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Death penalty: About time, too!

I am not normally an advocate of the Mosaic Law, “An eye for an eye”, but I find myself this moment saluting the courage of…

I am not normally an advocate of the Mosaic Law, “An eye for an eye”, but I find myself this moment saluting the courage of Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State for doing what every governor in Nigeria ought to have done since yesteryear or even before — cobbling together new legislation to ensure that kidnappers and sundry bandits spreading fear and death, depopulating the country and abducting men and cattle are served a dose of their own medicine — death on conviction.

If a showboating contest was conducted among Nigeria’s 36 governors, the taciturn Masari would  probably bring the rear, being the non-effacing type. But daily killings which have emptied out whole villages and communities in his state, turning many of his people into refugees in neighbouring Niger Republic, brought out the lion in him. The former speaker of the House of Representatives also approved life imprisonment  in addition to a fine and compensation to victim for  anyone convicted of rape.

Leadership is not just about wearing big robes and using sirens to chase out motorists from the highway. It is about protecting the people and shepherding them to make their circumstances better. It is not what a leader says in times of crisis that matters; it is what he does. Many governors are verbal tigers but worms when it comes to walking their talk. Masari has shown the way. Too many people have died already, but it’s better late than never.

In the last one year alone, thousands of cattle have been rustled. The most frightening aspect of the banditry is the new kidnapping dimension which has spread to virtually every state in the country. The other day, a kidnapped lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, regained his freedom only after his family and friends delivered a ransom of N5 million demanded by his armed abductors.

“The Federal Government needs to invest more in security; we need to know the identity of people coming in and going out of the town, state and the country at large. The people who abducted me were Fulani herdsmen and they had four guns and multiple rounds of ammunition as well as other weapons,” he said.

There is fear and panic in the land. Newspaper headlines attest to this:

Banditry: Sokoto to form joint community watch volunteers

How can FG end banditry in Nigeria?

Banditry and Nigeria’s rising insecurity

Upsurge in banditry, kidnapping and bloodletting across the country frightening

Zamfara: Are banditry, killings in Nigeria getting worse?

There’s growing concern over the level of banditry and kidnapping in Zamfara.

Banditry in Nigeria – a brief history of a long war

When bandits attacked Moriki – a small farming community in Zamfara – and killed 25 …

Kidnappers block Kaduna-Abuja highway again

Gunmen Kidnap UBEC Chairman, Daughter Along Kaduna-Abuja …

Fulani Herdsmen Have Turned Ondo Into Unsafe Place As They Kidnap, Rape Us, Ondo Women Lament

Suspected Herdsmen Attack, Inflict Wounds On Pastor In Ondo

Police rescue US citizen from kidnappers in Oyo

Celebrities take to the streets of Abuja to protest rise in banditry

Kidnappers of Edo traditional ruler demand ransom in foreign currency

Police arrest seven kidnap suspects in Edo

Edo police kill suspected highway kidnapper, rescue victims

Abducted Policeman Found Dead In Edo Forest

Police arrest five suspected kidnappers, rescue victim in Enugu

Two Chinese expatriates kidnapped in Ebonyi

Many kidnap victims have noted that their captors were foreign Fulani gunmen. They have made a distinction between these bandits and the poor pastoralist roaming the forests with his cattle. With so many ungoverned spaces in the Sahel where guns are openly hawked to terrorists and bandits, it is not rocket science that some of those savage killers will find their way to Nigeria. What is confounding is our tepid reaction.

By contrast, Niger Republic has mounted a serious security operation in the Agadez, building communication tools between local community leaders and local security forces. Each group has been assisted to develop the ability to report and respond to threats. In the event of an attack, local communities have been empowered to protect themselves while waiting for rapid response squads of the security forces.

Even if I say so, all these security threats confirm the tenability of my oft-repeated viewpoint that Nigeria is too large to be policed from Abuja like a village. If we must restore order, we have to quickly do whatever needs to be done legislatively to create state police departments with heavy presence in all local governments of the state. The federal police will continue to handle federal cries and requests for assistance by the states.

The fact that ECOWAS protocol allows for freedom of movement across the borders does not justify the way we allow foreign terrorists, kidnappers and bandits to take over our hinterland and plunder souls and goods. In Ghana, they have been routed.  Are we the only country near the Agadez in this subregion? Why should we continue to bear the brunt of the ungoverned spaces in the Sahel?

Going forward, the 36 state governors should sponsor similar bills to Katsina’s to prescribe the death penalty for kidnappers. And they must establish state police forces to make law enforcement more effective at subnational levels. In the interim, they can give legal backing to  the local league of hunters in all states together with existing regular security agencies to hunt down bandits wherever they may be found in our forests. An eye for an eye!

If we fail to decapitate this kidnapping pandemic, it will decapitate whatever is left of our national cohesion. President Buhari and the governors have their work cut out.

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