How we can win war against terrorists —Don

Dr Ashiru Sani is the Head of History Department, Kaduna State University. He is also an authority in conflict resolution.  He speaks to our Northern Bureau chief, MUHAMMAD SABIU, on some of the security issues bedevilling the country and the way forward. Excerpts.

 

As an expert in conflict resolution, what is your own understanding of conflict? 

Conflict is when there is a misunderstanding between two parties; when there is lack of trust between two parties or when opinions differ between two divergent groups. When there is no tolerance between two parties, then conflict may arise at any time. That›s what conflict is all about.

 

Let’s look at Boko Haram. For quite some time now, the issue of insurgency seems to have defied all solutions. What do you think are the problems? 

Well, the issue of Boko Haram is a serious one, not only in Nigeria, but also in some parts of West Africa like Cameroon, Chad, and Niger Republic. Boko Haram, which  started over a decade ago, has recorded a high rate of deaths since. However, when the present regime came on board under President Muhammadu Buhari, in the first three years, he had tried his best to minimise their activities in Nigeria. Sadly, all of a sudden, in the last two years, the issue of Boko Haram has gradually been getting out of hands, because it seems the insurgents are getting an upper hand over our security personnel in the sense that the insurgency has extended to kidnappings and destruction of properties in so many places like Katsina and Zamfara.  Today, many people have been kidnapped and killed.

Now, it appears it is becoming difficult for the government to tackle this problem. At times, we apportioned blame to the government, but it is not only the government that carries the burden. We the citizens must work together with government, the military personnel and police, in order to  reduce the menace of Boko Haram, kidnapping, banditry and rustling to the barest level.

While it is true, the security outfits are doing their  best, but of recent there has been this outcry to  replace the service chiefs. But we have different options.  As far as I am concerned, it is not the service chiefs that are the main problem of insecurity in the country. You see, the issue of informants is one of the major problems. From what we understand, informants are the major threat. That›s why the security operatives find it difficult to end the war. We must identify them in our midst and deal with them. So if we can change our attitude and support the government, the issue of insecurity will be drastically minimised. But there is no way the government alone can fight Boko Haram. This is because the war is not seen physically. We are fighting  a guerilla war and any person who knows what a guerilla war is all about will understand the difficulty. It is not a physical war where you will see your enemy and you fight face to face. You don›t even know where your enemy could be found. Some of them are in the bush and some of them even live with us.

So government alone cannot tackle this problem of insecurity. We must collectively join hands together and do a crusade by either reporting criminals that are closer to us or around us or inform government of any security lapse we notice. So by this, we are supporting the government to end the menace.

 

So you are saying government should re-strategise or what approach do you think government should adopt in this critical situation? 

What I want you to understand is the influx of arms into the country which is not only alarming, but is also another problem. These arms are usually smuggled into the country through the borders. One of the strategies employed by the government, which is good, is the closure of the borders.

The closure of the borders was not just a welcome development; it was done in order to minimise the importation of small arms into the country. But unfortunately with all the efforts of government, many weapons are still coming in. [Border closure] is one of the strategies the government will have to sustain. It is utterly wrong for the government to reopen the borders now.

We may be wondering who is sponsoring them [Boko Haram]? Our security operatives don’t have the type of weapons they have; so who is buying arms for them? So government has to strategise more, even though they are re-strategising, because as I said, one of the strategies is the closure of the borders.

Another thing is that government should also recruit more young soldiers. The current size of the Nigerian Army is insufficient to fight the battle. Let us look for those interested in joining the army and recruit them without delay as long as they are of good character.

 

So are you supporting the establishment of state police? 

Yes, I am in support of state police and even community police, because we don’t have enough security in this country. Federal police are not enough. And the worst thing is that the federal police don’t have equipment. If they are equipped, I think 60 per cent of the problems will be addressed. If there is a problem in a particular area, police will be complaining there is no vehicle, no fuel; there is no this or that. So if government will give them enough equipment, we will make tremendous progress.

So with the establishment of state police and community police all the operatives will play their roles and be complementing one another. The state and community police too, if established, should be properly equipped. So if we do that, we will be able to address the issue of insecurity in this country because those to be recruited will be those we know; not those who will cause another problem for the society. Those with good character, good records and what have you.

 

Let us look at the role of traditional rulers in this current situation, do you think there is the need to carry them along? 

Traditional rulers are part of the leadership of this country.  Whether we like it or not, they are closer to the people and live within their local governments. So they know the records and the history of what is happening in their communities and they know each village in their areas too.

So if the traditional rulers will be given the chance, I think their role is very important. Some of the traditional rulers are trying their best in terms of giving vital information to the government, but you see that, sometimes, government ignores some of these pieces of advice. I remember in those days before someone would be recruited into the police or army, the traditional ruler must be contacted and he must give recommendation before such person would be enlisted.

So we have to go back to that era to know who is Mr A and who is Mr B, etc. But today, we recruit without consulting our traditional rulers. If we are to consult them, they will give vital information on who are to be recruited or not.

 

Recently, the issue of insecurity took another dimension with the abduction of over 300 students of a secondary school in Katsina State. What do you think government should do to protect these schools? 

That was unfortunate. That is part of the security lapses we have in this country. If the government and security personnel are proactive, I see no reason why a large number of students will be abducted within some few hours and government is not aware.

So government should find a modern equipment that will detect some of these criminalities going on in our land. That is why I am saying we don’t have equipment to tackle insecurity. If we have enough vehicles and personnel they are using all the time, day and night, and patrolling our highways, I don’t think such a problem will be recurring.

When such incident occurred in Chibok, instead of government to take action immediately, it did not. It allowed the insurgents to go with the girls to their hideouts before trying to rescue them. Now, it has become imperative for government to provide security for all our boarding schools.

Armed security personnel should be guarding the schools day and night so that such incidents would not occur again. If security personnel are within this area, the bandits would not have succeeded in taking the school students away because those security personnel on the ground would have alerted other security and before you know what is happening, the security would be trailing them.

But it is sad; what we have now are just security guards employed by the schools and these security guards are even unarmed.

Here, I want to suggest that all the police attached to VIPs should be withdrawn. I really don’t know why government is still delaying their withdrawal. Fighting insecurity is not a one-man business. People are having much hope in the government. So government should be proactive and start doing the right thing. The killings in our land must stop.

We, the civilian citizens too, must find ways of supporting the government. We have to report suspicious characters around us. The people must report anything that we feel will threaten or jeopardise the peace in our various communities. We must stop these wanton killings and destruction. Both the government and the citizens must be proactive.

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