Punch Editorial
IBARAPA, widely known as the food basket of Oyo State, is fast becoming synonymous with violence and butchery. The recurring bloodshed there is frightening. And there is a justifiable current of anger in the area.
In the latest vicious attack, four defenceless persons, including a commander of the Amotekun corps, were killed in cold blood a few days before the Eid el-Kabir festivities. Several other people sustained injuries. Initially, the deadly night raid in the Igangan, Ayete, and Igbo-Ora communities was wrongly blamed on Fulani herdsmen invaders, but it is now clear that Nigeria Customs Service officers carried out the attack.
It matters little whether it is herdsmen, who have a contemporary history of heinous crimes or the insufferable Customs officers on the rampage, blood is flowing and staining Ibarapa Land all the same. This reinforces the pervasive bloodshed bedevilling the Nigerian state under the floundering Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) regime.
In that part of Oyo State, two ominous patterns of bloodshed are emerging. Both are an embarrassment to the administration of the Governor, Seyi Makinde. In the first, non-state actors attack the Ibarapa communities with devastating results. On the other hand, state actors, emboldened by officialdom, kill and injure the people without any consequences or reprimand from the government. That is official lawlessness.
First, to the state actors: on the pretext of apprehending rice/car smugglers, Customs officers have gone wild in Ibarapa and elsewhere. The officers stormed Igangan during the Ramadan festivities last May. As usual, the NCS claimed its officers were attacked while they were chasing smugglers. After the dust settled, five residents had lost their lives, with many injured. Unlike the latest invasion, that raid in May occurred in broad daylight. Better put, this is state terrorism.
That scenario is sinister: the NCS is becoming more arrogant in law enforcement because, under the Buhari regime, the security agencies sidestep the rules of engagement and rule of law without any consequences. This ought not to be in a democratic milieu.
Indeed, the crux of the matter is that the Customs, under its current Comptroller-General, Hameed Ali, has failed woefully. Instead of stopping smuggling at the borders, it resorts to ruthless operations in the hinterland. This has gone on for too long. It should stop.
It has happened on occasions in different parts of the South-West, especially in Imeko and Yewa in Ogun State. Customs officers regularly invade markets in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states, sometimes in the dead of the night. It should stop, primarily because it is a barbaric way to curb smuggling. The Ali-led NCS should recognise that life is worth far more than all the smuggled rice it is killing for and destroying livelihoods for.
Ordinarily, the police are tasked with internal security operations. On the other hand, the task of the Customs should be to facilitate trade, not to kill in the hinterland. In the European Union, technology is the main instrument deployed in achieving this goal. Since 2015, the European Commission’s Taxation and Customs Union has implemented a series of rules, including the Mini One Stop Shop (2015) and the VAT e-commerce package (2017) to complement business and simplify revenue generation among member states. Therefore, the NCS’s forceful breaches during hinterland operations point to a complete breakdown of Nigeria’s security system. Buhari should address this anomaly sensibly, stop Ali’s killer-Customs from more bloodshed in the name of interdicting smugglers and restrict them to border operations.
Apart from the Customs-inflicted state terror, Ibarapa is contending with entrenched non-state actors that the killer herdsmen represent. They start by destroying crops on farmland with their herds, followed by kidnapping for ransom, burning of houses, rape and killings. Despite a state law that prohibits open grazing in Oyo, the herders break the law with impunity. Last June, they attacked Igangan, killing 18 people. They burnt down houses, including the palace of Asigangan, the town’s traditional ruler. In January 2020, gunmen suspected to be herdsmen had murdered Fatai ‘Oko Oloyun’ Yusuf, a popular herbal medicine manufacturer who had just established an agricultural venture in the Ibarapa area. Not long after, the herdsmen abducted a young couple that had a large farm investment in Ibarapa. They slaughtered the man and released the woman after the part payment of the N50 million ransom. This is double jeopardy. The Global Terrorism Index ranks the Fulani herdsmen as the fourth deadliest terror group in the world. They should be treated as such.
Therefore, the breaches should be tackled on all fronts. For Makinde, Oyo State should strengthen its local intelligence-gathering operations. In the last attack, the residents complained that the information and calls to the security agencies were not utilised. Oyo State is bearing the brunt; it should avoid this scenario again. Information and tips should be acted upon. As the chief security officer of the state, Makinde should equip Amotekun with the right tech gadgets to be able to monitor the area. Oyo State should acquire drones to monitor the hot spots in the state.
Buhari should stop condoning the excesses of the NCS. The President should compel the Customs to respect the sanctity of human life in its operations.