Experts have said that the declaration of bandits and the Indigenous People of Biafra as terrorists has not reduced the level of insecurity in Nigeria.
These security experts who spoke during a security roundtable organised by the Centre for Peace and Development Studies of Veritas University in collaboration with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation for West Africa also called on the Federal Government to embrace good governance and justice.
The roundtable was based on the theme, ‘Interrogating criminal label and the scourge of insecurity in contemporary Nigeria’.
While presenting his paper, a lecturer in the Department of Defence and Security Studies, at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Dr Adejo Sunday said, “The declaration of Boko Haram and IPOB as terrorist organisations has not in any way addressed the insecurity in Nigeria. The activities of Fulani herdsmen and bandits are worst trends in Nigeria’s security history.”
“Regardless of the increase in labelling, there seems not to be any tangible improvement in the security of the Nigerian state. It is important to note that the increasing rate of crime and criminality in Nigeria has not only worsened the pace of insecurity.
He, therefore, urged the authority to “demonstrate some level of unbias in the process of labelling, as good governance and justice remain the policy option in addressing issues related to criminal labelling.”
On his part, another lecturer from the Department of Political Science, University of Calabar, Dr Obi Neji, said a situation where the authority is quick in ascribing labels to certain groups, while acting with sustained restraint in ascribing the same levels for same tendencies by others, has only fuelled suspicion and sustained insecurity.
