Rev Chris Okotie’s article titled, “The Fierce Urgency Of Now” which was published on the back page of the Thisday edition of May17, 2013 showed clearly how corruption and crime conflate to create the present state of siege in Nigeria.

But there are other dangers now emerging: the killing of police men by many armed groups around the country. We are living on the edge of anarchy by a generation of renal youths who openly dare constituted authority.

While terrorism is the fall-out of a global jihadist agenda of a loose band of Islamists operating in different regions of the world, Al-Quaeda, the arrow head of this deadly campaign didn’t have Nigeria on its radar until Boko Haram reared its ugly head in the North Eastern part of the country in 2009. Poor handling of the crisis has put the nation in this quagmire.

According to Rev. Okotie “The current situation of the Nigerian nation has reached the stage where the divisive forces ranged against it constitute a clear and present danger to its corporate existence. The forces in question-corruption, which is the toughest enemy; terrorism, crime and Islamic fundamentalism, are well known to most Nigerians.

“What we don’t know is how the federal government intends to deal with these problems expeditiously before they get out of hand.”  Although, President Goodluck Jonathan acted tough by declaring a state of emergency in three states- Yobe, Bornu and Adamawa states, it is quite obvious that this measure is neither new, nor far- reaching enough. The terror campaign affects other states in the north while in the south; there are still pockets of terrorist activities in the Niger Delta, despite the Amnesty that was supposed to end the lawlessness in the oil-rich region.

Mr. Jonathan’s latest strategy did not address these equally dangerous tendencies down South. One expected him to look at the big picture and take a more comprehensive action that deals with all armed opposition nationwide. At the moment, youth rebellion is not an isolated case that could be pinned on Boko Haram alone. Cult-related violence is now on the rise across the country. And the attack on law enforcement agents by these armed groups, are becoming as deadly as those regularly launched by the Boko Haram insurgents.

The situation is already getting out of hand. We have a proliferation of militant groups across the country which regularly kills policemen on the line of duty. The Ombatse cult in Nassarawa state ambushed and killed about 70 policemen who were sent to arrest their Chief Priest at their Shrine, after the notorious cultist carried out a reign of terror in parts of the state capital, Lafia.

There are several unknown, well armed cult groups across the country, beside the visible ethnic militias like MEND, OPC and Boko Haram. Until the police massacre little was known about the Ombatse cult group, and it was unthinkable that its members could boldly carry out that kind of attack on a contingent of police men who were in the thick of operations.

In a country that is already under- policed, the loss of officers and men in surprise attacks witnessed lately in Bayelsa, Baga and Nassarawa is a luxury we can ill-afford. While the cost of human life cannot be quantified in monetary terms, the nation spends huge sums of money in training members of the armed services.

They need to be protected against the growing ranks of violent militias that now have access to sophisticated weapons which they are using to raid Police stations, army depots and other military formations. Moreover because of the possession of arms; these violent groups now confront security personnel in direct combat, sometimes inflicting heavy causalities on our service men.

Now, in the wake of these attacks on our security forces, questions are being asked about the operational capabilities of our police force on one hand, and the inflow of arms into the country, on the other. According to a report about 70percent of light weapons and ammunition in circulation in West Africa are in Nigeria.

These illegal weapons pass through our porous borders under the watch of the Customs and other border security agencies. The Federal government should as a matter of urgency, conduct intermittent nation-wide, house to house search for illegal arms and ammunitions, and task our border agencies on securing our borders.

There are disturbing reports of criminal elements that get their weapons from members of the armed forces, including the police. Proof of this is that some of the weapons captured in raids of hideouts of criminals were actually sourced from military depots and police armoury. Our service men must know that anytime they hire or sell weapons to criminals they invariable sentence their colleagues to premature deaths. And it may be their turn one day.

In fact, police collaboration with armed gangs corroborates this maxim from the great American President Abraham Lincoln who said: “If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.” In closing, the governing elites must heed Rev Okotie’s warning: “Terrorist activities always flourish in environments where there is economic disequilibrium and mismanagement of national resources by corrupt ruling elite.”

DAN YODEJI writes from Lagos