• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
    • Government
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
    • ICPC Secures Conviction of Rector for Running Unaccredited Degree Programmes

      Engr Abba Babagana Dalori

      Engr Dalori Forfeits Galaxy Hospital, Petrol Station, Properties & Cash

      Chinese nationals jailed in Lagos

      Court Jails Nine Chinese Nationals for Cybercrime in Lagos

      ASUU

      Tackle Corruption, Institutional Decay – ASUU Charges FG

      EFCC Arraigns Bauchi Accountant General Over N8bn Fraud as Court Sentences…

  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
    • Customs Partners US Mission to Prevent Expanded Visa Ban

      Nigeria Customs Partners China on Smarter Ports, Officer Training, Reforms

      Comptroller General Nigerian Customs Bashir Adewale

      Customs Moves Against 223 Importers in N379bn Permit Breach

      Bashir Adewale Adeniyi Customs Boss

      How Customs is Tightening Borders to Stop Illicit Cash Flows –…

      Customs boss, CGC Bashir Adewale Adeniyi with NAFDAC DG Professor Moji Adeyeye

      Codeine, Tramadol Worth ₦20.5bn Seized as Customs-NAFDAC Cooperation Deepens

  • National
    • Inspector-General of Police Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun

      IG Boosts Police Intelligence Capacity with New Tech, Training for Technical…

      Army Commander keeps 100 students in school

      Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara

      Sam Obi Sponsors 500 students

      Sam Obi Sponsors 500 Students in Evergreen, SimplifiedIQ’s Education Program

      CG Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi

      NIPR Hails customs Boss’ Tenure Extension as Evidence of Transformational Leadership

      Comptroller General Customs Bashir Adewale and his staffs with the representatives of the European Union, the German Embassy

      Customs Unveils Renewable Energy Handbook, Strengthens EU-Germany-GIZ Partnership

    • Government
      • Northern leaders at Arewa Summit

        Northern Leaders Urge Action on Almajiri Crisis, Equitable Resources at Arewa…

        Saidu Ahmed Alkali,

        Kaduna-Kano Light Rail Underway as FG Targets ₦70bn Investment

        Beyond Hoes and Sticks: The Power of Education for Peace in…

        National Blood Service Agency

        FG Pledges Stronger Support for Blood Services, Seeks Scalable Interventions from…

        Tinubu’s Government Unveils Multi-Sectoral Initiatives to Boost Northern Region’s Development

  • Security
    • Inspector-General of Police Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun

      IG Boosts Police Intelligence Capacity with New Tech, Training for Technical…

      Nigerian Police Force

      Anambra Police Nab Wanted Kidnap Suspect in Kaduna

      Nigerian Navy

      Navy to Establish  Base in Kebbi to Tackle Inland Waterway Crimes

      Army Commander keeps 100 students in school

      Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara

      Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, receiving the land document from Governor Pastor Umo Bassey Eno in Akwa Ibom

      Akwa Ibom Boosts National Security with Land Donation for Nigerian Air…

  • Features
    • CG Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi

      Customs Just Wrote Nigeria’s Energy Rulebook

      Okello Oculi

      Okello Oculi: A Pan-Africanist Asteroid Burns out Forever By Is’haq Modibbo…

      Leon Usigbe

      Death, you can’t be Proud of this By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem 

      Tinubu’s Plateau Gambit – Yilwatda, 2027, and the Return of the…

      Ozumi and a recipient of a wheelchair

      Wheels of Hope: How a Simple Gift is Reshaping Lives at…

  • State
    • court Judiciary

      Lawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property Redesign

      Army Commander keeps 100 students in school

      Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara

      Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, receiving the land document from Governor Pastor Umo Bassey Eno in Akwa Ibom

      Akwa Ibom Boosts National Security with Land Donation for Nigerian Air…

      Nigerian Army

      Army Denies Allegations of Misconduct in Imo Community

      Military Troops in Action

      Troops Repel Bandit Attacks in Katsina, Plateau, Recover Rustled Cattle, Sustain…

