Following the alarming rate of the menace of insecurity being witnessed presently on a daily basis across Delta State and the country at large; residents of Boji Boji Metropolis have during an interactive session with Ika Mirror Newspaper reporter on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, bared their minds on how to put an end to the ugly development.
Here are the contributions of some of the respondents who spoke on the issue.
Mr. Benjamin Igboanugo, a Carton Producer, said “The issue of insecurity in the country is getting out of hand, Nigeria today is experiencing what they had never witnessed before; our people are dying every minute in the hands of bandits and terrorist groups like Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen and kidnappers. The government is even tired and confused on how best to nip the menace in the bud, the President of Nigeria was quoted last week while taking an appraisal of the security situations in the country, saying that the service chiefs are trying but their efforts is not good enough; that shows the height of security lapses in the country. It seems that government alone cannot tackle the issue of insecurity in the country, after all, it is the information which the public gives to the security agents that they work on. The service chiefs or the military alone cannot solve the problems, government should tell themselves the truth; the idea is that within the country there are certain things that are engineering this insecurity; firstly, there are many people or groups who felt marginalized and offended that are reacting; so many things went wrong, people are being stamped out, some people want to voice out their grievances but they are not allowed to do so. Government should seat down and understand that insecurity in Nigeria is not being caused only by those who wants to take what belongs to others. Some people went into banditry to express their reactions against certain things that are happening in the country today. I am of the opinion that the federal government should call a meeting of the whole regions in the country for a round table national reconciliation conference, where every group would be given the opportunity to air their grievances and everyone will deliberate on the issue and proffer lasting solutions to the issues raised. Secondly, Government should focus on the upcoming generation, that is our children; government should be more committed towards Nigerian children to integrate into them the virtues of how not to be corrupt, because most of our children and youths are already corrupt in their minds; of which if they do not have a change of mindset and orientation, the future of Nigeria is going to be characterized with corrupt people”.
Mr. Basil Nwosu, a Butcher, said “Personally, I feel that one of the remedies to fighting the menace of insecurity in our country is for the traditional rulers and their chiefs to be involved in the fight against insecurity, because they know their indigenes and the strangers that are living within their domain; they have to brace up and know what to do in salvaging the situation. If possible they can set up vigilante groups comprising of able bodied youths of their various communities; assign them to go into their forest and comb the whole area in order to know what is happening there and in case they catch up with hoodlums using there as hideout, let them be apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law; however, I also believe that some criminally minded indigenes also works hand in hand with these Fulani herdsmen kidnappers, because without the indigenes aiding them they cannot succeed. I am aware of the proposed plan by the Delta State Government to set up a security outfit that will be known as “Operation Delta Hawk”, why is it taking them a long time to commence operations? The masses are so disturbed about the state of insecurity in Ika land. Government should wake up to their responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of their citizens from heinous attacks; because people are being kidnapped, raped and killed everyday and it seems that the government is not aware of the onslaught; such ineptitude is not good for a developing society like ours”.
Mr. Johnson, a Retired Civil Servant, said “Well, we should be talking of how to curtail the scourge of insecurity because it may not be totally eradicated for now; for that reason, government should be proactive in dealing with the ugly development. First and foremost there should be a legislation in the House of Assembly, stipulating that all arms carrying individuals that are illegal should be criminalized no matter where they come from nor the tribe they belong; if you see them carrying arms illegally they should be arrested, let them face the law. Government has to set up a security outfit that is legally positioned to do the work, in the same vein, the House of Assembly should also pass a law to that effect. We cannot leave ourselves to fate and ask God to come and help us, God will help us when we help ourselves. Government should come up with adequate measures that are required in tackling this menace headlong, otherwise there might be a great problem which they may not be able to handle”.
Comrade David, a Retired Civil Servant, said “This issue of insecurity has assumed an alarming situation, everyone is aware of the spate of insecurity in this country; however, we should be more concerned about Delta State, because here in Ika land the Fulani herdsmen have ravaged every nooks and crannies of our communities. When this issue started some of us spoke out against it but the people pretended as if they were not aware of what was happening, but today it has enveloped everyone, crisis have engulfed everywhere. Government should come out boldly and address this issue of insecurity, there should be a legislation where all these arms carrying people should be arrested and prosecuted; then a security outfit should be set up in Delta State, where members of the security outfit should be well armed to perform their duties effectively; but the problem we are having in Nigeria is that the Governor is seen as the Chief Security Officer of the state, but the state commissioner of police takes directives from the Inspector General of Police at Abuja; he does not take directives from the Governor, that is the problem we are having there is already a lacuna, that is why some of us have been agitating for regional police but government killed the idea at the central level, so not until we have a regional security outfit and a police force where the commissioner is accountable to the Governor of the state, who is supposed to be the Chief Security Officer of the state; it is then that we will get it right but by the time the commissioner of police will be waiting for the Inspector General of Police from Abuja to give orders, things are already bad. So, we are advocating that there should be a legislation at all level of government where all these criminal elements should be brought to their knees; after which a sound robust security outfit should be floated to combat this insecurity. Secondly, our Governors and local government chairmen usually collect huge sums of money every month as security vote; what are they doing with the money? This monies should be channeled to the appropriate quarters where issues of insecurity should be brought to it’s knees; not until this measures are put in place we would be heading no where. All hands should be on deck, government should stop playing politics with the issue of insecurity in the country; elected office holders should wake up and speak against all these vices, our law makers in Abuja and at the state level should speak out, they shouldn’t feel comfortable because of the jumbo allowance they are collecting and allow the poor masses to suffer all these problems”.
