Insecurity

By Uzair Adam Imam

Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has advocated for the utilization of advanced technology to address the security challenges in his state and the broader Northern region.

During a meeting with Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations in Washington, United States, Governor Lawal emphasized the importance of deploying advanced technology to combat insecurity.

This statement was conveyed through the governor’s spokesman, Sulaiman Bala Idris, in a release issued yesterday.

The meeting, which included governors from Zamfara, Benue, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, and Niger states, received praise from the Deputy UN Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, who commended their efforts in seeking lasting solutions to regional challenges.

Governor Lawal highlighted the critical role of technology in enhancing security, emphasizing the need for a coordinated approach to leverage technological advancements such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), biometric identification systems, and surveillance cameras.

He stated, “We are faced with common problems, primarily insecurity, which demands urgent action.

“Due to insecurity, agricultural activities have suffered, and there’s a pressing need to transition from traditional farming to modern agriculture by leveraging technology to combat insurgency.”

By Sulaiman Maijama’a

In recent times, the most vicious of all vices in our society is phone snatching. This dastardly act is perpetrated by gangs of youth of 15 to 25 years who carry weapons and terrorise people. Sometimes, these youth injure their victims or even stab them to death.

This evil act usually is plotted and carried out at night, but sometimes, in broad daylight, the youth disguise themselves as tricycle operators and unleash their cruelty against people. There is hardly a week that would pass on without a report of a victim of phone snatching.

This activity becomes a nightmare for people and poses a great threat to the freedom of movement of innocent citizens, making it difficult for them to go about their everyday business, especially at night, without the fear of being attacked by phone snatchers.

It is common knowledge that phone snatching continues to be pervasive in different states of the North. It assumes a higher degree in states like Kano, Bauchi, Plateau, and Gombe.

The nefarious activity can be directly or indirectly attributed to a lack of proper parental care and broken homes. The youth who lack good parental care or come from broken homes usually move with the wrong people, and their movements are not queried or followed up, thus having the freedom to do anything without being probed.

Peer pressure is another cause of youth involvement in social vices. The youth who spend more time with their friends easily get influenced due to their weak nature and tender age.

Youth have a high level of curiosity to learn, have fun and practice new things, thus making them deviate. And as the saying goes, “Show me your friends, and I will tell you who you are” The significance of friends and how they influence lives is so enormous that many youths were conscripted into phone snatching.

Parents’ negligence also makes the wards turn to their friends for love, emotions, care, and advice, who can lure them into deadly acts. An abandoned child can look up to their friends for love and affection. Some maids, house helpers, and family members who are always around children without parents can introduce these vices to them.

Not only that, but unemployment has also added intensity to immorality that graduates to this monster called phone snatching that threatens the social well-being of the people. 

According to the report by a Global consulting firm KPMG, titled “Global Economic Outlook”, Nigeria’s unemployment rate was projected to rise further to 40.6 per cent this year. This revelation is alarming and must be uppermost in the mind of every responsible citizen. “An idle mind”, as an adage says, “is a devil’s workshop”.

Drug abuse is another social determinant. Despite the pronouncements of the efforts by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to curb the menace, the percentage of drug abusers is on the rise, and they quickly and freely access the hard drugs of their choice. This allows the youth to be intoxicated before they carry out their devilish act of phone snatching.

It is pertinent that all stakeholders should rise against social vices. Youth that engage in these dangerous acts need help, advice and rehabilitation for the addicted ones.

Parents need to know their children’s friends, status, and other people the children associate with. This is majorly the role parents should play in their children’s lives. Mothers should, in particular, be close to their children. Close monitoring and time should be given to children by parents. Children should be taught the moral values that might help shape their cognitive abilities.

The media ought to be playing their roles of education and information by organising forums to enlighten people about the dangers associated with social vices. Similarly, they should be playing surveillance by warning early on of any potential danger.

