What we find disgustingly unsettling is not just the recent outrageous claims of self-acclaimed “militant”, Dokubo Asari that he, and not our armed forces, is responsible for fighting insecurity in many parts of the country. After a visit to see President Bola Tinubu in Aso Villa recently, Asari boasted to newsmen that his “men” were fighting for the government in states like Plateau, Niger, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Borno.

He even took on the armed forces, accusing them of being behind oil theft in the creeks. He further claimed that his outfit is achieving more results with fewer personnel and arms compared to the Nigerian military, despite all the billions the nation spends annually to equip them.

The shocking thing here is that Asari’s bombshells have been greeted with timid response. The Army merely denied the allegation while the Navy asked Asari to produce evidence to support his claims. The body language of the armed forces is that of state agencies eager to let it ride or not wanting to focus too much public attention on themselves on the issue.

The outspoken Directorate of State Security Services (DSS) which is quick to warn protesters of dire consequences has kept mum. There is little sense of indignation among the stakeholders, opinion leaders, activists and guardians of our society over an outburst that paints an apocalyptic picture of utter rot and state failure.

Is it true that the Federal Government awarded Asari contract to perform the constitutional duties of the armed forces, police and security agencies? Which government – that of Buhari or Tinubu – struck the “deal”? Asari claimed to be a “Biafran” and that Nigeria was not for Easterners during Buhari’s regime. But since Tinubu was pronounced President-elect by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, he has been visibly kinetic, visiting Tinubu several times in the Presidential Villa.

Beside these stupefying capers, Asari has been sabre-rattling against the Igbo ethnic group, often threatening them with pistols on videos and insulting their ancestry; acts which could threaten ethnic coexistence among Nigerians.

The Federal Government must be careful in its engagements with armed or violent groups, no matter the myopic political benefits involved. These are monsters that will surely come back to haunt not just the leaders playing with fire but the nation at large.

We point to the ongoing war in Sudan as an example we should learn from. The government of Omar Al Bashir armed the head of Arab pastoralist militias (Janjaweed), Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, to conduct ethnic cleansing against the Negroid groups of Darfur. Dagalo grew so powerful that he militarily challenged President Fattah al-Burhan on the direction the country should go towards civil rule.

The armed forces, police and security system of our country have become so compromised and weak that a self-acclaimed militant can boldly stand up and slap them in the face.

We demand appropriate responses.