A retired army captain and founder, Fair Haven Security Nigeria Limited, David Mbamara, bares his mind on the incessant attacks on security formations in Imo State in this interview with CHIDIEBUBE OKEOMA

There have been attacks on security formations in the South-East, particularly Imo State. What are the implications of these attacks?

The security implications are not far-fetched. This ugly development should be properly investigated by the security agencies instead of jumping to the conclusion and hastily labelling any group as the mastermind of the attacks. The security challenges posed by IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) cannot be overlooked, though, but there are other non-governmental actors and people who could be hiding under the security challenges and trying to destabilise the government.

It is important that the security agencies look deeper and come up with solutions to this disturbing development. It is not just IPOB. There is also the Biafran Nations League that spoke sometimes ago in Calabar. They gave their members five days to avenge the Fulani herdsmen attacks on their people. It is a potential target group and you can’t wish that away. We also know that in Imo State, there is political tension between the governor and some political actors.

So it will be infantile to politicise the attacks by hastily linking them to IPOB without proper investigation. Doing so portends great danger to our society, and if we go this way, we may lose focus. Therefore, it is very important for the security agencies to do their homework and identify those behind the attacks. It is important that the Federal Government starts looking at issues from a solution perspective because there is no good general who opens the frontier of war without seeking ways to bring lasting solutions.

If any army general engages in open confrontation without dialogue, it will drag him down. What is happening in Imo State is regrettable and it’s important that the Federal Government takes measures because from what I am reading, this is just the beginning. Because when you have a domestic subversive organisation operational in a state and they start kidnapping people for ransom, the essence of that is to get money for logistics. The next move is to start attacking security personnel to demoralise them, collect their weapon and reduce the security forces’ capacity.

My younger colleagues who are still in service should look at these trends and not be hasty in saying the attacks are by IPOB. It could be diversionary. It could be any other organisation that is interested in pulling down the system. Having said that, the reaction of the Governor of Imo State (Hope Uzodinma) is good. This is not the time for the usual grammar and semantics by the government. The Federal Government should sit up. In security, there is no sacred cow. All domestic insurgents in Imo State should be dealt with.

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Do you suspect any political undertone in the attacks as the governor has alleged?

Well, I would not know until security agencies have done their job. We have read about some political battles between the governor and some political big boys in the state. It is important that this suspicion should not also be swept under the carpet. The issue should be analysed from the macro and not micro perspective so that every thread of likely threat can be captured. If any thread is missing, it is easy for those who may be hiding under IPOB due to its agitation for Biafra to explore.

The real enemies of the government may be operating freely, knowing full well that the government’s attention is on IPOB. It is also important that the recent attacks on the Nigerian Correctional Centre and police stations in Imo State should draw the Federal Government’s attention to the state. Last month, the National Bureau of Statistics, in its report, ranked Imo State as the unemployment capital of Nigeria with over 56 per cent unemployment rate. We are not talking about the under-employed.

Most of these unemployed people are graduates. The greatest check against insecurity is the good welfare of the people. The Federal Government and the Imo State Government should look into this. The government should look into the plight of the citizens. The situation is terrible. The cost of living is high, people have no jobs, the situation is dangerous. It is important the Federal Government tell itself the truth. This is no time for politics.

Do you support the Federal Government’s amnesty for the fleeing inmates as a result of the recent jailbreak in Owerri?

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Well, I am happy to hear that the Federal Government has offered the fleeing inmates amnesty as a way of making them return because some of them are hardened criminals. Some of us are conversant with the nature of the judiciary system that we have. Most inmates are there without trial. I understand that some of them have been on the  awaiting trial list for about 10 years.

It is urgent – the Federal Government, in conjunction with state governments, should use this opportunity to investigate the fleeing inmates. Those who have been in prison without trial should be given considerable attention. This is the essence of decongesting the prison. When you put innocent people with criminals in the prisons, you overload the prisons, and this has consequences for society.

It is important that the Federal Government stop holding people without trial because the law says even a criminal is said to be innocent until proven guilty. Why put someone behind bars and is awaiting trial for 10 years? The prison is meant to correct people with bad characters and not to make them hardened. In short, those with criminal backgrounds should be brought back urgently. I support the amnesty declaration by the Federal Government.

