By Editorial Board, The Guardian, October 04, 2023
The suggestion by the Police Service Commission (PSC) that the police, rather than the military, be allowed to lead the war against terrorism is credible to the extent that such an arrangement may open up the possibility of prosecuting and perhaps securing the conviction of the terrorists.
This indeed is what a former Inspector General of the Police, Mr. Solomon Arase predicated the suggestion on, with emphasis that unlike the military, the police are trained to look for and preserve evidence that would aid successful prosecution.
While this suggestion deserves some consideration, what is more important, given the spread and tenacity of terror in the country, is for the two agencies to forge a closer knit and collaboration in stamping out insurgency. Besides, the police need to be better equipped if they are to play a more major role in fighting terror.
Chairman of Police Service Commission (PSC) and former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, who made the demand in Abuja that the police should lead counter-terrorism fight, explained that police officers were trained to secure crime scenes, gather evidence and prosecute criminals, unlike the military officers deployed in the insurgency-stricken areas in the North East who were not trained to gather evidence and prosecute and, therefore, lacked the knowledge to do so.
Arase, while receiving the Police Advisor, Lake Chad Basin Support Framework of the United Kingdom High Commission in Nigeria, Elizabeth Madeod, and others, also faulted the practice of releasing and reintegrating arrested terrorists into the society without proper profiling, noting that many of them go back to the crime, creating more harm for the terrorism-torn region. Good enough, the military has pledged to drop that option.
According to the former IGP, “more conviction of these criminals in the North East would serve as a deterrent to others and eventually reduce the spate of crime and criminality in the region. The military officers deployed to the troubled region have no such training and this has resulted in a low rate of prosecution of offenders and a conviction rate of less than five per cent.”
Consequently, Arase advised the Federal Government to reduce the military component of the war against insurgency and allow the police, the lead agency in internal security, to lead the battle. He blamed challenges of counter-insurgency missions in the country on lack of inter-agency collaboration and intelligence sharing among the security agencies.
This suggestion should be considered in the context of the crucial need to successfully crush the insurgency in the North East, which has in fact spread to other parts of the north. Every security agency has its specific constitutional responsibilities in the overall task of ensuring safety of life and property in the country, and special operational procedures for delivering on the mandate. One of the important things that define the operational procedure for each security agency, so that it will be efficient in the discharge of its duties, is the nature of training to which the personnel were exposed.
For instance, while police personnel are trained to secure life and property at the scene of a crime, arrest the suspected masterminds and prosecute them for appropriate punishment for those found guilty to serve as a deterrent to others, the military personnel are majorly trained to tackle external aggression, to fight external forces on a mission to invade the country. In other words, while the police are constitutionally saddled with the responsibility of ensuring internal security, the military is to protect the territorial integrity of the nation.
For over a decade, this country has been fighting a seemingly intractable war against terrorists who have killed tens of thousands of innocent citizens, old and young, including security personnel and foreigners living in the country, for unexplained and unjust reasons. Beyond the loss of life and property, the war against terrorists has cost and is still costing this country hundreds of billions of naira. Sadly, the results achieved are too often nullified by the unceasing attacks on hapless communities and security operatives. Obviously, there are inherent deficiencies in the handling of the war, part of which makes the arrested suspects escape prosecution and punishment.
Nigerians read media reports of purported ‘neutralising’ and arrest of scores of terrorists but rarely get reports of prosecution of the murderers. It is believed that the failure to punish those arrested emboldens many other people to join the terrorist groups, including Boko Haram and ISWAP, for the killing spree. The rehabilitation and reintegration of those claimed to be repentant terrorists into the society instead of arraigning them for murder or mass killing is defeating the fight against the criminals, many of who regroup or serve as informants for the insurgents, thus prolonging the fight interminably. There is therefore the need to review the operational strategy with a view to adopting an approach that will facilitate progress in the move to end terrorism in Nigeria.
The Director, Defence Information, Brigadier-General Tukur Gusau, said in as much as the security agencies worked together, only the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces could tell the military to hands off the fight against terrorists. It is instructive, however, that President Bola Tinubu had, shortly after being sworn in, challenged security agencies to synergise for an effective anti-terrorism campaign.
There is a crucial need for deeper collaboration among the relevant agencies, including the paramilitary organisations. In addition to neutralising terrorists, arresting and prosecuting the culprits and severely punishing those found guilty is equally important to deter would be insurgents. Presently, the rate of prosecution is unacceptably low.
The war must be won for Nigeria to be able to move forward. Strategic collaboration among the security agencies is what is needed to successfully tackle terrorism. It is obvious that ending terrorism in Nigeria today requires more than police intervention alone. The armed forces have indeed displayed gallantry in the fight, but they can achieve perhaps better results with closer operational ties with other security agencies, particularly the police.
As the leading African country, Nigeria must empower its police and the military to become very strong and worthy of respect and emulation by other countries.