June 2, 2023/CSL Research
A Business Day report says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday met with the nation’s security Chiefs to discuss plans of massive reforms of the country’s security architecture.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, while briefing State House Journalists after the meeting, noted that the President has mandated the security agencies to come up with a blueprint to address the current insecurity situation urgently.
Present at the meeting were the Chief of Defense Staff, Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Army Staff, Farouk Yahaya; Chief of Naval Staff, Awwal Gambo; the Chief of Air Staff, Isiaka Amao, Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, Director-General of the Department of State Service(DSS), Yusuf Bichi and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Rufai Abubakar.
The Nigerian security situation has steadily worsened over the past few years, as banditry, kidnapping, insurgency, terrorism, and all sorts of social crimes have spread across all parts of the country with the northern region being the worst hit.
Bandits have continued to launch attacks unabated in the northern region. A significant number of people including security operatives have been killed across several communities in many northern states by suspected bandits. There has also been an incursion of ISWAP into the country and this is unarguably the most potent threat to the country’s security. ISWAP is primed to emerge as the deadliest group in the country if not nipped in the bud.
The rising state of insecurity in the North has continued to affect the economic growth of the country significantly weighing on local food production and making it impossible for many farmers to go to their farms for fear of being killed or kidnapped. The incessant attacks on major highways and rail tracks have narrowed the options for farmers to transport their goods to the appropriate markets, thereby resulting in an increase in the cost of food.
Moving to the East, the continued detention of the embattled leader of the separatist organization, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has prolonged agitations in the region, which continue to impact the economy of the south-east.The Monday sit-at-home order has had a torrid impact on the economy of the south-east, with the latest figures suggesting that the region has lost about N4trn in 2 years to insecurity and the IPOB sit-athome protests.
The worsening security situation led to the formation of regional security agencies, such as the Amotekun security outfit of the SouthWest region. Based on reports, the activities of the Amotekun have helped complement the efforts of the conventional security agencies.
Although the Northern region also established the “Shege-Ka-Fasa” security outfit, this has been reported to be inactive due to low support. Evidently, one major problem is the inadequacy of security personnel. In our view, addressing the security concerns of the country is the most pertinent issue for the new administration as any meaningful economic progress is hinged on it. We are hopeful that decisive and holistic steps will be taken to address this burning concern.
