With the recent increase in the spate of Inter Agency violence and attacks among Nigeria’s security agencies, a security practitioner and The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Badinson Security Limited, Mr. Matthew Ibadin has strongly condemned the trend and called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently set up Inter-Agency Disciplinary Commissions to handle matters relating to such disgraceful acts.
In this month of November alone, no fewer than two incidents of clashes between two security agencies of the Federal Government has taken place.
A fortnight ago, some armed personnel of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) had stormed the Kaduna Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) where some NAF personnels arrested in connection with internet fraud were reportedly detained. Their colleagues had gone to forcefully secure their release.
A few days after the Kaduna incident, a police inspector, Jacob Daniel was killed by some soldiers in Adamawa during a clash between operatives of the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force.
The soldiers were said to have stormed the police headquarters over a conflict with some officers at the Target Junction in Yola North Local Government Area. It was reported that a soldier was shot on the leg by a police man during the conflict, hence other soldiers went for a revenge mission.
In the second week of March this year, two police officers were killed by operatives of the Nigerian Army in Taraba State. The soldiers in a show of force had infiltrated the Police Headquarters in retaliation for the alleged stabbing of its personnel by policemen.
Similarly, sometime in January this year, it was a big shame in Lagos as a soldier and a policeman engaged each other in a fight over a disagreement. The video of the fight which went viral showed the policeman, with a gun engaging the soldier in a fight while street urchins cheered.
In the first week of August 2022, a policeman was beaten to death by some officers of the Nigerian Army along Lagos-Badary Expressway during a disagreement which ensued while the officers numbering about 30 were trying to breach traffic rules in a traffic lockjam.
Like other previous incidents involving the Police, Army, Navy, Air Force, Immigration, Customs etc, Ibadin noted that the sister agencies where created and funded by the same Federal Government of Nigeria, it would have been proper for the management and operatives of the various agencies to know that they are “children of the same parents” and should therefore not take their dirty linen to public spaces.
While describing the inter-agency clashes as disgraceful, Ibadin said the only antidote to the clashes is the setting up of a inter disciplinary commission of no more than ten members, by the Presidency.
He recommended that membership of this proposed task force should exclude serving and retired personnel of the nation’s security agencies but to include private security consultants, retired court judges, civil society organization members and National Assembly (Senate/ House of Representatives) members. The Commission according to him, should have the power to try any security agent involved in fighting with any member of a sister security agency.
The security chieftain who spoke with some journalists in Lagos at the weekend posited that with the endless incidents of clashes between the Army and Police, or Police and Customs, Immigration and Navy, Air Force and NDLEA, Civil Defence And Police and so on, there is evidence of a total break down of law and order among the security agencies with the age long slogan “ESPRIT DE CORPS” largely lacking in contemporary time.
He regretted the high level of desecration these officers and men who engage in these clashes have subjected the uniforms they are wearing to. According to him, the uniforms are symbol of authority and fighting openly in the public space makes our security agents a laughing stock even before the international community.
“If the men in uniforms continue to fight one another in public as currently being witnessed, what is the difference between them and street urchins ?” he asked.
The Badinson Security CEO has urged President Tinubu to also possibly restructure the security agencies in a manner that would prevent over lap of functions which in some cases cause friction and eventual violent physical combat.