By Dr Boniface Chizea
It is good news that the 49 school children with their teachers who have been held for an unconscionable duration of about two months have finally been rescued. Some reports say released. Let’s pause a while to let the difference in the two scenarios sink in.
If they were released, the only rationale is that unsustainable ransom payment has been made, whilst the more preferred option is that they were rescued and the culprits eliminated in the process. We must brace up now as we are gradually losing the soul of this country to kidnappers.
It is worrisome how we have before our very eyes seen kidnapping assume such atrocious dimension. All manner of miscreants are in on this cruel act. The other time, I read how a bank employee colluded with kidnappers as he passed insider information on wealthy bank customers to kidnappers.
It was reported in that particular transaction that he received 1.5 million Naira as his share of the ransom. We also read of a elderly married lady who feigned her own kidnap. She was caught in a hotel with her lover luxuriating in anticipation of the inflow of the ransom payment.
A few days ago, I watched a video of one good Samaritan who was advising commutters which routes to avoid in Delta State for fear of being kidnapped. This situation must not be allowed to continue any longer.
A major reason why this sore worsened is because in our characteristic irrational behaviour, we succeeded in politicising banditry and criminality.
We spent considerable time and dissipated valuable energy debating the appropriate term to use for these criminals. We imported some unhelpful terms into our lexicon, kinetic, and non kinetic approaches to dealing with the problem.
We allowed base sentiments to dictate our reactions. We initiated negotiation with the bandits, which bandits attend with their guns hanging from their shoulders! We watched as some local government areas were abandoned to these criminals.
What is the basis of the negotiations with the bandits, if one may ask? What rights have they been denied that they are fighting for? In fact, what legitimate claims do they have? We even had characters who hobnobbed with the bandits as they became celebrated negotiators.
As far as I am concerned in this new era of zero tolerance, such individuals must now be declared personae non grata! The only language the bandits understand is brute force.
We must borrow a leaf from the Americans. It was recently reported that the Americans celebrated their highest capture of sophisticated equipment since 9/11 which belonged to ISIS terrorists and killed 190 of these vandals whilst on that mission, and all of these took place on Nigerian soil.
I hope we can now see that what we are experiencing now in this respect is really a child’s play. We were on the road to being swamped by these criminals. The other time, the Americans flew all the way to rescue an American who was captured and held on Nigerian soil. It was mission accomplished with all the bandits eliminated and the captive rescued.
As I put my thoughts down, what is running through my mind is that Donald Trump could be very instrumental in helping us dig ourselves out of the hole we have dug ourselves in. What is regrettable is that he is compromised! But all the Americans do is to leverage on state of the art technology.
These days, drones have proven quite handy. Why can’t Nigerian authorities borrow a leaf. We watch as our forests are being taken over. How come it is difficult for us to dictate such unacceptable development when we have satellite imagery facility at our beck and call? We applaud recent moves in this direction.
We must deny access to our forests from now on. In the past, we were told that troops seek directives in dealing with these criminals because of base sentiments on the part of gate keepers. That must now belong to a discredited past.
The war against this insurrection must now be total. All strategies must now be on the table. We have witnessed a few cases of the destruction of buildings linked to those caught as promoters of crime. I am just wondering if there might not be a better use of such property after the state has seized them.
I appreciate the fear of reversals in the future. If we can galvanise a consensus, it might be able to checkmate such tendencies. Remaining in captivity for almost two months under such horrible and inhospitable conditions must be very harrowing, to say the least. The consequences of such experiences could be long-lasting.
There would therefore be the need for post-traumatic care in many dimensions; mental, psychological, health, etc. We hope that the state will now rise to the occasion to provide all aspects of support to help the victims of this horrible experience reclaim their lives.
It is also necessary for us to bear in mind the consequences of these kidnaps on school attendance for a country that has the notoriety of having the largest out of school children.
These spates of kidnapping for crying out loud have the consequential effect of undermining the attractiveness of the Nigerian economy, which has negative implications for the prospects of growth and development and hence the well-being of our population.
