The likelihood of non-state actors beating the security personnel is due to their knowledge of the terrain and vast routes in the SE.
Traditional Media and social media expose of collusion with some of the institutional security personnel and/or strategic planning and execution whilst always trying to be ahead of the security architecture is definitely part of why the issue has left the citizenry in the grip of fear.
The insecurity in the South East is as much politically and socioeconomically motivated, enabled and fueled as well as it has offshoots of pure criminality and an organized crime model given that the criminals who serve politicians and other influential person’s and groups have a tendency to go AWOL or fragment from the constituted leadership which gave them foundation, leaving to become their own bosses whilst taking always the arms and munitions supplied them..the stories are rife in the SE and in other regions of Nigeria especially given that some of these criminals are the violent stooges used during elections cycles and for other hitmnen jobs.
The government needs to rework its security strategy using remarkable intelligence-driven methodologies to achieve the outcome of effect security, law and order. The other is to apply the use dialogue and negotiations where necessary. There maybe need to create an amnesty programme if the need so arises and has been applied in the Niger Delta etc.
The use of institutional resolution processes as deradicalisation as well as trainings and empowerment programs will play a role to curb the insecurity challenges.
Application of predictive analytics, drone technology and surveillance is key to achieve a highlevel security protocol and aborting any breaches which maybe out of discernment of the variable intelligence per time.
The release of Mazi Nnamdi KANU will also go a long way to restoring peace and tranquility to the South East as this has been a subject matter intrinsically associated with the spark of insecurity in the region. Many of the cells associated with insecurity peddle MNK’s name as the reason behind their antagonism to the state and peace in the region.
Drawing from the Big data released in the recent past, the National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that Nigerians paid a total of N2.23 trillion as ransom over the 12 months between May 2023 and April 2024.
This sum was paid by households affected by kidnapping incidents, highlighting the growing threat posed by criminal activities across the country.
Inference taken from the NBS’s latest Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey report, it states that an estimated 51.89 million crime incidents were recorded across Nigerian households in the reference period in review.
The survey elucidated that the North-West region had the highest incidence of crime, with 14.4 million cases reported, followed by the North-Central region with 8.8 million incidents whilst the South-East region reported the least crime, with 6.18 million incidents. This goes to show that will political will, funding the security apparatus, winning the confidence and partnership of the South Eastern populace to provide real time information of perceived criminal activities, crimes in the region can be nipped in the bud. Another strategy is to have forest guards comb the forest in a timely fashion.
