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:
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