By Evelyn Usman and Esther Onyegbulam

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre,CISLAC has posited that the solution to insecurity in Nigeria is to have a security sector reform at all levels, that would ensure decentralization of the sector.

This is just as it has frowned at moves by some governors in Nigeria to arm volunteer guards in their state, on the grounds of bolstering security, describing the move as capable of having adverse effects on the populace.

Speaking at a One-Day media workshop on Defence Anti-Corruption Reportage,Civic Space and Oversight, held in Ikeja, Lagos, the Executive Director, CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, asserted that security reform would not only ensure efficiency on the part of security agents but that it would account for proper recruitment and deployment of security personnel.

He said, “ What we need now is a holistic national discussion and dialogue about security sector reform, not to be forming militia, not to use the so-called militia tactics to steal money and leave the citizens miserable.

“We condemn any attempt to create a militia that is not coming from the constitution or any legal framework that will guarantee the safety and security of Nigerians.

“Anything that is done outside constitutional provision and without public discussion to agree and disagree on it, we will definitely call for caution because of the situation we are in, currently.

“Even though we are very disappointed with the way and manner the federal government handles security in this country, we cannot afford to encourage any illegal means of the so-called creation of a militia group in the name of responding to insecurity.

Invariably, what you will be doing is arming citizens that are not properly equipped, that do not have the legal and constitutional mandate to carry out operations”.

He noted that security personnel undergo intensive training during recruitment , wondering why militia formed by some state governoes would be given arms without proper training or skills to deal with matters of insecurity.

“Invariably they will misuse the weapons. We have seen similar incidents where politicians provide ammunition during elections to young persons and after the elections, they abandoned them and at the end of the day, some of those who have arms at their disposal, use them for other things”, he said.

Berating the absence of security accountability in the country , Rafsajani, said in spite of several billions of naira budgeted for the security sector , Nigerians were yet to feel the impact in their lives, with regard to their safety.

Rather, he expressed regrets that “ Nigerians have become endangered species, a lot of Nigerians cannot move from one local government to another. So what are they doing with all the billions budgeted in the name of security?

“ Some governors are not able to explain what they do with the security vote. The security vote is almost like free money because it is not audited, it is not accounted for and many officials are using political offices for personal enrichment. We cannot talk about improving security when this kind of corruption is happening in the security sector.”

He also took a swipe on the Nigeria Customs Service , following the influx of weapons into the country.

He said, these weapons were no longer small arms but “ big arms coming into the country, we have customs officials at the land borders, airports and seaports. We cannot continue to expect an improvement of the safety of Nigerians while all these heavy arms are coming.

“The Auditor General mentioned in his report that over 164 arms and ammunition cannot be accounted for, that they were missing in the hands of police.

A lot of money has been budgeted for police to receive arms and ammunition since 2019, to date they haven’t received anything. So we can not afford to be siphoning public taxpayers’ money in the name of security ,yet, Nigerians are not seeing any improvement in the security of their lives and properties.

“Every part of the country is vulnerable now. Bandits and terrorists are tasking Nigerians to pay taxes before they go to their farms and yet you are budgeting a large amount of money for security where is the money, where is the difference between what you have budgeted and what you have not budgeted.

Sometimes, the Customs say that they have arrested some containers of arms and ammunition. The question is ,where are those arms and ammunition? Are they destroying them, or are they putting those arms into use?

“Secondly, the arms that suspects say they surrendered, who is in the custody of them ?”

He therefore charged journalists to do everything within the law and ethics of their profession to ensure that protection of lives and properties remained
a priority for the government, as provided for in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.

He further charged journalists not to sit and watch a corrupt few embezzle monies meant for the welfare of security personnel, procurement of arms and ammunition while the challenges of insecurity continue to threaten our very existence.

“We must as a matter of urgency begin to question the actions and in-actions of government and to demand accountability for budgetary allocations meant for defence and security. It is time that the quest for reform in our defence and security institutions transcend from mere words to an all inclusive participation in the formulation and effective implementation of policies for the actualisation of the transformation that citizens desire in our defence and security sector.

“We must not fail to acknowledge the disciplinary actions taken by the leadership of the defence and security sector against erring officers who would rather undermine than uphold the ethics and values of these institutions, as has been aired more frequently by the media lately.

“Nevertheless, there is still so much more to be done structurally such as wrong and prolonged deployment of personnel in battle field, lack of transparency and accountability in fund management, procurement and project implementation, personnel recruitment process, personnel welfare, sub standard kits and equipment, among others”, he stated

On its part, he assured that CISLAC and its partners would continue to push for greater accountability and integrity in the defence and security sector “because it will require a multi-stakeholder engagement in line with the principles of democratic and participatory governance, to achieve the level reform we desire.

“We will not relent in advocating for an accountable defence and security expenditure, classification and declassification of information for public consumption, increased integrity for personnel and an uninterrupted civilian oversight of the sector in line with international best practices”.