By IfeanyiChukwu Afuba
Col. Ben Odogwu, Biafra’s Director of Military Intelligence, titled his war memoir, “No Place to Hide.” I guess that can be said of Nigeria of the present. North, south, east, west, every part of the country is reeling from an upsurge in violent criminality. Bandits continue to wreak havoc in parts of the north.
On January 16, 2025, news broke of the shocking abduction of wife of a retired AIG, Mrs. Hakeem Odumosu at the gate of her residence by heavily armed gunmen. And still on very daring assaults by criminal gangs this January, thirty – six passengers, including three soldiers were said to have been abducted from a passenger bus in Enugu State. Then, with an unmistakable flash of deja vu, a trader, Mr. Sunday Okafor was reported to have been killed with a parcel bomb at Onitsha.
Given the alarming scale of crime for some time now, it’s not surprising that extreme, nay, dangerous measures are being proposed as solutions. One of such controversial proposals came from the Human Rights Writers Association, HURIWA, which canvassed the return of Bakassi Boys in Anambra State. Coming from an enlightened organisation, and a known voice in civil society, there’s the likelihood that sections of society may waive necessary scrutiny of the seemingly attractive call to embrace it readily. Often, there’s a heavy price to pay when populism is the major consideration in statecraft. So, let’s put the matter in context.
Under the headline, “HURIWA Seeks Return of Dreaded Bakassi Boys to Tackle Insecurity in Southeast”, ThisDay, January 17, 2025 reported that National Coordinator of the body, Emmanuel Onwubiko made the proposal at Abuja.
“We suggest that since the existing security measures in place, including the establishment of state-wide vigilantes, have proven insufficient to bring about the defeat of these armed terrorists, there is now the need for the governments of the South-East of Nigeria to consider re-introducing the dreaded Bakassi Boys, train them, arm them, provide strict regulations with adherence to the Rule of Law, so these armed but regulated Bakassi Boys can be authorised to confront the South East based terror gangs.
“We call on the governor of Anambra State, Mr. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, to consult the defunct leadership of old Bakassi Boys in Anambra State, to provide strategic guidelines for the new Bakassi Boys to adhere to so as to degrade, decimate and liquidate these armed terrorists, kidnappers and hoodlums unleashing violence of massive scales in all of South East of Nigeria but more especially in Anambra State.”
Notwithstanding that the Anambra State Homeland Security Law 2025 has just come into effect, a broader view of the insecurity problem is necessary for better understanding of underlying issues. This appreciation will subsequently aid the recommendation of effective strategies and tactics for containing the situation, including the possible connection with Bakassi Boys and other formulas.
It’s to be noted that Nigeria’s security challenge is a mixed bag. While they all pose threats to lives, property, political as well as socio – economic stability, there are differences in type and space of occurrence. Boko Haram is conceived in the mould of the Taliban and ISIS and so presents a caliphate threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty. For now, the group’s operation is located mainly in parts of the northwest and northeast. This is to be differentiated from the onslaught of killer herdsmen pushing to appropriate grazing land in the middle belt, southwest and southeast.
Separatist agitation produced it’s own brand of militancy in the southeast. Theirs is a campaign to coerce support for power ambitions using secessionist framework. Then, of course, there is criminality common to all parts of Nigeria, exemplified in armed robbery, kidnapping, cannibalisation of public infrastructure and so on.
From this outlay of crime nature, we can distill their sources – a vital requirement for projecting panacea. Interestingly, there is a convergence on the motivation for much of the violence the country is facing. There is a common foundation in ideology. Thus, the insurgency in the north borders on extremist religious ideology; the bloody attacks misleadingly labeled farmers – herders clash, is also driven by ideology, belief in ethnic superiority and expansionism. Likewise, separatist movements in the southeast are rooted in perceptions of discrimination and suppression of the region. For all of these campaigns, the very task of asserting their respective missions creates violent conflicts.
These violent movements irrespective of their orientation, realise that they are up against the power of a State; of constituted authority. They realise that their organisations are burdened by both illegitimacy and lack of resources. A critical reading of their operations suggests that the entities have placed financial capacity ahead of legitimacy. It should suffice that demonstration of their power ultimately accords them recognition as stakeholders to be negotiated with. But the demand of keeping their machinery running had to be immediately met. This rationale most probably gave rise to the wider reign of kidnapping as it provides funds for prosecution of the organisations’ agenda. Some terrorist groups also go as far as imposing taxes on communities at their mercy
As already noted, there are other shades of criminality. In this regard, we talk about crime influenced by purely economic consideration and criminality as function of health cum personality disorder. Certainly, robbery and kidnapping are strictly business ventures for many gangs. Economic reason would also account for oil bunkering, pipelines theft, cannibalisation of transformers and cables, ritual killings, human trafficking and a host of other vices.
