In this interview, a retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Wilson Inalegwu speaks on the rising spate of political violence, the role of security agencies in curbing thuggery, the dangers of unchecked threats to opposition campaigns, and the urgent need for disarmament and proactive policing ahead of elections.
There are concerns over the recent spate of political violence against opposition parties, what do you think should be done to avoid escalation?
The police must put boots on ground. And they must mobilise other security agencies to multiply their numbers. Because if they have the numbers on ground and if they are straightforward; if they are impartial and professional, they will stop this. People are testing the waters. They want to see if the authorities will react.
But you must do the right thing across boards. Whether it is party A, party B, party C, go by the books. If somebody is armed illegally, what does the law say? If somebody is making an inciting statement, what does the law say? So, it is only the professionalism and neutrality of the police and other security agencies that will checkmate the situation. If the police will not accept acts of thuggery, no matter how highly placed the person is, they can checkmate the situation. Nigeria has a fantastic police force. They should not allow political interference in their work. Just be professional. Don’t be professional when it comes to party A and when it comes to Party B, you bend. That is the problem. So, the way to stop intolerance, thuggery, violence, is effective enforcement of relevant laws. If the police are professional, they are going to reduce it. Part of the threat analysis is that they must identify those areas that are prone to violence and proactively deal with those places so that those people will know that it will not be business as usual. Massive sensitisation of the public particularly youths on the dire consequences of the political thuggery will help. Disarmament starting from an amnesty of a few weeks for those who would voluntarily hand over illegal weapons will help as the number of illegal arms in circulation is at frightening levels in the country. Those numbers are sometimes even more than the official weapons in the hands of security agencies.
Some individuals have issued threats that campaigns would not be allowed in certain parts of the country; how should such issues be handled?
People making those comments should be invited to make statements and then the relevant laws will be explored. That is a threat to life. Because when you make such a comment, that no one can campaign in your domain, it means it’s a threat to life and threat to national security. Do you understand? The person should be charged and then arraigned. Also, there should be adequate deployment to areas that are believed to be hotspots. Once you see a red flag, such a comment is an indication of a red flag. You have to deploy sufficiently.
As the country prepares for electioneering, do you think there is a need for mopping up of firearms from non-state actors?
Firearms in the hands of non-state actors is one of the causes of the insecurity we have in our country. So any step taken to disarm those that shouldn’t be in possession of weapons should be a welcome development. And the first step is to declare amnesty for those with weapons, to submit them and that nothing will happen to them. And through community contact and community engagement, there should be a raid of suspected notorious places. The security agencies should be able to do this working with the various communities, informants, intelligence by the DSS and the police .