  • Event
    • court Judiciary

      Lawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property Redesign

      Sam Obi Sponsors 500 students

      Sam Obi Sponsors 500 Students in Evergreen, SimplifiedIQ’s Education Program

      Comptroller General Customs Bashir Adewale and his staffs with the representatives of the European Union, the German Embassy

      Customs Unveils Renewable Energy Handbook, Strengthens EU-Germany-GIZ Partnership

      University of Maiduguri

      UNIMAID Mass Comm becomes Faculty of Communication and Media Studies

      CG Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi

      Tinubu’s Extension of Customs CG Bashir Adeniyi’s Tenure Draws Widespread Praise…

    • PR Nigeria Award
  • E-Paper
Home Security Should Police lead Anti-terrorism Operations in Nigeria?
  • Security

Should Police lead Anti-terrorism Operations in Nigeria?

By
Prnigeria
-
October 9, 2023

Should Police lead Anti-terrorism Operations in Nigeria?
By Chidi Omeje

The Guardian Newspaper Editorial of October 4, 2023, made a strident call for a police-led anti-terrorism operation in Nigeria. In the said editorial with the caption “Redefining Police Role in Anti-Terrorism Fight”, the esteemed newspaper went all out to amplify the recent suggestion by the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mr Solomon Arase, an erstwhile former Inspector General of Police, to the effect that the police rather than the military be allowed to lead the war against terrorism.

According to the editorial, the suggestion was to the extent that “such an arrangement may open up the possibility of prosecuting and perhaps securing the conviction of the terrorists, something the military are not trained for”. It said the police are trained to look for and preserve evidence that would aid successful prosecution. “Police officers were trained to secure crime scenes, gather evidence, and prosecute criminals, unlike the military officers deployed in the insurgency-stricken areas in the North East who were not trained to gather evidence and prosecute and, therefore, lacked the knowledge to do so”.

It went further to quote the former IGP as having faulted the practice of releasing and reintegrating arrested terrorists into society without proper profiling, noting that many of them go back to the crime, creating more harm for the terrorism-torn region. The editorial concluded with a position that the suggestion should be considered in the context of the crucial need to successfully crush the insurgency in the North East, which has in fact spread to other parts of the north.

One may not deny the genuine intention of that editorial to share its perspective on what it believes could transform the fortunes of Nigeria’s war against terror, but my point of departure from its prescription is the recommendation that Mr Arase’s advocacy be considered. It should have simply focused on the call for better synergy and collaboration between the police and the military and not for its leadership of anti-terrorism operations. The truth of the matter is that the police cannot lead the operations they have proven incapable of conducting.

To start with, there has never been any controversy as to which institution is the lead agency in the management of internal security issues in Nigeria: it is the police. In fact, our model of internal security management is such that the Nigerian Police Force was envisioned to be the lead agency in the maintenance of law and order. This means that the Nigeria Police ought to be the first responders to internal security violations arising from breaches of law and order. But there is a constitutional caveat to this internal security management structure. Section 217 (2c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, provided that caveat in its stipulated roles for the Armed Forces: “Suppressing insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the President”.

A simple interpretation of this constitutional prescription would be that when the (internal) security challenge is such that it is beyond the capacity of the civil police to contain or deal with, the civil authority (represented by the President), in exercise of its constitutional duties of providing security for lives and property to the citizens, is compelled to invite the military to deal with the situation. Such serious security challenges as insurgency, terrorism, and cross-border banditry, which threaten the sovereignty of the state or in which its perpetrators deploy combat-grade weapons that have the capacity to overwhelm the police, are the kind of challenges that demand military deployment by the President.

