Convener, Coalition for Good Governance and Justice, Mr Emmanuel Umohinyang, speaks on the security challenges in the country and the recent purchase of Tucano aircraft in this interview with Mudiaga Affe

Insecurity still tops discussions in the country, what do you think can be done to ameliorate it?
The challenge of insecurity is not an isolated issue to Nigeria alone. A few days ago, within African, we heard what happened in Mali, how a sitting President’s throat was almost sliced off by an intruder.

However, what we should be looking at is to what degree are these challenges? The country was engulfed in these challenges in the North-East for some years now, and currently, we have the issue of banditry which suggests an offspring of some of these Boko Haram terrorists that have been dislodged by the military.

In the South-East, which used to be one of the most peaceful regions, there was a rupture like a volcano by a young man, who initially started his agitation peacefully but went outside and mobilised to start destroying security facilities and killing people. I do not think that anything like that will happen in any nation and the government will fold its hands. No matter how lame a President is, he will not allow his citizens to be threatened.

The same goes for the South-West, which used to be very peaceful. I do not think that the government was initially bothered about the agitation. Sunday Igboho started well by advocating the safety of his people, but when he started talking about arms and ammunition, it was then that criminality set in. It means that the initial purpose for the agitation has been defeated. Agitation is the right of the people because it is one area you can use to vent your anger in disapproval of the system or policy of the government that you do not subscribe to. But when doing this, you must always look at the line of engagement, otherwise, you will be going against the law of the land.

So, how do we address the security challenges?
As it was last month, it is not the same now. The frequent attacks have subsided drastically and we have had cases where the military are taking the battle to the insurgents in the North-East. In the South-East, we now have relative peace, and the same obtains in the South-West. And what that tells you is that the government is on top of the situation.

I want to reassure you that with the new ammunition that the government has procured and the others that will still come, some of these security challenges will be tackled squarely. At least we hear almost every day that security operatives are beginning to rescue those that were kidnapped and it again suggests that the government is doing something to address it.

All that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration needs is the support of the citizens. We seem to be complaining about the responsibilities of the government and neglecting our obligations. One of the obligations is that we owe the security agencies information and intelligence for them to protect us well. The security operatives are not magicians that will know that a criminal leaves next door. It is the Nigerian citizens that will discreetly file such reports to the security agencies.

Don’t you think that the issue of trust can scare the citizens from providing information to security agents?
That is possible. However, what is broken down is better than what is not in existence. If the branches in a tree are cut down, there is hope that it will grow again. I think we can rebuild that confidence and I urge the security agencies to do more confidence-building. I think the new Inspector-General of Police has taken that part of decency and I have seen the same with other service chiefs.

Why do you think the Federal Government has not clamped down on the likes of Sheik Gumi, who sometimes negotiate with bandits for the release of abducted persons, whereas agitators in the South are hounded?

I do not look at security matters from the angle of sentiments and I do not also believe that the government is chasing after criminals in certain zones and treating some others in other zones with kid gloves. Do not forget that before we had the split over in the South-East and South-West, the government have had its focus in the North-East and North-West where we have Boko Haram and banditry.

So, when people raise the question about arresting someone in the South-East and not being able to arrest those perpetuating banditry in the north, you must draw a line between the man that has an address and the one that does not have. This government inherited the crisis in the North-East and as it was tackling it, the insecurity in the South-East and South-West erupted.

What has happened is that the government has captured the ones they can lay their hands on while the manhunt for those that are on the run will continue. It is not good for us to try to segregate crime- a criminal is a criminal, no matter where he comes from. A man who has committed a crime will be treated the same way. It is not true that the government is only interested in dealing with criminals from one side of the country. With this kind of thinking, we would be emboldening criminals.

I feel disappointed when I read comments concerning attempts to arrest the man that started the agitation in the South-West. We should condemn what is bad irrespective of which tribe the person comes from. Let us not begin to massage the ego of those who want to divide us. Whether from the north or south, criminals should be dealt with decisively. The citizens must rise above ethnicity and religion, let us not begin to attach names and tribes to criminals.

The military just took delivery of some Tucano jets, will this help in the fight against insecurity?
One of the credits to the President Buhari administration is that above all odds, he was able to get the government of the United States to agree to sell that lucrative fighting aircraft to Nigeria.

Unlike the experience of the Goodluck Jonathan administration and the challenge that the administration had with some world leaders, the Buhari administration has been able to win the heart of the US government. When the procurement was made, I recall that some comments were made that nobody knew why $1 billion was withdrawn, but this government is prudent and focused.

However, the arrival of the Tucano aircraft will not only help in tackling the insurgency in the north, but it will also help a great deal to end insurgency in the North-East. I believe that the military will be able to use the aircraft to maximum advantage because of the kind of sophisticated components that come with the aircraft.

I am sure that in the next few weeks, we would begin to see better results from our military so that people will begin to appreciate the line of thoughts that the government has when it decided to invest such a huge amount of money in procuring the aircraft.

A profile in audacity, heroism and service by Mike Ozekhome

I seriously think that we would soon start seeing the result of dealing with those insurgents that have increased the number of widows and widowers in the north and also deprived our farmers of accessing their farms. Outside the purchase of the Tucano aircraft, there is other hardware that the government has placed orders for and as they come in, the government will deploy them for use.

At the moment, the level of attack is subsiding and that suggests that what might have hampered the military from full blast attack is gradually being addressed. I believe that we would overcome these challenges as we progress and we would look back in the future to say we once had a security challenge and it was the Buhari administration that came to deal decisively with it.