By Lanre Oloyede
Chief Jackson Lekan-Ojo is a top security expert and chieftain of APC. In this interview with our Correspondent, he expounds strategies current administration can adopt to end rising insecurity and corruption in the country.
1. As a security expert, how do you explain the latest resurgence in insecurity, particularly the Plateau Christmas attacks?
Lekan-Ojo: I have said this on many platforms that there is no political will to fight insurgency and all other forms of insecurity we are experiencing.
Recall that at the twilight of Buhari’s administration, these people were audacious and bold to say they wanted to kidnap, the president himself. That was an affront, an insult to the nation. And to make good their threat, they ambushed and attacked the advance team of the presidential escort. No single person was arrested. Two days later, the Kaduna airport was bombed. Few days later, Kuje prison was attacked. Within the space of a week, men of the Brigade of Guard were attacked; some were killed and nothing happened till date. That is to show that there was no detterent.
What is happening in Plateau State, I can say it is ethno-religious issue. It has to do with ethnicity contest. Some people just want to unlawfully inherit people’s land. Why did this attacked happen on Christmas day? That is why I called it ethno-religious war. Though it has happened, but how do we curb this issue? Where are the military men, where are the police officers, where are the DSS, where are the NIA?
I have said this on many platforms, how many eavesdroppers do we have working for the military and paramilitary? Who are these eavesdroppers? Those are the plainclothes men that just go anywhere, co-inhabit with people, gather intelligence and send this to the central point. This will be studied holistically and analysed and they will see how to work with it. But we believe too much in shooting guns. It is not in all wars that you shoot guns. Before the military or paramilitary will go to shoot guns, the advance team of intelligent men should have been on ground. But we found ourselves in a country whereby members of the public could recognize a DSS officer, it’s not supposed to be like that. In another clime, the wife of a DSS officer might not even know that his husband is a DSS officer because it is a discreet organization.
The identity of a security man should not be known to the public. If the identity of a DSS officer is known, how will he be able to gather intelligence? Once he is coming, people will keep mute and say that’s a DSS man coming.
I think we have also politicized security too much in this country. People say, “oh leave them, it is not my party man that is the governor.” Insecurity doesn’t recognize party membership. It doesn’t recognize Christianity or Islam. This is not happening in Plateau State alone, it is happening in Benue State too. I expect government to stand with full determination to exterminate all those people. It is very easy.
The insurgents have eavesdroppers among our security people otherwise, how do they know that security people will be coming? Somebody must have furnished them with the information. So they can recognize our security men in uniform, their vehicles are marked, their guns are marked but their own, they are in plainclothes. They will be moving from local government to local government and despite the fact that we have both army and police checkpoints, all these couldn’t stop them.
I think government need more political will to fight this battle. The government must be ruthless against these people. You must try to arrest few of them, interrogate them to know the source of their sponsors, the source of their transport, the source of their information. Having known all these, we can now uproot them. If you cut a stem and leave it standing on the root, no matter how slow, it will still bud again. It won’t die until you cut it from the root.
Look at what happened in Rivers sometimes ago, a DPO was brutally assassinated, where is the issue today? It’s been forgotten. Nobody is talking about it again. Several incidents happened in Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Benue and even Imo. Few days ago, a first-class traditional ruler and former chairman of Imo State traditional council was kidnapped in his palace. Up till now he is not traceable. The thing is almost spreading across the country and abnormality is gradually becoming a norm in this country. I pity president Tinubu’s government. I’ve said something, if it will take Tinubu to change the police chief and military chiefs, he should be ready to change them 12 times in a month. He should do that until he gets it right.
2. As a security expert, if you find yourself in the shoes of President Tinubu, what kinetic or non-kinetic measures would you put in place to forestall this problem?
