A human security expert, Major Adebayo Adeleke (retd), has called for a restructuring of Nigeria’s security architecture to address the killings in Benue and Plateau states.
Adeleke, who described the situation in the two North-Central states as disheartening, said the current security architecture had failed.
“The security architecture that we have in Nigeria has failed Benue and Plateau states,” he said while speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday.
At least 51 people were killed by gunmen with scores injured in the early hours of Monday in the Zikke and Kakpa communities in Bassa Local Government Area of the state.
This came after gunmen killed at least 52 people and displaced nearly 2,000 others during several days of attacks in the state.
The victims of the Monday attack were later given a mass burial.
READ ALSO: Mutfwang Convenes Security Meeting As 51 Killed In Fresh Plateau Attacks
Reacting to the tragic attacks on the communities, Governor Caleb Mutfwang convened an expanded state security council meeting on Monday to address the escalating insecurity in the area, assuring the residents that his administration was on top of the situation.
But Adeleke, who is also a retired major in the US army, said while a lot of money had been spent on security infrastructure, what is important is to protect lives.
He said, “I know the current administration has done so much when it comes to expanding their architecture to move around and they’ve done an awesome job in the last one year, but there are a few things that are lacking, and those few things are making every effort in the past look like they haven’t done much.
“This particular thing that is going on in Plateau State needs one thing and one thing only: we have to break down the security architecture in Nigeria; it’s not working. So, we have to restructure to really fit Benue and Plateau states. We have to look at how our security architecture has failed Nigeria so far.
“It’s quite unfortunate that what is going on in Plateau State has been going on for quite some time now; it’s disheartening. This is genocidal in nature. I believe we’ve passed where we say we’re going to find security solutions.
“Unfortunately, this is how unending conflicts start. So, our security architecture in Nigeria has failed in Benue and Plateau states. It’s quite unfortunate.”
He also said the killings showed a pattern.
“Looking at the numbers and looking at the geopolitical zone, from 2023 to 2024, I think they’ve had close to 3,000 attacks, and we have so many people displaced.
“The disheartening part is when you look at the news coming out of the region – people are saying that we’ve seen this thing before, this is the tactic we’ve have seen over and over again. They (criminals) come in the middle of the night, they kill, they leave.
“They come during the planting season, they kill, they leave. They come during the harvest season, they kill, and they leave. So, there is a pattern for this craziness, and we’ve have yet to find a solution to it,” he added.
READ ALSO: Tinubu Condemns Latest Attack In Plateau, Says ‘Enough Is Enough’
Meanwhile, a security expert, Dickson Osagie, has called on security agencies to apply a preventive approach to the situation, which he said was a national tragedy.
“The National Security Adviser went there; he thought maybe words would resolve the situation in Plateau. I was very young when the Plateau incident was ongoing, and we still have it ongoing.
“What I see here is a reactionary methodology, when you carry out a reactionary methodology, security has been defeated and that tells you that our people will keep on living in a state of fear and the criminals will keep killing our people and going scot-free,” he said while speaking on the same show.
He added, “Anything that poses a threat to human life must be eliminated. We are talking about the Nigerian people, and we are talking about human lives, and human lives are not replaceable. So, whatever the case may be, anything that poses a threat to human lives, the rule of engagement eliminates it. It’s not about substitution, it’s not about replacement, it’s not about engagement, it’s all about elimination.”
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