Now, nowhere is safe (1)

By Hassan Gimba.

This article was first published on the 4th of April, 2022. It is as relevant today as it was then. Only that it is now: no one is safe, not only nowhere. What with generals being killed on the roads (read: General Alkali), abducted from their fortified homes (read: General Tsafe), or whisked away on the highways (read: General Rabe) and killed in the bushes, not in active service or as prisoners of war (POWs) but as shackled captives.

Will today’s leaders act on our insecurity before tomorrow, when they must leave their offices without their convoys and security details?

First, they came for the Communists;
And I did not speak out.
Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the socialists;
And I did not speak out.
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists;
And I did not speak out.
This was because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews;
And I did not speak out.
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me.
And there was no one left.
To speak out for me.

The above four stanzas, variations of which have been named “First they came…”, are the poetic rendition of a 1946 post-war confessional prose by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984). He made it on 6 January, 1946, in his speech for the Confessing Church in Frankfurt. Even though it speaks about the cowardice of German intellectuals and certain clergy – including, by his own admission, himself – in speaking out following the Nazis’ rise to power and the subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets, group after group, one can relate it to Nigeria’s situation.

Let us take, for instance, when Boko Haram started their mayhem in Borno and Yobe States. The attacks primarily targeted security agents, leading many people to remain unconcerned. When they targeted the people, it became evident that we should have taken collective action earlier to prevent the menace from escalating. However, we refrained from taking action because the security agents were the primary targets. And by the time they came for us, we knew we had goofed.

Some years ago, when kidnappings, killings, and general banditry started escalating, leading to a worsening of insecurity in the North West, many of us started sounding the alarm, but to no avail. Those who should have come down heavily on the recalcitrant, undesirable elements to save the nation thought it affected us, not them. Now, nowhere is safe.

On December 24, 2018, under the topic Insecurity: North Under Siege, on this page, I wrote, “North Central has become a traveller’s nightmare, from Rijau to Birnin Gwari and Gwanin Gora to Rijana, through Kaduna, and down to the suburbs of the Plateau.” Travelling poses a personal risk, as even four-star generals face arbitrary killings. Herdsmen kill every moving object and sack villages, burning everything down to ashes. Kidnappers are also having a field day. Are some of them, especially the herdsmen and kidnappers, another face of Boko Haram, getting the much-needed cash for their operations?

Travelling confidently from one town or village to the next after 7 pm is difficult. Even in broad daylight, people embark on road travel with trepidation. Journeying by plane is no longer for luxury but for safety.
“Our security apparatuses possibly need a total overhaul and help from elsewhere. There has to be synergy among the different actors, adoption of modern policing methods, and a revival of community policing. Those who had the power to overhaul our security system and make it more proactive were indifferent because they believed it only affected us, not them. Now, nowhere is safe.”

Also on this page, on 15 June 2020, writing on the topic The North and Insecurity: What has changed? I said, “Our leaders and, of course, all men and women of goodwill must be concerned.” We all need to help find a solution; Frankenstein-like monsters have been reared, and peace is threatening to elude us. We live in fear of what fate awaits our children and our children’s children.

‘Just recently, the South West established a security outfit named Amotekun, ostensibly to protect its people. However, it is important to acknowledge that Amotekun has been a part of our lives for a considerable period. People hire private security guards for protection. That is Amotekun. We barricade streets at both ends, and the inhabitants hire private security guards to patrol them. That is also Amotekun. The private security industry will soon thrive as more Nigerians seek their services. Soon, regions, states, and local governments may all set up their own Amotekun because the centre can no longer hold it.

“Crime will become pervasive and entrenched in our society if we cannot do something about it now. Already, there are illiterate, semiliterate, and even literate people who are hungry but willing to die for a phone or a few thousand naira. If we don’t address the situation now, they may resort to killing for an earpiece, a few hundred naira, or a morsel of food in the future. The law-abiding can no longer sleep soundly, and the rich will discover no haven anywhere, even with all their wealth. All shall be consumed. Wake up, we must.” Those who could protect us didn’t wake up because they believed they were safe, even if we weren’t. Now, nowhere is safe.

On March 1, 2021, still on this page, while making a comment under The North and the Effect of Janus, I wrote: “Since kidnapping for ransom became a fad on the Abuja-Kaduna Road and in the bushes of the northwestern and central states of Nigeria, I started shouting here that it is a financial drive by Boko Haram. The kidnappers belong to their economic arm. They are only ignorant foot soldiers being used as cannon fodder.” Those who should have listened didn’t, and now there is no safe place.

Yet still on this page, on December 24, 2018, I wrote: “In the North West, armed bandits, perhaps Boko Haram with a different face, are threatening to take over, with Zamfara State almost under their control… they ransack communities at will, kill, maim and take as many as they can with them for ransom. The bandits can come to a marriage gathering and just demand the bride, who would be handed over to them, with thanks.

“Those who have declared war on Nigeria are abducting farmers and voiceless Nigerians, but we let them play the music while we dance.”

“What has happened to our intelligence-gathering ability…? It is quite a wonder how scores of marauders riding motorcycles with sawed-off silencers can leave the bush, come to towns, operate for hours, pick up hundreds of students, and then return to the bush unchallenged. In the not-so-distant past, our security agencies used to have operators called “stool pigeons”. They were the backbone of human intelligence (HUMINT) gathering… Now, we can scatter such HUMINT operatives across the towns such that the moment insurgents or their economic arm, the bandits, come out, the operational headquarters of our security agencies will be aware. They could be farmers, hunters, villagers, and even herders scattered throughout the area.

“The innocent child sees its father as a superhero who will protect it, and the innocent citizen should consider their country in the same way.” Unfortunately, we are discovering the harsh reality that life continues in Nigeria, regardless of the circumstances. The people’s innocence has shattered, and unfortunately, their faith in their country has suffered severe damage. We should fear the day when citizens stop respecting a government or society that cannot protect its own.

As long as we fail to bring criminals to justice and treat them with leniency, we will continue to empower them. They see how others were given “amnesty” and “deradicalised” for taking arms against the state, wreaking havoc on communities, and letting blood flow. They see that the worst thing that could happen to them is “condemnation”. But condemnations, like rebukes, are meant for those who recognise your authority over them. This class of criminals does not recognise the condemning authorities.” However, those who mattered kept condemning, and now nowhere is safe.

Hassan Gimba, ANIPR, is the publisher and CEO of Neptune Prime.