Security operatives, government and all stakeholders must be active and alert to caution, rehabilitate or punish (where necessary) any person seen as a threat to others.

All hands must be on deck to combat the menace of phone snatching in our societies.

Maijama’a wrote from the Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano. He can be contacted via sulaimanmaija@gmail.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Gunmen has shot and killed a vigilante in Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi State. The victim, simply identified as Mustapha, was gunned down by unknown persons in the late hours of Saturday at the Ejeh Palace gate.

The attack is believed by many residents of to be politically motivated. A resident of who spoke to the Daily Reality on the ground of anonymity said: “Some powerful persons in the state want to instill fear in the voting population in the eastern part of the state.”

Another resident who spoke out of fear and sought not to be in print, disclosed that attacks on individuals have been on the increase since the conclusion of party primaries and as the state prepares for December gubernatorial election.

Daily Reality has gathered that the residents have threatened to arm and defend themselves if the culprits are not brought to justice by the government. As of the time of writing this report, the police is yet to comment on the issue.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Taraba State on Saturday was thrown into pandemonium and fear as fresh communal violence erupted in Karim Lamido Local Government Area of the state.

It was reported that the clash also brought tears to the eyes of many families who lost their relatives in the violence.

A witness who preferred anonymity told journalists that over 50 people were murdered and several houses burnt to ashes.

But police said the number of casualties cannot yet be ascertained due to the inaccessibility of the terrain at the time of the findings.

Usman Abdullahi, the State’s Police Command Spokesperson, said the new crisis between the Wurkuns and the Karimjos started around 3 a.m. as “guerilla attacks.”

“In the last few days, there have been pockets of guerilla attacks in some communities in the area whereby the Karimjos attack the Wurkuns, and the Wurkuns also attack in return, or the Wurkuns attack the Karimjos, and they also attack in return,” he said.

According to the police spokesperson, a joint security team of military and police personnel are already in the area to restore order.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Engr. Munnir Atiku Lamido, the National Vice President of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), is declared missing by the association.

The National PRO, MACBAN, Alh. Muhammad Nura, disclosed this in a statement he made available to journalists on Friday.

According to the statement, Lamido left his house in Katsina State on Friday with the intention of traveling to Kaduna and has been missing since then.

Lamido’s car was discovered on Thursday between Jos and Kaduna road near Mararraban Jos town, parked with all his telephones inside but all efforts to trace him proved abortive so far.

The statement said, “We wish to bring to the notice of the general public and the security agencies that Engr. Munnir Atiku Lamido is missing. Engr. Munnir is the National Vice President of MACBAN.”

“He left his house in Katsina State on Friday 23th June, 2023 with the intention of traveling to kaduna. He has been missing since then.

“Anyone with useful information on Lamido’s whereabouts should kindly contact the nearest Police Station or reach out to its offices across the nation,” the statement read.

By Prof. Abdussamad Umar Jibia

Southern Kaduna (popularly known as Southern Zaria because of its history of being part of the Zaria emirate) is a place I feel connected to whenever it is mentioned. At the age of 12, when I went to a boarding secondary school, a large percentage of those who became my classmates were from that area. Although GSS Musawa was located in the heart of what is now Katsina state, one can say without any fear of contradiction that nearly half of its students were from Southern Kaduna. 

With this background, I can accurately claim to have grown up with people from Southern Kaduna, many of whom remain my friends. Religious and communal crises that set us against one another are unfortunate. With those many crises, it would be a lie to claim that there is no mutual suspicion between the people of that area, who are mainly Christians and the Northern part of Kaduna state made of mostly Muslims and the greater old Kaduna/North-central state to which I belong. 

Of course, like any other people, there are good and bad people in Southern Kaduna. To verify to which category a particular person belongs, you find out. Since the announcement of Major-General Christopher Musa as the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), I set out to investigate the kind of person he is. After contacting my sources, I was left thankful to President Bola Tinubu for choosing such a detribalised professional soldier to head our military, especially when professionalism is required to deal with the many security challenges across the country.

