A Nation Adrift

Editorial

There is no doubt that the security situation in the country is on the verge of total collapse given the recent spate of mass killings in the north and the manner in which prominent people are being kidnapped. The killing of dozens of policemen by the Ombatse cult militia last week in Nasarawa sordidly sends a clear message to Nigerians that no one is safe any longer.

What is more appalling about the Nasarawa police massacre is the ease with which the pagan movement ambushed a supposedly well trained security personnel and gunned them down. The cult is said to have been existing for long, but how come it metamorphosed into such a deadly group without our security agencies knowing? It is a huge slap on all the agencies.

The incident puts a big question mark on the ability of our security agencies to gather intelligence. Put the other way, the Ombatse cult militia had a better intelligence gathering machinery that was why they successfully executed their ambush.

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It is hard to believe that a local militia led by a herbalist could plan and successfully execute such  a deadly attack on a security agency constitutionally empowered to maintain law and order. Where were the state security service men and other security agencies whose mandate is to gather intelligence when the Ombatse cult group was plotting the attack? If the plot was nipped in the bud through proactive measures, the nation won’t be in this current state of shock over the mass killing of the policemen.

The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, should not leave anything to chance while going after the perpetrators of that dastardly attack. Members of the militia are not ghosts. They must be fished out along with their collaborators, no matter how highly placed, to face justice. Nigerians are worried about the degenerating security situation and a drastic action must be taken to restore the confidence of the people in security agencies.

If such a huge number of policemen could be mowed down with such ease by a rag tag militia, then anarchy is looming and threatening to annihilate the country. All the security agencies must stop chasing shadows and get down to real work. Enough of this avoidable bloodletting.

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