Friday, May 2, 2014

In search of bombs with naked eyes


What else can I call it except double jeopardy for Nigerians in these trying times!  The Boko Haram (BH) sect will throw bombs and kill us en-mass and the security personnel in response to the situation will mount roadblocks, to harass those that are yet to be consumed by the BH bombs. This cycle has been going on for decades unabated. 

BH can be said to have upped their game significantly with the inclusion of the suburbs of Abuja as the potential fourth theater of war.  It is however, difficult to say same of our security personnel. They still rely on their traditional roadblocks and stop and search technique, whenever a security challenge arises. What exactly are they looking for? And do they think that BH are that stupid to walk into them with incendiary materials in their possession? And even if they do, in a well-concealed package, how will the security personnel recognize the bomb with their naked eyes? They don’t even use sniffer dogs, chai!!

While discussing with a friend the other day about the futility of our security personnel’s approach to our collective challenges, my friend aptly summarized the mindset of our security men as; “they need to show Nigerians that they are on top of the situation”, whatever that means. Surely they use this phrase, so often to the extent that we can second-guess them when they speak.  Must you punish us to demonstrate to us that you are working? What happens to hi-tech equipment that can be deployed to help you carryout this onerous task? How far can you go applying primitive techniques in combatting 21st century degenerates like BH?
 
I recall reading about an interview with Aneni’s Lieutenant, forgot his name. (Aneni’s gang is the notorious armed robbers operating around the South West circa the ‘80s). He was asked how his gang was able to elude the authorities for so long, and he simply responded, “it is common sense…whenever the authorities intensify search in a particular area, we wait for them to wear out and we attack again”, sometimes around the same vicinity.  Déjà vu, isn’t it? 20 years on, the combatting strategy remains the same. Why can’t we move with the world and embrace technologies that can help us solve our problems with ease.  I am sure even the military officers deployed to guard the streets will do with more dignity.

I read somewhere that incendiary bombs, small arms and even rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) emit heat signatures that are detectable by hi-tech scanners. These scanners are usually mounted by the roadsides and can scan cars or moving objects approaching from as far off as 500 meters, (half a kilometer).  If a signal is picked up, the security personnel monitoring the scanner from afar will simply move in and intercept the vehicle containing such object, without necessarily disrupting movements of other innocent road users.  This device is similar to the scanners used at the airports to check hand luggage taken into the aircraft. 

Are our leaders unaware of this technology? Or is there something more about this  'reactive' approach than meets the eye? Or could it be that we don't have the money to buy them? I thought I heard one-trillion-Naira was budgeted last year for security, which comes to about 30% of the total 2013 budget.  How could there be no money to buy necessary equipment that will save our lives? Are our lives that worthless now to merit persecution from all fronts – BH on one hand and the nonchalant attitude of the authorities on the other?

On a second thought, what happened to the close circuit television cameras installed around Abuja in 2012 or was that just another red-herring security policy designed to freight away our sovereign wealth in the name of “procurement”?

There is no gain saying that at the moment 3 states in Nigeria are totally shut down, under the guise of 'state of emergency'. No fewer than 5 physically manned roadblocks exists in and around each of these state capitals, with fierce looking and gun toting security personnel, watching motorists meander through sand bags placed on the roads in “z” shape designed to impede movement. Majority will agree with me that this strategy is not only ineffectual; it has punitive connotations to it. They may be saying in their minds, “…you bloody civilians, your undisciplined manner of disturbing peace brought us out of the barracks. We will teach you how to stay peaceful through drills…” (These views are mine).
 
Residents of Nyanya and its contiguous neighbors will attest to this.  A colleague of mine who resides in that neighborhood told me that he now has to leave his house by 4 am everyday for a 20 km trip to the office that opens at 8 am and still there is no guarantee that he will get to the office on time. In the first week after the initial Nyanya bomb blast, some wise residents of the area were forced to take their annual leaves for fear of losing their jobs to tardiness. No thanks to the military that are "on top of the situation” by forcing motorists to pass through the eyes of the needle in the name of “checkpoints”.

The only effect of this strategy to my knowledge is the waste of valuable man-hour spent in the long traffic jams at these checkpoints. Else, why are the bombs still going off with increasing rapidity? No fewer than 2 instances of bomb blasts with at least 10 lives lost in each situation have been reported monthly in the last 5 years.  Last April, as the lucky Nyanya blast victims were nursing their wounds at the hospital, two more bombs went off in Maiduguri.  The first one for May has just been recorded on the very first day of the month and the authorities have started bandying figures of causalities around.  At the last count they released reports saying 12 dead 19 others injured.  We are watching.

NB:  All pictures used were culled from: