Time to end inter-agency rivalry among security agencies

THERE is no gainsaying the fact that a desperate crisis is brewing up in the nation’s security architecture. For a country that is only now trying to find its feet following many years of fighting Boko Haram insurgents in the North East, Nigeria can hardly afford to be enmeshed in inter-agency rivalry amongst its security agencies. Since the story of the seizure of N13bn from an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the report has gone viral on both the traditional and the social media, with unimaginable number of readers raising concerns about the raid of funds belonging to a sister agency, the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the implications of such an action to the security of the nation.

According to reports, the Director General of the NIA, Mr. Ayodele Oke had prevailed on the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, not to carry out the operation when he learned of it, but the latter disagreed. Oke was reported to have rushed to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja to advise Mr. Magu, given that the funds belonged to the federal government. As of when he was going to Abuja, no fewer than 13 police officers, some soldiers, photographers, videographers were said to have forcefully gained entrance into the apartment.The EFCC’s Facebook live streaming of part of the operation was seen as an embarrassment to the Nigerian security system. Many Nigerians have argued that this has caused media trial for an investigation that should have been done quietly However, EFCC is also believed to have its own reasons for the live streaming. It is an undeniable fact this kind of inter-agency rivalry is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. Indeed, even in civilized clans, examples abound of disagreements between key agencies tasked with the responsibility of maintaining law and order.

The difference between these countries and Nigeria is that unlike Nigeria, these advanced countries have continuously evolved strategies and programmes which ensure constant engagement among security agencies. This kind of cooperation ensures that unnecessary rivalry between different arms of the nations’ security formation is avoided. Also, advanced nations would hardly allow primordial considerations take precedence over the larger objective of ensuring that all security agencies work collectively for the greater good of the whole country. This argument, however, does not negate the fact that corruption which is one single menace that has held Nigeria down since independence must be fought with all the equipment at the nation’s disposal. For the records, the chairman of EFCC is doing a good job of fighting corruption. Anyone who has followed Magu’s career at the anti-graft agency in the last ten years or so would attest his being one of the best hands that the Nigeria Police can go to war with.

But as impressive as his credentials may be, his actions will constitute a disincentive to the objective of securing Nigeria if he deliberately pursues a cause that will tear apart co-equal components that make up the nation’s security architecture. Magu must be told that Nigeria still has a long way to go in banishing terrorism from and other security problems in our land and therefore all hands must be on deck to ensure that security agencies work together to ensure that we all live in peace and harmony. What is required is a strategy that would ensure sustainable cooperation amongst sister security agencies. It is the wish and prayer of all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, religious, ethnic or political aspiration for Nigeria to overcome its security challenges as soon as possible, and this is not realizable if security agencies are engaged in supremacy battles.

The human and material losses so far recorded are too massive to any well meaning Nigerian to disregard any action that is likely to trigger any crisis among security agencies. It should be understood that the nation cannot continue to act as though those precious lives we keep losing in separate attacks are not precious to us. We have every reason to be worried about this sad occurrence. Every soul lost in any of these attacks should be a source of concern to any Nigerian. The EFCC must show decorous conduct while it goes about fighting the cankerworm that corruption has become. We need not allow unnecessary primordial and clannish issues to distract us from consolidating on the gains so far recorded in the fight against corruption.

• Shehu- Hussein writes in from Abuja.