On the other hand, psychology tends to view extreme abhorrent behaviour such as those exhibited in cult killings and senseless gang wars as incidents of health disorder. Given the varied character of criminality ravaging the country, it follows that effective managing of the crisis must reflect both the general and specific causes. This discourse does not intend to address the former beyond the common thread of arms proliferation.
The need to tackle the easy acquisition of firearms cannot be overemphasized. How do the gangs – big and small, organised and loose – how do these gangs terrorising Nigerians procure their assault weapons? Are they smuggled into the country or manufactured locally? Are there security breaches of institutions lawfully permitted to bear arms that provides a conduit for arms transfers? Confiscation and control of illegal arms trafficking must be the starting point of a war against insecurity. If the government puts a strong check on the illicit flow of arms, many criminal groups would be incapacitated.
Aside the military operations against insurgency, the situation in the northwest and northeast calls for educational campaign. For decades, the north has been at the bottom of pupil school enrollment statistics. This numerical relegation is a major reason behind the concept of “educationally disadvantaged states”. The significant population of out – of – school children are vulnerable to the indoctrination of religious terror cells. As the saying goes, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. The body of illiterate and unemployed youths presents recruitment pool for terrorist militias.
Government should stave off this danger by ensuring that school age children are not left to roam the streets. They need access to quality education as well as orientation on citizenship. It’s good that History is back in the curriculum. Study of Nigerian history will help promote the cause of citizenship consciousness. However, it needs to be emphasised that orientations on national values should be accompanied by state empowerment programmes. A felt impression of the government’s concern for her citizens is necessary to ward off anti State activism.
Relatedly, the execution of anti crime strategies across the country will achieve little without attention to the dire socio – economic condition of the average Nigerian. Governments at all levels need to remember the maxim that a hungry man is an angry man. Nigeria’s underdeveloped status poses enough social challenges for the citizenry. Added to that is the bandwagon effect of withdrawn subsidy in Nigeria’s fuel economy. Even the middle class can barely afford the high cost of food today. As it were, the threat of starvation alone is a powerful motivation to crime.
At no other time has the case for welfarism been so forceful as now. Considerable funds will be freed up for public service if there’s strong crackdown on corruption. Even when government pleads lack of funds to operate a welfare system, government will still spend money to feed prison inmates and run correctional services. As De Courson puts it, “more unequal societies tend to have higher crime as well as lower social trust.” From the perspectives of sociology, psychology and criminology, Nigeria’s current crime situation is probably a rebellion against the injustice of our system.
And what solutions can the Bakassi Boys bring in Anambra State; in the southeast? Although the advocacy for the Bakassi Boys did not spell out their superior mechanism in crime fighting, the takeaway from their previous outing between 2000 and 2002 was summary “trial” and execution of suspects. The purported trial of arrested suspects was nothing more than the hunches of the interrogators. However, many held the belief that the conviction of suspects was by fetish means. To complete the circle of barbarity, condemned suspects were allegedly mowed down with matchet cuts. It was a dark period of savagery when Anambra State’s landscape was painted red with blood.
One therefore, finds it shocking that a human rights community, of all constituencies, is recommending the very antithesis of human rights and due process. What contributions did the Bakassi outfit make to crime investigation analysis? What value did the body add to crime detection methods? What trail did it blaze in crime prevention strategies? What legacy did the gun and machete totting militia leave except that of cheapening human life and dignity? The clause of “providing strict regulations under the rule of way” does not take away the danger posed by such militia.
Emergency vigilantes are often under pressure of expectation; and not being organic bodies, and without the conditioning of self regulation, tend to put result before rules. And this is the challenge the Agunaechemba Security Service recently launched in Anambra State is likely to have. The haste to deliver in the face of massive outcry against insecurity usually pulls unorthodox security outfits on the slippery road of excesses.
Proactive approach to crime fighting, and one with emphasis on intelligence gathering, offers higher dividend than reliance on physical prowess, however intimidating. In the long run, a professionally – driven, permanent and civic oriented security service holds out better prospects for protection of the public space. That qualification lies in State Police.
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