Against the backdrop of the sanctioning of self-help by the Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Bello Masari, it is now clear that both the Federal and State Governments are overwhelmed by the activities of bandits across the country.

The governor had last week Tuesday advised the people of his state to arm and defend themselves against bandits. For him: “It is the people’s meek submission that emboldens the bandits to continue with their heinous activities with murderous frequency. We must free our minds of the notion that security is the soul responsibility of the government.”

Something definitely needs to give in now, otherwise, the growing incidences of kidnapping of innocent persons by unscrupulous elements across the country looks good at getting out of hands in no distant time. We hold this position because, hardly any day passes without one infamous report or another of hostage-taking of innocent people in one part of the country or another. A very disturbing report recently that about eight people, mostly women and children, were kidnapped within Abuja metropolis is enough to jolt the Federal Government from illusions into stark realities. Indeed, if you are aware of the development in Afghanistan, then you must be bothered with the resurgence of banditry and general insecurity in Nigeria.

Just recently, a Lagos-bound bus from Portharcourt, Rivers State, was shortly after departure, waylaid somewhere at Emuoha town in the state and fourteen of the vehicle’s occupants were forcefully taken captivity by some unscrupulous persons who proceeded to ask for huge ransom of money before the release of the kidnapped persons. In Lagos State, the ugly incidence of hostage-taking of students from their school premises, particularly in the Ikorodu axis of the state became so rampant that many parents and guardians began contemplating withdrawing and relocating their children and wards from schools in the state.

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Before the notorious Lagos-based kidnapper, Evans was eventually nabbed by the police, there were countless high profile kidnap operations associated with him and his ilk, particularly in the FESTAC area of Lagos State that ignited panic in the psyche of many residents there, leading to mass relocation from the place. Somewhere else in the northern part of the country, it took concerted public outcry and complain before the police high command moved in full force against the menacing activities of kidnappers on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.

But for the deployment of a police Deputy Inspector General to be in charge of operations on the Abuja-kaduna road by the former Inspector General of Police, Idris Abubakar the kidnapping on that axis was getting embarrassingly out of hands. From Borno to Sokoto and from Lagos to Enugu, the story of kidnappers running wild and being on the loose remains the same. Just last week, over 20 people including a monarch were kidnapped in Delta State. Since kidnapping has become a big business from which people make billions of Naira, Nigerians have lost count of the number of times defenseless people are daily harassed and held hostage by these unscrupulous terrorists.

Aside from instilling socio-psychological fears on their victims and their relations, the act of kidnapping engenders general atmosphere of insecurity in the citizens. And for foreigners and foreign investors, nothing could be more traumatizing and thus more discouraging to invest in Nigeria. Unfortunately, kidnapping has continued to thrive in the country despite spirited efforts by the police and other security agencies to nip the act in the bud. No doubt, it’s all in a bid to restore sanity and put a stop to the menacing activities of kidnappers that a number of states have put in motions, legislations and laws to halt the incidences. On the last count, States like Delta, Anambra, Rivers, Lagos, Edo, Abia, Imo and a host of others, have legislated capital punishment for kidnappers. Yet this has refused to discourage the heinous practice.

Again, we reiterate that something must be made to snap urgently for the situation to come under serious control. Given that the primary responsibility of every Government is to protect the lives and properties of its citizens, we feel that the role of Government becomes very critical in nipping this crime in the bud. In declaring state of emergency against kidnapping, we insist that Government must act decisively to arrest the incidence of proliferation of small arms and ammunition in the country.

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It is our strong conviction that easy access to these dangerous weapons by miscreants goes a long way in emboldening their confidence to continue to perpetrate this heinous crime. Also, aside from appealing to the National Assembly to come up with a uniform legislation, preferably one that will make kidnapping attract capital punishment, proper machineries must be put in place to ensure prompt implementation of the laws so legislated.

We believe that why some of the State laws against kidnapping, like capital punishment have remained ineffective is that the Governors lack the necessary political will to give effect to the court judgments condemning offenders to death. The new legislation we are proposing must contain some ingredients that will ensure the implementation of the judicial verdict without necessary recourse to the States Chief Executive Officers for its full implementation. Unfortunately, the vulnerability and silence of the Federal Government in tackling this menace call for something more than state of emergency. We therefore call for the establishment of state police so that officers who understand the terrains are motivated enough to track down the kidnappers and contain the challenge.

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Our demand for the declaration of state of emergency on kidnapping is in addition, hinged on the proper funding and equipping of the police by the Government to enable the force contain the challenges posed by hardened criminals. This has to be done side by side with the sensitization of the citizens to key into the global concept of community and state policing, knowing full well that the kidnappers are no ghosts or strangers to the communities.

Finally, it is our strong belief that all hands must be on deck: the families, schools, churches and the security agencies, Government and other social institutions working together, for the battle to curb the menacing impact of kidnapping. More than 1,600 schools have been shut in the North due to this problem. We therefore ask the Buhari Government to stop playing dice with the collective destiny of Nigerians.