Afenifere Hails Release Of Kidnapped Medical Students, NYSC Members …Calls For Regionalization Of Youth Service Corps

The pan-Yoruba cultural and socio-political organization, Afenifere, has expressed relief on the return of the Nigerian graduates who were kidnapped on their way from Akwa Ibom to Sokoto State where they were to undergo the one-year national service under the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) programme.

The body, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, then reiterated its advocacy for enrollees to the scheme to be allowed to serve within their geopolitical zone rather than going from one part of the country to the other.

It would be recalled that the last batch of the youth corpers who spent virtually a whole year in the den of their abductors were rescued last week by the combined efforts of security agencies in the country viz; police, army, intelligence agencies etc.

In a similar vein, some medical students of the Universities of Jos and Maiduguri who were kidnapped around Otukpo, Benue State, on their way to Enugu for this year’s annual Catholic medical students conference, were also rescued last week by the security agencies with the support of local vigilante groups.

They were kidnapped along with one of their lecturers who was travelling with them. Afenifere commended the security agencies for this.But the pan-Yoruba organization observed that these pockets of ‘achievements’ appear to be dwarfed by the avalanche of security challenges people are facing in different parts of the country.

Among the recent incidents cited were that of Alhaji Isa Muhammad Bawa, Emir of Gobir and District Head of Gatawa, Sokoto State who was killed despite the N30 million ransom being gathered to secure his release and that of his son with whom he was kidnapped, the continued holding of Dr. Ganiyat Popoola who is spending about eight months in the den of kidnappers and the killing of two policemen in Imo State last week by gunmen.

Hon. Aminu Boza, a member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly representing Sabon Birni (North), disclosed that as many as 151 people were abducted between Tsamaye and Sabon Birni of the state after the abduction of Emir Bawa of Gobir.

Other instances cited were the recent kidnappings that took place in Ekiti State and parts of Oke-ogun area of Oyo State as well as the siege laid on Imeko Afon community in Ogun State.

The latter became so blatant that the Chairman and Secretary of Iwoye-Ketu in Imeko-Afon local government area, Messrs. Semiu Usman-Legitan and Wale Fadipe respectively lamented:

“Our community has become a hotbed of kidnappings, killings, and other violent acts. The perpetrators of these heinous crimes are believed to be members of the Fulani ethnic group, who have taken up residence in our community. These individuals have shown no regard for human life, attacking and hacking our people to death at the slightest provocation.“

The frequency and brutality of these attacks have instilled fear and anxiety among our people” as reported by Punch newspaper of Tuesday, August 27, 2024.

A little earlier, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, gunmen kidnapped a former member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Joan Onyemaechi, inside a church in Asaba, the Delta State capital, after killing her orderlies and driver.

It was reported that the hoodlums, who laid siege on the church premises, first killed the woman’s police escorts at close range before proceeding to the church hall for their main target, who they led out into their get-away vehicle.

13 farmers were reportedly killed on August 22 by bandits at Ijuwa, Alawa community in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State as confirmed by the Chairman of the Local Government, Honourable Akilu Isyaku.

According to Ajayi, fear of kidnappers and attacks by bandits including cattle rustlers, are now rampart as exemplified by the distressful lamentation of Iwoye-Ketu leaders mentioned interalia.

Their agony was further expressed in the following words, among others:

“This August alone, we have witnessed three separate incidents of kidnapping within our community. These kidnappings are not isolated incidents but are part of a broader campaign of terror being waged against our people…

The attackers have been relentless in their efforts, leaving a trail of bloodshed and sorrow in their wake. Our community is under siege, and the threat to our lives and properties has never been more dire. The violence has claimed the lives of many promising young men in our community.”

Afenifere spokesman who observed that kidnappers now seem to go for groups and high-profile individuals so that they could get huge ransoms then called the attention of those concerned to factors responsible for banditry and kidnapping.

Among the factors he mentioned were:- prevalence of ungoverned or under-governed spaces where government’s control is ineffective. Absence or paucity of government presence in such areas makes people of the area vulnerable to exploitation by terrorist groups, traffickers and other criminal elements.

Remoteness of such areas contribute to their not being properly managed thus giving room for such unlawful activities such as illegal mining, human trafficking, harassment or killings of farmers, cattle rustling etc.

Examples of such include large forests in Rumah/Kukar Jangarai, Kamuku, Balmo, Katsina, Kaduna, Bauchi and Kano states as well as the National Park that straddles Niger, Kwara and Oyo States.

As is well-known, the Nigerian police is understaffed and poorly equipped, making it difficult for the Force to maintain safety both in the governed and ungoverned spaces.- Besides the issue of under-governed spaces is that of the country’s porous borders.

The porosity of the borders has increased the influx of small arms and light weapons from the Sahel region – thus heightening the incentives for crimes and banditry.

Illegal mining has created room for poor governance in the areas affected – resulting in poor service delivery, displacement of the local people, increasing unemployment as farmers and youths are forced out of their farmlands – a situation that is making these set of people to be ready recruits for banditry.

In conclusion, Afenifere spokesman, Ajayi, submitted that “To put an end to this scourge that is eating into the fabrics of the nation there is the urgent need by the government to:•

“Start the immediate implementation of the Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022 (“TPA 2022”) signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari in May, 2022.

• Allow states and local government councils to set up local police.

• Recruit able youths to man their areas so as to leave no area for bandits to occupy.

• Deploy modern technology into various areas so as to assist in easily detecting potential and actual security threats.

• Boost the economy to reduce hardship in the land thus minimizing the tendency to go into crimes.• Motivate and equip law enforcement agencies to be more alive to their duties.

• Ensure more prompt and effective dispensation of justice.

• Pursue vigorous Disarmament, Demobilization and Rehabilitation (DDR)”.