capacity or readiness to combat insecurity. This is directly linked with the criminal and wicked politicization of security management in Nigeria.
