"How to Stop Mass Kidnapping in Nigeria": Legal Expert
Binzak Azeez, a legal practitioner, has called for the decentralisation of the police to tackle the growing insecurity across Nigeria. Azeez made the call while speaking with Legit.ng in an exclusive interview.
According to the legal practitioner, the root cause of insecurity is mainly unemployment. He stressed that there are many idle youths in the country who were recruited into the business of kidnapping and banditry across the northern region of Nigeria.
Source: Facebook
Azeez was speaking on the background of the recent rise in banditry activities in some parts of the country. States like Kwara, Kebbi, Kogi and Niger recently experienced a spike in the kidnapping of school children and worshippers at their religious venues.
The development has led to widespread outrage from Nigerians and condemnation of the government for not doing enough to protect lives and property in the West African country.
The lawyer said:
"There are numerous factors responsible for the renewed mass abduction. The genesis of the abduction can't be disconnected from the rise in the level of young, able-bodied men who are roaming the streets without any form of education and vision over the years. The failure of the successive governments has been responsible for this menace.
"These youths can be recruited to execute any agenda. There is a popular saying that an idle mind is a devil's workshop. In my assessment, the young people who are carrying out the current mass abduction are working for some powerful persons in the country, and a large number of these youths are jobless and without any purposeful living.
"The present security architecture of the country, which has received more attention, should also be redesigned. The overconcentration of power in the hands of the president is not helping in the fight against abduction and insecurity generally. The state government, through the local government, should be constitutionally empowered to maintain security in their respective state. This reform will put the state governments on their toes to guarantee security and to further effectively hamper security saboteurs in each state, as the state government will be directly responsible for security. With this security arrangement, no state can further hide under the Federal Government shield."
Source: Legit.ng
