Terrorists Shifting To South-West – Ex-DSS Director

A former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, has said the failure to establish state police remains a major hindrance to the fight against terrorism, kidnapping and other security threats in the country.

Naija News reports that Ejiofor said local security forces would better understand the terrain, languages and community dynamics needed to combat criminals effectively.

He stated this in an interview with Vanguard, while reacting to the rising wave of insecurity, especially in the South-West.

The former DSS director dismissed claims that the upsurge in attacks was caused by intelligence failure.

According to him, intelligence may be available, but action agencies often lack the equipment, funding and manpower to act swiftly.

Ejiofor said, “I wouldn’t say it’s an intelligence failure. I have always maintained that even when intelligence is provided, the action agencies may lack the capacity to act, not through any fault of their own, but because they are ill-equipped, underfunded, and understaffed.

“All these factors create the appearance that security agencies are not working, but they are.”

Ejiofor cited the conviction of suspects linked to the Owo attack as evidence that intelligence gathering was still active.

“You saw the conviction of the Owo suspects, that was due to good intelligence, even though the incident happened in 2022; they were traced and arrested,” he added.

‘Security Failure Means Collective Failure’

Ejiofor said if Nigerians concluded that security had failed, then the failure should not be blamed on security agencies alone.

He said, “If they say security has failed, that means all of us have failed.

“Government is primarily responsible for the welfare and security of citizens, but people must also contribute by supporting security agencies.”

He said the first line of defence remained the people, adding that citizens must provide support and credible information to security agencies.

Ejiofor said the absence of state police was one of the biggest weaknesses in Nigeria’s security architecture.

He noted that major stakeholders, including state governments, the Federal Government and the National Assembly, had agreed in principle on state police, but implementation had stalled.

Ejifor further stated, “Establishing state police is one of the surest and fastest ways to check this menace.

“State forces would be drawn from local communities, know the terrain, and work in collaboration with the federal police. They would increase manpower and be better equipped.”

He added that vigilante groups could not effectively confront heavily armed criminals.

“Vigilante groups lack sophisticated weapons and cannot confront marauders who possess prohibited firearms,” he said.

‘Terrorists Dhifting South’

On the growing security threat in the South-West, Ejiofor said terrorist activity had shifted geographically because of pressure from security operations in the North.

“It began in the North-East, and when pressure increased there, they relocated to the North-West, and now they are moving South, concentrating on the South-West, which has a larger concentration of Muslims than the South-South or South-East,” he said.

He clarified that he was not saying the South-West was predominantly Muslim, but that it had a larger Muslim population than the South-East and South-South.

“They aim to instil fear. Beheading or abducting people is meant to terrorise the population; that is the core of terrorism, and to discredit the government,” he added.

Ejiofor said Nigeria must address poor funding, inadequate training, insufficient personnel and weak welfare in the security sector.

He insisted that state police would help address local security problems more effectively.

“What is the current strength of the Nigerian police? Most importantly, we need state police to man localities. These problems are local, and the solutions must be local,” he said.

‘Police Lack Local Knowledge’

The security expert said the current policing structure often sends officers to areas where they do not understand the language, culture or terrain.

He said such officers are sometimes transferred again before they become familiar with the environment.

Ejifor added, “I don’t see why state police cannot be established immediately; that is a major step in checking this menace.

“The Nigerian Police Force is not well equipped in many respects. Officers are posted to areas they don’t know, lacking language skills and cultural familiarity, and are transferred again before they learn the terrain.”