The choice of Christopher Musa is timely not just because he is a thoroughbred General but also because he is a victim of the banditry scourge that has bedevilled the Northwestern part of Nigeria. To be a Nigerian, one must first belong to one of the 774 local governments in one of the 36 states or FCT. Like the case with many other places in the North West, the state and local government area of General Musa have been attacked.

But, contrary to what the Southern press would want us to believe, although Southern Kaduna has its share of banditry, it is not the worst hit. Killing, kidnapping and other heinous crimes committed by bandits are daily occurrences in Zamfara, parts of Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi and Niger, in addition to both Northern and Southern Kaduna state.

To succeed in his task, General Musa has to dispel the incorrect notion that bandits are coming from outside Nigeria. I believe the security reports are at his disposal, but there are things that we, the victims, expect from him that his predecessors failed to achieve.

Most of the operations hitherto carried out involve bandits at the bottom of the bandits’ hierarchy. The most dreadful bandits’ leaders are lurking safely in the North West. Only recently, one of them released the last batch of students of FGC Yauri whom he kidnapped and kept on Nigerian soil for more than two years, during which he extorted their parents through the nose. He is still living unscathed despite the billions of Naira the Government spends on security. 

He is not alone. In a widely condemned show of irresponsibility, another criminal who killed more than 100 villagers in Katsina state and was declared wanted by the Nigerian Police was given a traditional title in Zamfara state last year. He lives peacefully while the orphans and widows his crime generated are left on their own.

Another criminal who burned a passenger bus with 30 people in it days after opening fire on a village market that claimed 60 lives is also enjoying himself in Zamfara state. He is said to be moving around like a king in his locality.

Yet, another criminal who publicly claimed to have killed many Nigerian and Nigerian soldiers and abducted 40 Nigerian children days after he killed 53 farmers in Zamfara state is living there like a king. He also moves around unscathed. 

A bandits’ kingpin who ambushed Nigerian soldiers and killed many of them in 2020 is now enslaving villagers in Katsina state. Villagers under his jurisdiction work on his farm whenever he invites them to do so.

These are some of the most well-known bandits’ Generals with bases in the North West. The list is not exhaustive. That they were accessed by international and local media to which they gave video interviews leaves our security forces with no room to claim that the criminals are at large.

Of course, arresting/killing the above-mentioned bandits’ ring leaders and others in their category is not as easy as mentioned. In addition to sophisticated weapons and trained fighters, they have powerful sympathisers. We cannot rule out mischievous claims of genocide when the military goes all out to deal with them. Ordinary people like me expect that General Musa and Mr President should ignore any noise resulting from securing the North West and  North Central geopolitical regions of Nigeria.  May Allah help them, amin.

The question begging for an answer is whether General Musa and his team are willing to take up the challenge and uproot banditry by attacking its leadership, or they will just scratch the surface, make their money and go into partisan politics like we saw some of their colleagues did.

Prof Abdussamad Umar Jibia wrote from Kano, Nigeria. He can be reached via aujibia@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said the lingering security challenge in Nigeria had weakened the country’s education system.

The minister said the insecurity in the country also contributed to the rising number of out-of-school children today.

He disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during the ministerial session of the 66th National Council on Education (NCE).

In the event themed ‘Strengthening of Security and Safety in Nigerian Schools for the Achievement of Education 2030 Agenda, Adamu said the issue would soon be addressed.

He added that President Buhari’s administration was working tirelessly to reduce the number of out-of-school children and the illiteracy level in the country.

He said, “I’d like to call on all states to rise up to their responsibilities and provide a safe and secure learning environment for both students and teachers.”

Furthermore, the education minister also said that all schools must be safe and secure at all costs.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The development of security threats in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has become worrisome and continues to terrorise citizens.

