- Dr. Kelvin Meyeyin-Bala
Nigeria’s
response to increasing kidnap cases have predominantly been based on kinetic
initiatives-patrols, arrests, rescue operations, use of state &
community-based armed units. This paper sets to examine the extent to which the
present architecture of security in Ondo state, Nigeria, comprising both the
Nigeria police and the state-backed community based armed unit –Amotekun (the
Western Nigeria Security Network)- is institutionally equipped to effectively
respond to kidnapping as a human-security-scale problem, and not just a
law-and-order incident. Employing a convergent mixed-method design on three
local government areas in Ondo state-Akure North (Iju), Akoko south East (Isua)
and Akoko North East (Ikare Akoko), it used a survey instrument on 280
residents (93% response rate) and three Focus group discussion sessions with
community members and security agents. The study found out that despite 96%
awareness of the police and 85.4% attribution of credit for some
accomplishments to them, only 36.1% rated themes very effective to 38.2% who
described as not very effective, with 36% who said their responses were
unsatisfactory. Kidnapping was found to critically impair economic (stoppage of
local business, M=4.83) food (obstructed farming, M=4.73) health (pilgrimage of
healthcare providers away from locality, M=4.24) and transport (disrupted
movement of goods, M=4.67) security respectively. While qualitative evidence
has attributed better responsiveness and higher level of trust in Amotekun
compared to the conventional police, the forces still suffer from inadequate
vehicles, poor surveillance technologies, ineffective coordination with the
conventional police. Both forces were said to be institutionally designed as
kinetic and incident-driven which may not equip them to tackle a threat that is
predominantly economic, agricultural, medicinal and logistical. Suggestions are
hereby posited on development of an all-layer security-governance approach with
focus on kinetics linked with structural investment of rural economies and on
proper inter-agencies coordination.
Keywords: kidnapping, kinetic
security, effectiveness of law enforcement agencies, Amotekun, human security,
Ondo state, Nigeria, security governance.