The Siamese twins, kidnapping and banditry, disturbing the peace of Nigeria have now become normal, as a day can hardly pass without one incident or another.
Some kidnapped victims of the Abuja Kaduna train attack are still with the kidnappers, with the government still in limbo on the best strategy to adopt to rescue victims.
For the victims of the numerous kidnap incidents, which daily occurs, it has become a case of ‘to your tents oh, Israeli’, meaning that individuals have to sort out themselves from the grip of kidnappers by negotiating with the kidnappers and paying the ransom.
President Buhari and his security architecture appear to have lost the war, and battles on security the Governments response has become stock in trade: i.e. ‘the government will deal decisively with the bandits’, an expression which has assumed meaningless toga in the eyes of the public.
Buhari had again reiterated the resolve of his administration to deal ruthlessly with criminal elements creating security challenges in the country. He made the assertion in the aftermath of the train attack.
To this end, President Buhari said that he had directed the nation’s Armed Forces and other security services to deal decisively with any person or group undermining efforts at achieving sustainable peace, security and stability in the country, assuring that the country will ultimately defeat the forces of evil.
There have been a series of security meetings with the service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police, even as recent as last week; yet the president is yet to win the war on banditry.
According to a political scientist, Professor Adeagbo Moritiwon, the insecurity in the country is unprecedented. A day after he made the promise, bandits were reported to have massacred 16 soldiers, one policeman and an unspecified number of civilians in the area.
Since he assumed office on May 29, 2015, Buhari has issued scores of condolences in reaction to attacks by terrorists, bandits and other gunmen.
Despite his assurances to end the menace, attacks keep recurring, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people in the country yearly.
