With Uche Nnadozie
The Nigerian Army exposed it’s under belly over the weekend. In a bid
to help with kidnapping and other crimes that has spiked in and around
Ondo and Ekiti States, the 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army,
Owena Barracks, Akure published probably one of its counter kidnapping
strategies. It said it will deploy drones to the tick forests of the
two states to comb the areas for information regarding criminal
hideouts. From the face of it, it all looks good. But just by
comparison to other jurisdictions, the drone idea was a letdown.
Surely that is not what you expect an Army in 2019 Nigeria to do. I do
not know who brought the idea but that is what I could have done as a
non state actor. That contraption is what a typical village can afford
and deploy-much less a whole country’s Army. What is more, even if
that was going to be deployed for low level reconnaissance, it is
surely not something for media celebration.
Kidnapping has become a burden in Nigeria since the early 2000s when
it reared its ugly head as a “business venture” in the Niger Delta.
Following closely was the mess, artifice and gory bend it took when it
entered the South East region. The states of Abia, Imo and Anambra
were the major places the trade (yes that’s what it became) was most
celebrated. Enugu came a distant fourth. Kidnapping in the South East
became so rampant that virtually everyone got involved somehow. Kids,
village heads, teachers, nurses, politicians, traders etc got
something to contribute. Diaspora Igbos completely avoided travelling
home. It was bad. It is still bad, although it has improved a lot.
Then the Army was deployed which reduced to the barest minimum the
acts of kidnapping in that region. Many top kidnappers have since been
killed or are undergoing trial; properties of these criminals have
been sieved by government or destroyed in the case of Anambra.
There is more. What we are dealing with right now in the country is
high network kidnapping as a disguise for armed robbery. While armed
robbery appears to be on the decline, kidnapping has spiked owing to
the ease with which it is carried out and the ease with which money is
paid. The problem we have is fundamental. On one hand is the usual
lack of funding to do a lot of things including training and equipping
of our police service; secondly is the inability of the country to
have a data base of citizens. We can’t give accurate data of Nigerian
which leaves the people at the mercy of all manner of elements. People
can stroll into our forests from neighboring countries and carry our
nefarious activities undetected. They come out from the forests mingle
with the society, then return to their respective countries without
anyone at least getting the tip that a thing like that has happened.
The country is too laid back, too ordinary, with many zero patriotic
people working in the services. People join the services including the
nation’s Army purely to make money. You ask them to go to war; they
start grumbling and even get civilians to protest on their behalf.
The easiest thing for people to do now is to lay blames and profile
particular ethnic groups. It sounds nice in the media space. If there
is kidnapping in Ondo and Ekiti just blame it on “Fulanis who are bent
on colonizing the Yoruba.” Such childish tantrums blur the line of
good behavior and public conduct. This is why Boko Haram garnered
gumption after it started. We were here in southern Nigeria arguing
about how Hausa-Fulani did not want President Goodluck Jonathan again,
reason they formed Boko Haram (never mind that Boko Haram itself has
nothing to do with Hausa-Fulani. It’s purely a Kanem Borno affair).
Before we knew what was going on, Boko Haram had spread like wild fire
and acquired assets and intelligence such that till date, it is still
a strong force gathering foreign terrorist support, killing our people
and making us spend scarce resources in billions. Today, the argument
is no longer how we get kidnappers off the forests Ondo and Ekiti but
how Fulani wants to take over the Yoruba land. This is ridiculous. Are
there no Yoruba kidnappers? Has kidnapping not become a trade in the
South West in the past couple of years? Crime is crime irrespective of
who you think is the perpetrator. Although, I understand that this
cacophony is driven by political persuasion- I repeat, it is unfair!
Back to the drone launched by the Army. The device that was showcased
is so weak that it cannot work for more than 40 minutes covering less
than seven kilometers. You begin to wonder how that can cover the
forests that are under surveillance. The multi rotor unmanned aerial
vehicle also known as drone is so noisy that it defeats the idea of
reconnaissance. Multi Rotor drones are the most common types of
drones which are used by professionals and hobbyists alike. They are
used for most common applications like aerial photography, aerial
video surveillance etc. Different types of products are available in
this segment in the market – say multi-rotor drones for professional
uses like aerial photography (whose price may range from 500USD to
3,000 USD) and there are lots of variants for hobby purposes like
amateur drone racing, or leisure flying (price range from 50USD to
400USD). Out of all the 4 drone types (based on aerial platform),
multi-rotor drones are the easiest to manufacture and they are the
cheapest option available as well. Even among the hobby version of
drones, there are others that look a bit professional like the single
rotor drones which last longer in flight and more stealth-worthy. That
drone is what junior officers should be coupling and selling to
photographers in open market. There is work to be done in this
country, even with the paucity of that UAV, let the kidnappers be
fished out. Let there be peace in our land.
