The killing of scores of people in Yelewata, Benue State, over the weekend has been linked to porous borders and systemic failures in Nigeria.
The killings have since sparked nationwide concerns over a breakdown of the country’s security architecture.
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast show, The Morning Brief on Monday, the Managing Director of Beacon Security & Intelligence Limited, Kabiru Adamu, said the root problem lies in the failure to properly diagnose the challenge, adding that relevant actors should be held accountable.
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Adamu explained that Benue’s location at the intersection of Nasarawa and Taraba, two states grappling with their security troubles and their international border with Cameroon, increases its vulnerability to external threats and foreign intruders.
According to him, public security in Nigeria has become ineffective, as attackers continue to strike communities, killing dozens, and displacing hundreds, without consequence.
“Threat elements come in, they attack, they kill, sometimes over 100 people in one go. They are not arrested, not prosecuted. That deterrence element in our system is not functioning,” he said.
He further identified the presence of multiple violent groups and militiamen in the state. He warned that some of these groups have been co-opted into the public security architecture by politicians for personal but sinister objectives.
“There’s an absence of intelligence. To have 100 people killed in three days and no video, no voice recording, no evidence, we must admit that our public security system is failing,” Adamu emphasised.
He noted that while public security structures exist in Benue, such as the police, military, civil defence, the Department of State Service, and Operation Zenda, many of them are thinly spread, particularly in rural areas.
According to him, some local governments have fewer than 10 security personnel, a trend not unique to Benue but common nationwide.
“Benue may soon have four separate state-level security outfits, including the evolving Forest Security Guards,” he warned, adding that while numbers look adequate on paper, the real problem is accountability.
Source: Channels TV
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