By Joseph Edegbo:
Worried by the insecurity in the country, an elder Statesman, Usman Bugaje has expressed fears that the situation has worsen and could possibly lead to anarchy.
The Elder Statesman was speaking at a news conference in Kaduna on Monday, preparatory to the Northern Security Conference scheduled to hold on 1st and 2nd July 2019 in Kaduna, North West of the country being organised by the Arewa Research and Development Project.
Bugaje noted that the one decade boko haram insurgency has sapped the human and material resources of the federal and state governments and has remained protracted, hence the need for community involvement.
“The rural banditry, previously localised has now spread all over the country, particularly the North, taking heavy tolls and displacing an increasing number of citizens.
The kidnapping for ransom phenomenon has become a strong industry defying solutions.
The ethno-religious crises and the farmer-herder conflicts are not abating”, he said.
According to Bugaje, the efforts of the security agencies have not come to much as insurgency continues with heavy casualties on the military formations. Also, rural banditry has been raging and expelling hundreds daily.
The Elder Statesman said having lost hope, many communities were resorting to self help, securing their own weapons and organizing their defences thereby creating a whole new dimension to the security crises.
This, he emphasised, leads to further proliferation of small arms among citizens and irredeemably leads to anarchy.
“Once anarchy sets in, it leads to a total breakdown of law and order, and as with other Africa countries, it takes a whole generation to recover”, he said.
From the foregoing, Bugaje said, ARDP believes that the efforts of the security agencies needed to be boosted by a robust and coordinated community support.
It is against this backdrop, Bugaje explained, propmpted the ARDP to start a wide consultation as to the way out of the imbroglio by calling for a conference on Northern Security where experts would proffer possible solutions.
Other relevant development platforms joining ARDP, are Sir Ahmadu Bello Foundation, Savannah Diplomacy as well as Democracy and Development.
Bugaje stated that after the conference, a committee would be constituted to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the implementations of the decisions reached.
