Retired military officers have condemned the rising spate of kidnappings and killings in the country, saying adequate punishments have not been meted out to the rampaging kidnappers.…..For More READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ▶▶...CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING.>>
Recall that an investigation by Sunday PUNCH had shown that no fewer than 2,140 people were reported kidnapped across 24 states of the country between January and July 2024.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!It also showed that families of 62 victims, representing 2.89 percent of the total abductees, paid the sum of N389m as ransom to secure their release from the kidnappers.
This was just as a security intel gathering firm, SBM Intelligence, recently said about N1bn has also been paid by Nigerians to kidnappers between July 2023 and July 2024.
The International Centre for Investigative Journalism also reported that data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project showed that at least 2,336 people were killed in various violent attacks within the first three months of 2024.
In response to the security crisis, the Senate in June urged President Bola Tinubu to overhaul the country’s response to incessant attacks by bandits in the North-West and the North Central regions of the country.
The legislative chamber also called on the President to constitute a task force to secure farmlands to ensure increased food production and security.
But in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, the former military chiefs said the government has not been doing enough in prosecuting arrested bandits and terrorists to serve as strong deterrents to others.
In his submission, former Director of Defence Information, Brig Gen John Agim (retd.), said though the country’s security crisis is a multifaceted issue, the government’s leniency with bandits and terrorists is a big causative factor.
He said Nigeria is the only country in which people are not being punished for committing atrocities and that if the anomaly continues, the country will be in serious trouble.
“We are not fighting together when it comes to criminality. So, until we begin to fight crime together, nothing will change. I want you to find out: these people that we are talking about, where have they been punished? Where is the place where they punish bandits and terrorists? Do we expect the military man to punish these people? If the military punishes them, Amnesty International will be on the case because it will amount to extrajudicial killing.
“Everybody knows that the only way you can make money is to act like bandits, kidnap people, and you will get away with it. Nobody is just taking action. This is because the bandits were political thugs at some point, and they can be used by politicians at another time. So they (the bandits) know that when anything happens, nothing is going to happen to them. So until we begin to revive punishment for criminality and the judiciary must be part of it, because as we speak, they are not part of it,” the retired general declared.
Similarly, former Commander, 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Brig Gen John Sura (retd.), said the only way the government can effectively address the rising spate of kidnapping is to impose capital punishment and public execution for kidnappers.
He said, “Firstly, the government must be ready to come out hard with capital punishment for some of these heinous crimes, particularly kidnapping. They should give it capital punishment. And such punishment should be public execution for everybody to see. When it is seen, it will serve as a deterrent. When the military was in government in those days, each time they nabbed armed robbers, they would take them to their village and shoot them there. Thereafter, people learned and they began to know that if they steal, such a thing was going to happen to them.
“But we have begun to follow the western laws which say you don’t have the right to take a life, which is not alright. This is because drastic situations need drastic actions. Until we get to that level, that is when all these things will stop. Secondly, the military forces cannot be deployed everywhere in the country. So we should be able to enact some strong laws.”
A former Commander of the Special Task Force, Operation Safe Haven, Major General Henry Ayoola (retd.), also said the Federal Government is shying away from identifying the bandits, where they came from, and how they entered the country.
According to him, if the government had shown the will to address the issue, the many recommendations presented in various papers written by security experts would have been consulted and implemented to tackle the menace.…..For More READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ▶▶
