Citizen Lucy Tapnang’s bravery

THERE are circumstances that make a recourse to a desperate and risky measure the only solution to a problem, especially when the standard and established mechanism for resolution has proved largely ineffective. This succinctly captures the action of citizen Lucy Tapnang who was recently attacked by some kidnappers but who, in sheer display of bravery, reportedly disarmed one of them bearing an AK-47 rifle and freed herself and three other victims in Barkin Ladi local Government Area of Plateau State. Though she suffered various degrees of injury as the bandits viciously attacked her, she succeeded in rescuing herself and the other victims from the criminals’ den. In a sense, Tapnang decided to perform the primary function of a government by  securing/defending  herself and others in an adverse situation even after yielding the monopoly of violence to the government like everyone else in exchange for official security and protection which is seldom guaranteed.

Obviously, the bandits got more than they bargained for and they must have been confounded by the unusual stiff resistance from a woman. Citizen Tapnang, by her courage, has demystified the bandits and her bravery has put a lie to the notion that tends to  develop from the official laid-back disposition, namely that terrorists are some unassailable spirits. Certainly, Tapnang did not needlessly choose to put her life at risk; she must have weighed her options. Her  motivation for such a  strong display of courage and seeming fearlessness must have derived from the need for her to avoid the harrowing experience kidnap victims are usually subjected to, especially in the face of government’s proven inability to secure the citizenry and its legendary failed attempts at rescuing those who suffer from adverse circumstances.

Ordinarily, it is the state that bears responsibility for the security and safety of citizens but it seems that citizens have begun to take precipitate actions to defend themselves following the official reluctance to prioritise their protection and safety. Nonetheless, while the outcome of Tapnang’s courageous act was successful and pleasing in the instant case, her example cannot be commended to fellow citizens in such situations. It is risky. The Nigerian state should not be risking citizens’ lives in such a manner. That is what it does when it cannot secure the lives and properties of its citizens or successfully come to their rescue when they are in adverse circumstances, thereby forcing them to resort to risky self-help measures. In other words,  it is the irresponsibility of the Nigerian government that causes Nigerians to be involved in the kind of risky undertaking that Tapnang engaged in.  At the risk of sounding  repetitive, we must say that while Tapnang’s bravery deserves commendation, we do not encourage any citizen to replicate what she did. Her brave intervention was a risky venture that could have resulted in her and other victims’ death.

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Sadly, not a few Nigerians believe, and perhaps rightly so,  that kidnapping in the country would have reduced considerably and significantly, if not eliminated outright, if the government had been known to routinely apprehend kidnappers and made the venture unprofitable and almost a certain adventure into the embrace of security agents. However, the reality  is that the government has left Nigerians to the gory exploits of the kidnappers, making the risky venture by Lucy Tapnang the only viable way of leaving the kidnappers’ den to avoid being killed or made to pay huge ransom, or even suffer both fates. This cannot be a good way for the government to treat its citizens as its first responsibility is to provide security for them. Indeed, a government only deserves its name if it demonstrates the capacity to provide and guarantee security for those it is superintending over.

Perhaps the exceptional bravery and courage of citizen Lucy Tapnang will spur the government and its security agencies to realise that going after kidnappers and rescuing victims from them should not be an impossible attainment. That is what citizens expect from their government and that is what the government should be prepared to do going forward.