Lekan-Ojo: It’s not a matter of kinetic or non-kinetic measures. If I find myself in the position of the President, I will be ruthless, I will be firm. I will display politics abnormalities. I will go for the jugular of whoever is responsible for these things. I will apply all necessary measures within the ambit of the law. In a normal clime, the measures to solve security problems is not discussed in the public or in the media. How can you discuss that on radio? These insurgents do listen to radio, they watch TV, they read newspapers. For instance, if you announced in public that you want to come and attack me in my home, will I wait for you at home to come and attack me? This is what is responsible for the ambushes that insurgents used to lay for our troops. What our government need to do is to restrategize, if it is possible to establish a secret security service where the duty of part of them is to gather intelligence as eavesdroppers. Nobody will know their office, they can be reporting directly to the National Security Adviser and President. Let them operate independent of the police, DSS and military. It is possible.
Our security operatives are overwhelmed. There is no new methodology, no new equipment. You can’t be doing same thing same way and expect new result. But I think it is high time we change the approach to our strategies for solving insecurity in this country.
3. This relapse in insecurity has renewed the call for State Police; Sir, do you support the idea of creation of State Police in the country?
Lekan-Ojo: Because of our mentality, if we were under the military, I would have supported the idea of State Police, but under a civilian administration, I won’t support it. This is because, this so called State Police will eventually turned to political thugs to politicians. For instance, if you take my own State of Osun, the governor who is a member of PDP will be the one to recruit them, he will be the one to pay them, he will never recruit anyone who is a member of APC, all of them will be PDP. The same thing will happen if the governor is a member of APC. And they will now use these police against their oppositions during elections. Where is the mentality of our political leaders? Even if you look at the issue of payment, many State governors find it difficult to pay the minimum wage, some are owing ten months, six months, some are paying quarter, some are paying half salaries, while some are not paying at all. So how are they going to pay them?
Cut in: But they have security vote
Lekan-Ojo: These people, do they consider security vote as something that should be spent on security? They take security vote as their personal gain in government. What will happen is that State Police in a PDP State will turn to PDP police while in APC State, they will turn to APC police and they will use them to victimize and attack oppositions. Based on these reasons, and for economic reasons, I think it is not visible. Apart from Lagos and a few Ststes in the South-South, no State has the resources to fund State Police in the country. I want to tell you clearly that State Police will bring more danger into this country.
4. NBS report states that 133 million Nigerians are in multi-dimensional poverty. Do you see any correlation between insecurity and level of poverty in the land?
Lekan-Ojo: The truth is corruption is the fertilizer to the fat growing insecurity in the country. There is no hungry man anywhere in the world that will not be vulnerable to be used as elements to forment trouble. In a situation where what is meant for a whole state few people shared it, and they are living robustly, driving exotic vehicles, living in affluence while 99 percent of people are living in abject poverty. Such a person that has not eaten for three days, if someone gives him ten thousand naira and asked him to carry arms, he will yield easily. You can lure such person into any form of crime. To me, any government that is serious about fighting insecurity, must be ready to be brutal against corruption and that is what I’m perceiving with this government of Tinubu. If he’s able to successfully fight corruption, he will be able to reduce the level of insecurity drastically.
5. Talking about corruption, don’t you think all these scandals about Tinubu’s ministers is too early in the life of this administration?
Lekan-Ojo: I don’t think so. I think it came earlier than this during the Buhari’s administration and there was no detterent or correction. The president did not frown at it and that was why it degenerated to the worst level and they looted the country empty. Now, people thought it was going to be business as usual, that was why they started dipping their hands into the pot, and I’m happy that the president has started showing them his true colour by dealing with them. These two people on suspension now will serve as detterent to every other person. They will now know that this man is a Mr no nonsense when it comes to issue of corruption. The way he dealt with these people, those who want to go and forment trouble will have a second thought too. If he can hire people and fired them when they did wrong, then those he didn’t hire, if they do anything wrong, he will do worse than that to them. So, I think that Nigerians should jubilate with the actions that Tinubu has taken against two of his appointees, that is to mean that we are hopeful in this country.
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