Niger negates Nigeria - The Nation Nigeria

Editorial

It is a tragic reality of the Nigerian condition that the state has become increasingly incapable of performing its most basic function: that of providing security. The latest manifestation of this lamentable situation is the ever-increasing number of citizens who are forced to flee to the Niger Republic to escape attacks by bandits.

Speaking in the senate during a debate on security, Senator Ibrahim Gobir, representing Sokoto East Senatorial District, claimed that some 5,000 people from the area had fled to Niger as a result of the alleged refusal of the Nigerian Army to respond to their appeals for help.

According to Gobir, “the situation in Sokoto East, as far as armed banditry is concerned, is pathetic and tragic because it is only the Nigerien Army that had been coming to their rescue while the Nigerian Army looks the other way.”

The desperate situation in the country’s north-west is confirmed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The refugee agency claims that 23,000 Nigerians fled to Niger in April alone, bringing the total number of those who have fled since 2019 to 60,000. Ninety-five per cent of them come from Sokoto State, while the rest are from Kano, Zamfara and Katsina states.

The extensive breakdown in law and order is attributable to a toxic combination of herdsman-farmer disputes, aggressive vigilantism and lax security, worsened by easy access to weapons. The bandits engage in robbery, kidnapping and cattle-rustling, taking advantage of the forest reserves in the region to launch incessant attacks on adjoining communities in Sokoto, as well as other states. An estimated N2.5 billion has been lost to the attacks in the area, in addition to the incalculable cost in human misery and suffering.

For an administration which has repeatedly stressed the importance of security, it is shocking that its own armed forces are being openly accused of abandoning their responsibilities to the citizenry. Any attempt to deny the truth of these claims is undermined by the very fact that the refugees have chosen to flee to Niger rather than to stay in Nigeria, an action they clearly would not have taken if they were sure of the protection of their compatriots.

And it is not the first time that Nigerians have sought refuge outside their own country, either. Some 75,000 citizens escaping from the Boko Haram menace had fled to Cameroon, Chad and Niger by September 2014.

When the growing crisis in the north-west is combined with the activities of insurgents in the north-east, herdsman-farmer conflicts in the Middle Belt, and increasingly violent criminality in the rest of the country, it is obvious that Nigeria is confronting a security crisis of existential proportions.

In responding effectively to the situation in Sokoto, it is crucially important that the Buhari administration fully understand the dynamics of what it is dealing with. The current tendency to address banditry on a case-by-case basis is not working.

The escalation in lawlessness in Sokoto is widely believed to have been triggered by security operations in Katsina which allegedly forced the criminals to seek more conducive states in which to operate. If this is the case, only a holistic approach to the problem will suffice. This means better coordination of operations between the affected states and the security forces stationed within them.

The charge of military indifference to bandit attacks must be thoroughly investigated. Where culpability is established, the offending commanders must be dealt with according to established military practice. More efficient emergency-response systems must be developed; it would be strange if calls for help cannot be easily sent and received in this age of almost-instantaneous communication.

Almost no part of Nigeria can be said to be free of extensive criminal activity. To be properly confronted, it will require a committed government, an engaged and supportive citizenry, and well-equipped security forces that are alive to their duties.