The abduction of UNIABUJA staff

On November 2, the staff quarters of the University of Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was invaded by the notorious bandits who have been terrorising all parts of the country lately. According to media reports, the felons violated the serenity of the staff quarters and left a trail of tears and anguish. They abducted six persons, including two professors, a deputy registrar, and three family members. Naturally, the incident threw the university community into panic. A couple who managed to escape from the outlaws’ vice grip, Professor Bassey Udoh and his wife, during a heart-rending interview they granted a national television, lamented that their children were still in the bush with their abductors. They were clearly shell-shocked.

Thankfully, however, as indicated in a statement by the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Josephine Adeh, all the victims were rescued through the joint efforts of security operatives and no swap deal was made during the operation. Nor was any ransom paid to the hoodlums who had demanded N300 million for their release. Said DSP Adeh, no doubt with a  tinge of excitement, “We engaged the kidnappers in a gun duel and arrested eight.” One of the victims, Professor Joseph Obansa,  said: “They (bandits) made us walk over a long stretch, day and night, and when it was day time, they blindfolded us. On the first day, they fed us with gari with unclean water. The second day, they harvested yams from people’s farms and roasted them. They gave us yam to eat after they had finished eating. We were fed like slaves. There was a time when I couldn’t move again after trekking for a long time. They kicked and threatened to waste me if I didn’t stand up. My son had to help me up.  It was a very terrible experience; I had never trekked continuously for that long in my life.”

Of course, it would be naive, not to say absurd, to expect that university campuses would be exempt from the experiences of the larger society of which they are an integral part. If the Nigeria Defense Academy (NDA), the major military training institution in the country, could be invaded despite being a fortress of military hardware, university campuses may not escape the ignoble touch of the terrorists who have been quite ubiquitous in the country lately. The terrorists operated on the UNIABUJA campus for hours and without any resistance. But by the morning of November 5, a statement from the office of the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Abdul Rasheed Na’allah, confirmed the release of all the abducted staff and their children, a feat which he attributed to the combined efforts of security agencies like the Department of State Services (DSS), the police, university security staff and others.

In this particular instance, we are heartened that the dark episode ended well. Unlike the recent tragic experience at a private university in the same Abuja, no lives were lost. Still, it is disturbing that the tardy security arrangements in the country which have enabled rampant breaches and lapses have not been addressed by the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government. If the security of the entire country continues to be compromised, all the institutions within it would definitely suffer from the lapses too. To be sure, the attack on the NDA, just like the burglary incident that took place not too long ago at the Aso Rock Villa, the seat of power, was so striking in its symbolism, and certainly explains the security breaches increasingly rampant at the FCT. What happened at the University of Abuja should not have occurred in the first place, but it could also have been worse.

In case the Buhari administration needs any reminding, security of life and property is the raison d’etre of the State. By implication, any government unable to perform this basic function is simply not fit for purpose. This, therefore, is the time, as the UNIABUJA victims pointed out, to approach the extant security issues with all the seriousness they deserve. As we have pointed out time and again, there is no way an ethnically, linguistically and culturally complex country like Nigeria can be policed centrally. The security architecture must be decentralised in such a way that the country’s component units can take charge of their affairs in ways that best suit them. National security is far beyond anything that the Federal Government can presume to handle on its own. It requires broad-based, multi-layered and mutually reinforcing structures. Besides, it is disturbing that the administration continues to play the ostrich, sticking to its decision not to declare the so-called bandits as terrorists despite their consistent orgies of violence, including prison breaks, attacks on military formations and the downing of military jets. For as long as they seem to enjoy official leverage, for so long will the “bandits” continue their horrendous activities. In any case, the situation in the country would have been quite different if,  after every crime committed, they were given their just deserts.

We commend the synergy among the security agencies that eventually resulted in the release of all the abducted persons in the UNIABUJA episode. We urge them not to rest on their oars. We also call on the UNIABUJA authorities and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to give the rescued victims all the support they may require at this time, and to ensure that kidnapping incidents do not recur in the university and beyond. Finally, we urge the police and the judiciary to ensure that the culprits are punished to the fullest extent allowed by law.

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