Deborah Tolu-Kolawole, Abuja Experts have said that the declaration of bandits and the Indigenous People of Biafra as terrorists has...
Deborah Tolu-Kolawole,
Abuja
Experts have said that the declaration of bandits and the
Indigenous People of Biafra as terrorists has not reduced the level of
insecurity in Nigeria.
These security experts who spoke during a security
roundtable organised by the Centre for Peace and Development Studies of Veritas
University in collaboration with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation for West Africa
also called on the Federal Government to embrace good governance and justice.
The roundtable was based on the theme, ‘Interrogating criminal
label and the scourge of insecurity in contemporary Nigeria’.
While presenting his paper, a lecturer in the Department of
Defence and Security Studies, at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Dr Adejo
Sunday said, “The declaration of Boko Haram and IPOB as terrorist organisations
has not in any way addressed the insecurity in Nigeria. The activities of
Fulani herdsmen and bandits are worst trends in Nigeria’s security history.”
“Regardless of the increase in labelling, there seems not to
be any tangible improvement in the security of the Nigerian state. It is
important to note that the increasing rate of crime and criminality in Nigeria
has not only worsened the pace of insecurity.
He, therefore, urged the authority to “demonstrate some
level of unbias in the process of labelling, as good governance and justice
remain the policy option in addressing issues related to criminal labelling.”
On his part, another lecturer from the Department of
Political Science, University of Calabar, Dr Obi Neji, said a situation where
the authority is quick in ascribing labels to certain groups, while acting with
sustained restraint in ascribing the same levels for same tendencies by others,
has only fuelled suspicion and sustained insecurity.
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