Countries, including the United Kingdom and the United State of America, issued the wake of a terror alert to Nigeria and their citizens that have been in the country for various reasons. 

On Saturday, Nigeria was greeted by the Republic of Turkey’s words to deploy drones and helicopters to Nigeria to help the country cope with the fears of insecurity threats. 

The Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Nigeria, Hidayet Bayraktar, disclosed this adding that the drones and helicopters would soon arrive in Nigeria as part of efforts to strengthen the security architecture of the country.

Bayraktar was reported to have made this intention public during the commemoration of the 99th National Day of the Republic of Turkey in Abuja.

He said, “The defence contracts signed between our countries last year marked a historical record.

“Taking this opportunity, I am proud to announce that two of our flagship defence industry platforms, Bayraktar (TB-2) drones and (T-149) ATAK helicopters, are set to arrive in Nigeria.

“We are confident that new Turkish defence products will support the efforts of the Nigerian government and contribute immensely to the peace, prosperity and security of fellow Nigerians,” Bayraktar said.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

It is no longer news that the security situation in the country is pathetic and worrisome. Even the blind can see that the country is held to ransom by forces that challenge the state’s monopoly of violence. It is appalling that governments at various levels have failed in their primary objective of protecting the lives and properties of citizens. Terrorism and other atrocious crimes are being perpetuated wantonly and daily.

However, the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahya Bello, is doing something different and commendable. In a Nigeria stuck with a replete of security challenges, Bello seems to be a shining example worthy of emulation by the president and his brother governors. This explains the relative peace we enjoy in Kogi, although it shares borders with about ten states in the country. Even while the country’s capital is under siege by terrorists and bandits, the same can not be said of Kogi State, which is about two hours drive from Abuja. 

Other state governors have to learn that as chief security officers of their states, the responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of people in their state falls on their shoulders. As much as collaboration is necessary between the states and the federal government on internal security issues, there is apparent incompetence of the highest order on the side of President Muhammadu Buhari.

For example, whenever there is a security challenge in Kogi State, the governor actively engages locals and traditional rulers in the area of the security breach to proffer solutions. This has proved effective in curtailing crimes. Although every state has its peculiar security problem, it is high time the governors realized this and came up with creative solutions like Bello is doing. 

Although many Nigerians have realized President Buhari is a grand failure, it would still do the country immense good if the president adopts Bello’s carrot and stick approach to security. Bello queries and suspends government officials and traditional rulers complicit in security infractions.

Bello similarly rewards the officials who do the needful in forestalling attacks and maintaining peace. But, sadly, the president only expresses shocks and issues empty threats that are never backed with actions. He honestly needs to learn from Bello, his political son and acclaimed mentee.

Ahmad Deedat Zakari wrote from Kogi State via ahmadzakari111@gmail.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahya Bello, has ordered the suspension of a traditional ruler and queried the Chairman of Ajaokuta Local Government Area of the state because of insecurity

This was disclosed in a statement signed by the governor’s spokesperson, Onogwu Muhammad, on Sunday, July 31, 2022.

The Spokesperson said :

” Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has directed the suspension of the Ohi of Eganyi and Chairman, Ajaokuta Traditional Area Council, HRH Alhaji Musa Isah Achuja with immediate effect after an investigation that led to his arrest and detention by the security agency.”

Mr Muhammad added that the Chairman of Ajaokuta Local Government, Hon Mustapha Aka’aba has also been queried and asked to respond within 24 hours.

Mr Muhammad, in explaining the reason for the governor’s disciplinary action, also stated that: 

“The governor’s directive against the affected persons is in connection with the recent security breach in the area, which led to the untimely deaths of some security personnel on their legitimate engagements of maintaining law and orders. 

The governor strongly warned other traditional rulers across the state who may have connections in one way or the other with criminal elements in their domains to desist forthwith, saying that his administration will deal ruthlessly with anybody who romances with criminal elements, no matter how highly placed they are.”