Insecurity has eaten deep into Nigeria and the best way to tackle it is to fix it from the scratch. Where did we go wrong? What are the causes and solutions to insecurity? Security consultant, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, who is the first chartered security professional in West Africa and President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON), joined Tolu and Olisa on News Central’s Breakfast Show.
Dr. Ona first established that bandits or terrorists are always interested in maximizing their value, that’s why they go for soft targets like schools. “They got handsomely paid for the Kankara attack in December 2020.” For example, over one hundred persons were kidnapped last week in Niger state, and nobody said anything, it was just reported and forgotten. But when they went for schoolboys, it made headlines. “It is this factor that gives terrorists more mileage in terms of notoriety.“
“Schools are rarely so vulnerable, that’s why much attention isn’t paid to them. But the new factor that is enabling school attacks is proof that someone is sleeping at the switch, which could be security officials, school officials, or even government officials”, he added.
On the issue of addressing insecurity in Nigeria, the Africa Representative of the International Foundation for Protection Officers said that insecurity in Nigeria is a complex and messy problem that doesn’t lend itself to an easy solution.
First of all, it requires better understanding. Most Nigerian elites and politicians still don’t understand the level of our problem in this country. The state government, assembly members, and local government officials have the authority to work on these issues. They just blow the siren and disturb the peace of the public. Instead of working, all they do is sleep and wait to pay ransoms for kidnap victims.
Dr. Ona proffered workable solutions to the issue of insecurity in Nigeria. He stated that information should be put out on soft target handling, what people should do in a case of emergency or who to report to when they receive a threat letter like the one Kagara community received before the abduction of the school students.
