Emergency with a Human Face

 First is the management of the rules of engagement in the states where there is a state of emergency. Secondly is the assurance that the tactics of engagement lead and generate success and terminate terrorism in those states as well as serving as effective instruction to aspiring pockets of insurgency and terrorism in other parts […]

 First is the management of the rules of engagement in the states where there is a state of emergency. Secondly is the assurance that the tactics of engagement lead and generate success and terminate terrorism in those states as well as serving as effective instruction to aspiring pockets of insurgency and terrorism in other parts of the country. Thirdly is securing an enduring and sustained solution to the ravaging and pervasive insecurity situation in the country. Let us take these issues in turn and ‘interrogate’ them more expansively. The management of the rules of engagement; whereas most patriotic Nigerian citizens agree that the state of emergency has become imperative and expedient, there is a wide concern that it must be carried out in accord with  international acceptable standard of rules of engagement. Sufficient force to checkmate the activities of insurgent and terror groups should be applied without untold damage to the psyche, humanity and livelihood of the citizenry in affected emergency zones. For instance, General Buhari was unequivocal about the injury and damage that insurgency does to the social economy of affected states like Kano and Borno, without necessarily stating his support for the declared of emergency (even though it is implied in his utterances while curiously seeking the resignation of the President!); to quote the former military ruler and aspiring President: ‘The insurgency was a deliberate move to scuttle the economy and development of Nigeria. Take for instance Kano and Borno states. The economy of the people in the two states was completely wiped out by the activities of insurgents. Nothing economic is moving in the two states.’ He further advanced that no religion can ‘condone the kind of terrorism taking place in Nigeria.
 These statements can rationally be taken as a tacit support for the declared emergency ‘rule’ imposed by the President. It must, however, be noted that the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Farouq Umar Farouq whose city was severely sacked by Boko Haram ‘activists’, has persistently cautioned against excessive use of military might during the reins of emergency. He had stated his opposition before Buhari to the ‘house-to-house search in Daura town by the military’ since the attack on the town. Now, while it is important to effectively terminate the reign of terrorism, partially through this declared state of emergency (and already there is evidence that it might just work, as reports have it that not only that over 120 terrorists have been arrested in Maiduguri and hundreds others have take to their heels out of the state toward Niger Republic), authorities of Defence have declared five towns and villages have been wrest from the clutches of insurgents. The story is that troops in their thousands have launched land and air attacks on insurgent camps as well as conducting house to house ferreting (an exercise which the Emir of Daura deplores). Yet, it is important to carry these forceful activities out with minimum citizen casualty. Humiliation and degradation of the humanity of citizens in these states must be ensured.
It is gratifying that General Olukolade, mni, Director of Defence Information, a man known for his candour and humility even in soldiery, has given the assurance that the safety and freedom of the citizens of the affected states will be ensured. Rights violation and endangerment of citizens’ liberty must be avoided in the implementation of the state of Emergency.  It is important that the military engages in the generation of civil-military cordiality in order to attain believability and the confidence of the citizenry, even in emergency times such as this. And this buttresses the statement credited to the Director of the National Orientation Agency, Mike Omeri, to the effect that ‘recent and unfolding realities reveal an increasing need for robust civil-military relations in combating threats to our territorial integrity as a nation.’ It is a difficult assignment but this is a time when the military should demonstrate, in no uncertain terms, its capacity for discipline and humaneness in handling the civil population even as it faces the challenges of curbing terrorism through ‘the barrel of the gun.’ Yet, people like the Emir of Daura must co-operate with the military on matters of intelligence gathering and entrenchment of expedient level of understanding and collaboration if his state and city will be released from the stranglehold and paralytic clutch of terrorism and insurgency. It is a catch-2020 situation.
Now, on the issue of the possible success of the emergency rule in terminating the ‘reign of terror’ in the state’s under emergency and elsewhere, we observed last week that the age in which bullets alone (the application of brute force, or military strategy to quell violent situations) are relied upon to attain peace and redress insecurity caused by insurgent and terror groups are over. In deploying might as an immediate solution, the long term solution must be sought in winning the souls and hearts of the citizenry. There are sociological and economic issues at stake in our country. True, these causative factors of the materialistic kind are not limited to the states under terror siege, there is no question that the states are among the worst hit by economic deprivation, poverty, ignorance and disempowerment of the masses. The kind of development effort going on in states like Kano and Jigawa in the north and most South South states like Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and, recently, Bayelsa, is the inexorable and inviolable recipe for the ultimate termination of acts of terror, kidnapping and insurgency being perpetrated by Boko Haram, Niger Delta militants and other groups engaged in breaching the peace in the nation. The gainful engagement of the masses of the people, especially the restive youths, creation of jobs and employment, the development of infrastructure essential for industrial growth and entrepreneurial skills are all important complements to the monopoly of state violence which emergencies can begin to address. There is so much social discontent and mass alienation on our land and these are the factors that generate disillusionment, frustration and anguish which inevitably catalyses restiveness, terrorism and insurgency.