THE increasing wave of armed robbery in the country in recent times is indeed alarming and worrisome. Lives and properties are no longer completely safe on the highways and homes as armed robbers now strike with impunity at their unfortunate and hapless victims without quick intervention and protection from the police and other security forces. Added to armed robbery is kidnapping and demand for huge ransoms from their victims and their immediate families. Assassinations for obviously politically motivated reasons have also become rampant.
Police, the traditional law enforcement agency responsible for apprehension of criminals, have been seen fleeing the scene of armed robbery and other crimes. But they can be seen regularly on the highways stopping vehicles and shamelessly collecting bribes from motorists especially passenger vehicles. Sometimes they kill suspects outrightly without having proved any case of wrongdoing against them. This amounts to extra-judicial killing.
What is alarming and worrisome about this high rate of armed robbery incident in the country is that the victims are mostly the vibrant middle class who hold key positions in the economy.
The above represents the grave insecurity including police recklessness that now faces the country with its broad implications on the business environment, social life and even politics of the country.
But the increasing wave of armed robbery and other forms of assaults on the citizens by men of the underworld is not unconnected with the breakdown of the social system occasioned by correspondingly increasing poverty and unemployment in the country today. It is axiomatic that economic activities do not thrive in an atmosphere of insecurity. Security is a key prerequisite for development everywhere.
Entrepreneurs and other economic agents need to be protected to enable them make their contributions to the economic development of the society. It is a recipe for backwardness where the lives and business proposals of this class of people cannot be guaranteed by the law enforcement agents.
On the other hand, the right to life, dignity of the human person and freedom from fear of every citizen and even those of foreigners working and living among us are constitutionally guaranteed and it is the official duty of the law enforcement agencies to protect these and other rights from the onslaughts of armed robbers, marauders and other evil-minded men. The social life of the citizens are endangered and imperiled when they cannot move freely in the cities without fear of being attacked by armed robbers. In their various homes, citizens now sleep with one eye open without the assurance of protection from the law enforcement agencies except God.
For every life lost to armed robbers and other men of the underworld, it is the society and the economy that suffer. Insecurity has direct implications on the politics of the country. This is evident in the loss suffered last week when armed robbers attacked the motorcade of Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, the former civilian governor of Kano State, who died from the traumatic shock of the attack even though he was not physically harmed, thus throwing the state and the whole country into mourning.
The solution can be found in overhauling and reforming the entire security apparatus of the country with a view to making it first of all effective and efficient and capable of enforcing the law of the land without fear or favour in the interest of the people and on the principles of rule of law (justice), making it people-friendly and publicly accountable. Secondly, the law enforcement agencies must be seen to make judicious use of the financial resources allocated to them on annual basis.