Read Also:

  • Information Ministry Inaugurates Anti-Corruption Unit to Deepen Transparency
  • IG Boosts Police Intelligence Capacity with New Tech, Training for Technical Intelligence Unit
  • Anambra Police Nab Wanted Kidnap Suspect in Kaduna

The reality today is the country is assailed by a multiplicity of such serious internal security challenges in almost all the regions: There’s the Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgency in the north-east and parts of the north-central. The Boko Haram crisis, which, by the way, was sparked by the wrong handling of the situation when the Police killed the group’s founder, Mohammed Yusuf, on July 31, 2009, in Maiduguri, is a full-blown terrorism that has devastated the north-east region of Nigeria. With links to international terror networks and possession of high-grade weapons, including general-purpose machine guns, explosive devices, rocket propellers, and anti-aircraft weapons, Boko Haram has shown the capacity and formidability to overrun the country if left to be countered by the police. We are also contending with organized terrorism and banditry that have turned the vast lands of Zamfara, Katsina and other parts of the North West and North Central into a killing field and easy prey to mass kidnappings. There is the violent secessionist agitators in the South East spearheaded by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The activities of these so-called freedom fighters have opened up the region for opportunistic criminals who unleash deadly attacks on security personnel and innocent civilians. In the Niger Delta region, there is unrelenting attacks on Nigeria’s maritime assets by a syndicate of well-armed oil thieves and economic vandals; the South West region is no different, as there are also an assortment of violent crimes in the area. The defining element in all the aforementioned ‘theatres of war’ is that the perpetrators are manifestly formidable and in possession of combat-grade weapons capable of upending the country if not adequately countered and balanced out with corresponding force.

So, the question is, which of these serious security challenges assailing different parts of the country today would one say is such that the Nigerian Police can effectively deal with as the lead agency? Is the Guardian newspaper suggesting that the military should be at the forefront of the anti-terror war but take orders from the Police High Command, or what exactly does the Guardian mean in this advocacy? As a former Police Chief, would Mr Arase in all honesty, say that the Nigerian Police as presently wired, can truly provide leadership of Nigeria’s anti-terrorism war? The same police that is more interested in deploying over half of its numerical strength to VIP protection?
To be honest, an institution in dire need of transformation is not the one to be entrusted with the herculean task of leading the war against formidable terror groups and sundry violent adversaries of the state. What the Police urgently need now is total redemption; it needs reformation and it needs restoration (of its past glory) to be able to contribute optimally to the anti-terrorism and anti-insurgency war and other internal security challenges in the country.

The best that the police can offer now in the anti-terrorism war is to present itself for a much more robust collaboration with the military such that they can add value across the various theaters of anti-terrorism operations in the country. For instance, the police should be available to hold the ground in some of the communities where the military had dislodged insurgents, terrorists or bandits, to ensure speedy restoration civil authorities in those areas. They could also be of more assistance in the collation of actionable intelligence that will help the security forces route the adversaries.

On the issue of the prosecution of arrested or surrendered member of terrorist groups, it is important that we interrogate it properly. It will not be entirely right to say that the military has failed in the prosecution of terrorists under their custody. The skepticism and emotions among Nigerians regarding what to do with the surrendered Boko Haram fighters, for instance, are pretty much understandable, but one fact should be clear: Nigeria is a nation governed by laws, and the Nigerian military is an institution guided by law and rules of engagement. Domestic and international laws, particularly the Law of Armed Conflicts and the Geneva Convention, clearly stipulate that when an adversary surrenders or once he is injured to such a degree that he is no longer able to fight, you do not shoot at him or kill him.

The law goes on to say that the best you can do is to take them into your possession by moving them out of the battle zone. You document them and immediately commence the profiling process by instituting investigations to ascertain the level of their involvement and the level of crime they might have committed. Certainly, there are always differences in their levels of culpability in the crime that arrested or surrendered Boko Haram terrorists are perceived to have committed, and as such, those with serious involvement are usually prosecuted and sentenced up to and including capital punishment. The military does all that, but as professionals, they don’t go about killing someone who has surrendered to them.