On the attacks on the Owerri correction centre, reports have it that security agencies neglected intelligence report before the attacks. What do you make of this?

Definitely, it shows the failure of intelligence gathering by security agencies in Imo state. For the attackers to have a field day attacking the correctional centre, the police headquarters and army checkpoint on the same day, it shows that security agencies in the state are not doing enough. You don’t need to be told that there is a failure of security and intelligence gathering in Imo State. Those in charge should know what to do because uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

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Many say that marginalisation is the cause of incessant attacks on federal facilities in the South-East. Do you agree with this assertion?

That is the major reason, you do not need to be told. Imo State indigenes usually perform excellently at the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, but when they graduate, they don’t get jobs whereas those who got into tertiary institutions using low UTME scores end up getting jobs. How will you then say that the country is fair to them? ‘One Nigeria’ should not just be a slogan, it should be practised.

This is the time to rise up and build Nigeria. The civil war ended over 60 years ago. I didn’t experience the war, I was a year old when the massacre took place. For how long will ethnic and tribal considerations end in this country? How can you build a country based on injustice, knowing that there is a reaction to every injustice? You cannot slap a child and tell him not to cry. It is not possible. How can you appoint over 60 judges, yet no Igbo man made the list. You appointed 24 directors at the NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation), yet no Igbo man is there.

Also, look at the recent appointment of the acting Inspector General of Police. The Federal Government is making it difficult for South-East leaders to have anything to tell these aggrieved youths. Nigeria stands on a tripod – the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. If you eliminate any of the stands, it is no longer Nigeria. The Federal Government should take measures; the South-East is the easiest place to control.

There is poor electricity, there are bad roads and no jobs for the Igbo people. As elders, there are limits to what we can tell a young man who is hungry. Even if he’s educated, he will definitely be angry if he has no job definitely. South-East does not have a small population; we have a huge population and, therefore, we should not be neglected. I am pleading with the Federal Government to give the South-East elders what they could use to talk to these young people because they are looking down on their leaders as failures. They no longer have respect for Ohanaeze and the governors; they don’t see themselves as part of this country because of the Federal Government policies of marginalisation and exclusion of the South-East region.

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What’s your take on regional security outfits?

There is no basis in law for the continuous existence of the federal police. It is not seen anywhere. How will the federal police be the one to enforce laws made by the state governments as enacted by the state Houses of Assembly? We are talking about unemployment in this country when if we have the state police, they can create between 500,000 and one million jobs for the youths.

There should also be neighbourhood police. Nigeria is a country of laws, we are not in a jungle. The issue of security should be properly addressed. Our fathers in the 60s had regional police. Some people are talking about community policing. What is community police? How much are they paid as salary? What is their strength? Do they have arms? Do they have powers to charge anybody to court? Are they recognised under the law? The issue is that we are a funny country. We deceive ourselves a lot. It is time to stand up and build Nigeria.

What is your take on the activities of the Eastern Security Network?

It is an attempt by the people to obey the law of nature because the South-East governors created a void and the Federal Government refused to call the herdsmen to order. No one can stand and watch their women being raped. It is time for the government to be alive to its responsibility of providing security and welfare for the citizens. The Federal Government should as matter of urgency call the Fulani herdsmen to order.

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Do you support Nnamdi Kanu’s approach to self-determination?

Well, I am not an IPOB member. I don’t know how he operates. I initially saw him as a rabble-rouser but I am beginning to take him seriously because of the faulty steps the Federal Government is taking. Everything is not about shoot and kill. There are things you will do and you will cage certain elements. The Igbo want Nigeria to succeed.

There is no village in Nigeria you will not see an Igbo man. It is very easy to control this situation before it gets out of hand. Nnamdi Kanu is the creation of the actions of this government. It is the actions of this government that is giving him the impetus to be controlling a large number of people. How can we keep quiet and allow a country as beautiful as Nigeria to go down?

How can the tension everywhere be reduced quickly?

I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the Federal Government to do the needful before it is too late. The government should address the issues of insecurity by addressing injustice in the country. Merit should not be sacrificed on the altar of ethnic sentiments. Injustice is fuelling the insecurity we are facing.

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