By Paul Onomuakpokpo
It is far from reprieve for the citizens as the country lurches
from one dismal failure to another. While they are still choking under the
weight of an economic recession, their miserable existence has been further
blighted by worsening insecurity.
Of course, it is not
for nothing that the citizens loathe the country’s security agencies. It is
just a way of their expressing their outrage at the incapability of the
security operatives to deliver on their mandate of protecting life and
property.
But in some rare
moments when the security operatives exude flashes of professional brilliance
and depart from the path of turning their guns on the citizens, they often get
well-deserved accolades. This is why the police who have succeeded in smashing
the kidnap syndicate led by Evans in Lagos
have rightly been lauded for their courage and professionalism.
Yet, the praise is
subdued. It is drowned in the phalanx of posers their success has triggered.
Why did it take so long to get him? Why are kidnappers still on the prowl? And
why are the pupils of the Lagos
State Model
College , Igbonla, Epe,
still being held in captivity over 40 days after their abduction?
These are questions
that the security operatives are not likely to provide answers to soon. In
other words, the citizens are still haunted by insecurity. This is despite that
even soldiers have been heavily deployed on the streets to boost security. The
House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara who was recently alarmed by this
heavy deployment declared that the country was under a state of emergency in
peace time. In fact, the citizens have lost confidence in the ability of the
security operatives to protect them.