In effect, therefore, the decision to abide by those laws is never and should never be an indication of compromise or a hint of incapability in prosecutorial skills on the part of the military. The truth, rather, is that the decision to take the moral high ground of operating within the confines of the law of war and decency not only hallmarks the Nigerian military’s sense of responsibility but equally strengthens the non-kinetic part of Nigeria’s counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism strategy. In any case, Nigeria’s administration of the criminal justice system is notoriously nebulous and slow, such that it will be difficult to post a different result in terms of the swiftness of adjudication of terrorism-related cases even if the police are to handle it; after all, we are all witnesses to the many bungled criminal cases that the police prosecuted.

Come to think of it, one can only but imagine the kind of outrage it will provoke in the media and among the same people who are running with the incapability narrative if the troops were summarily executing arrested or surrendered terrorists.

Chidi Omeje is Editor, Security Digest (member of Zagazola Media Network)

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • Chidi Omeje
  • ISWAP
  • Mr. Solomon Arase
Previous articleBUK’s First Female Professor of Mass Communication Honoured by Alumni, Scholars
Next articleEFCC nabs 48 suspected Internet fraudsters in Delta
Prnigeria
Prnigeria

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Inspector-General of Police Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun

IG Boosts Police Intelligence Capacity with New Tech, Training for Technical Intelligence Unit

Nigerian Police Force

Anambra Police Nab Wanted Kidnap Suspect in Kaduna

Nigerian Navy

Navy to Establish  Base in Kebbi to Tackle Inland Waterway Crimes

Army Commander keeps 100 students in school

Army Commander’s Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in Zamfara

Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, receiving the land document from Governor Pastor Umo Bassey Eno in Akwa Ibom

Akwa Ibom Boosts National Security with Land Donation for Nigerian Air Force Base

Military Troops in Action

Army Troops, DSS Nab Arms Trafficker in Taraba, Recover Ammunition, Cash

Inspector-General of Police Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun

IG Reaffirms Commitment to Tackling Oil Theft, Upholding Human Rights

Nigerian Army

Army Denies Allegations of Misconduct in Imo Community

Military Troops in Action

Troops Repel Bandit Attacks in Katsina, Plateau, Recover Rustled Cattle, Sustain Casualties

Nigerian Navy Personnel

Navy Destroys 10 Illegal Refineries in Niger Delta

Bashir Adewale Adeniyi Customs Boss

JUST IN: Tinubu Extends Tenure of Customs CG Bashir Adeniyi

AI-generated disinformation looms ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 elections

Recent Posts

  • Information Ministry Inaugurates Anti-Corruption Unit to Deepen Transparency
  • IG Boosts Police Intelligence Capacity with New Tech, Training for Technical Intelligence Unit
  • Anambra Police Nab Wanted Kidnap Suspect in Kaduna
  • Customs Just Wrote Nigeria’s Energy Rulebook
  • Lawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property Redesign
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
Information Ministry Inaugurates Anti-Corruption Unit to Deepen TransparencyIG Boosts Police Intelligence Capacity with New Tech, Training for Technical Intelligence UnitAnambra Police Nab Wanted Kidnap Suspect in KadunaCustoms Just Wrote Nigeria's Energy RulebookLawyer Sues Housing Ministry, FHA Over Alleged Property RedesignNavy to Establish  Base in Kebbi to Tackle Inland Waterway CrimesArmy Commander's Compassion Keeps 100 Students in School in ZamfaraSam Obi Sponsors 500 Students in Evergreen, SimplifiedIQ's Education ProgramNIPR Hails customs Boss' Tenure Extension as Evidence of Transformational LeadershipAkwa Ibom Boosts National Security with Land Donation for Nigerian Air Force BaseCustoms Unveils Renewable Energy Handbook, Strengthens EU-Germany-GIZ PartnershipUNIMAID Mass Comm becomes Faculty of Communication and Media StudiesTinubu’s Extension of Customs CG Bashir Adeniyi’s Tenure Draws Widespread Praise and ReactionsArmy Troops, DSS Nab Arms Trafficker in Taraba, Recover Ammunition, CashIG Reaffirms Commitment to Tackling Oil Theft, Upholding Human Rights
X whatsapp