By Adekola Afolabi & Jimoh Ahmed.

Security consultants and experts have urged the federal   government to change its approach and muscle the political will to tackle festering  insecurity in the country without minding whose ox is gored.

They equally asked the government to go beyond the recent call towards  declaring bandits as terrorists, noting that if this is done, it would give the security operatives the leeway to deal decisively with bandits terrorising the nation.

They explained that although giving the bandits a special name would not totally solve insecurity in the country, but would greatly assist the security operatives to take the war to their territories.

The Senate had recently recently passed a resolution calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare  bandits as terrorists and be treated as such.

Security experts who spoke in separate interviews with The Hope include;  the Ondo State Commandant, Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), Dr  Akinwumi Gideon; the retired Assistant Director, Internal Security, Department of State Services (DSS), Mr Adams Abu and the Managing Director, Kako Security, Prince Babalola Williams;

Others are : Acting Chairman of Police Community Relations Committee, Okeagbe Akoko Chapter,  Chief Olutayo Balogun and a retired Chief Superintendent of Police, Mr Sunday Aladewolu.

They submitted that branding bandits terrorists would help the federal government  apply the necessary sections of the Laws to deal with them and their financiers as they deal with terrorist group.

They expressed worries that government has not been paying serious attention to security threats in the country, causing it to fester and becoming octopus which is now difficult to deal with.

According to them, government must change its approach and be sincerely ready to tackle the problems of insecurity in the country without minding whose ox is gored.

They observed that the permanent solution to all problems of insecurity is in the hand of the federal government, noting that government knows what to do but lacks the courage to do it.

The security experts, while lauding the Senate for coming up with the resolution which they said was long overdue based on the high level of terrorism being perpetrated daily by the bandits in the country, also called on the President to listen to the voice of wisdom and the citizens in the country as a way of tackling the security challenges.

Prince Williams, a London trained security expert, said, “It is a welcome development, we have been expecting this for long. Nigeria of today is different from Nigeria of yesterday and if the federal government does not take firm decision the present state of insecurity will be getting worse and worse.

“So, the President should listen and make use of the resolution passed by the Senate and declare the bandits as terrorists. We, security experts are not happy with the banditry, kidnapping, killing and other criminal activities going on in  our country.

“If the bandits are declared terrorists it will enable the government to seriously deal with them. Some of the bandits will withdraw from the criminal activities”.

Also, Dr. Gideon, a USA trained security expert added that, “Giving them special name as terrorists cannot solve the problem. We have seen people that have been named terrorists before and that did not stop their activities

“The only solution is for the government to strategize and design a very good strategy to combat all these criminalities – banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and others. Government needs to sit down and call all the security chiefs, experts, intelligence, analysts and be ready to put an end to all these problems. It is achievable.

“So, declaring somebody as a terrorist without proffering solution to the problem will not change anything. It is not the name we call a group of people that matters, but the approach we employ to solve the problem that does the job”.

Mr Abu, who explained that it is time for us to deal with security challenges immediately they are identified, said the bandits have already taken over some forests as their territories where they operate from.

“If you look at these bandits, they use all the tools of terrorism to carry out their banditry. So, declaring them as terrorists would give the security operatives the leeway to deal with them the way they deal with terrorists.

” If they are declared as terrorists, their property can be confiscated, their financiers can be pursued, and there are so many other things that this will bring. It will enable the security agents to deal with them the way they should do”, he added.

A retired police officer, Mr Sunday Aladewolu  said that declaring bandits as terrorists will make fighting them a serious business.

Aladewolu, a former Chief Superintendent of Police, however calls on the federal government to be serious about fighting crime, including banditry, in the country.

The retired police officer wants security agents to be well equipped with the right arms and ammunition, vehicles and better incentive to boost their morale.

Equally, he called on the central government to see the need to partner state governments on security issues and not to fight them whenever they make the move to combat crime in their domains.

Aladewolu cited the example of the Amotekun Security Network which he said  has made a tremendous acchievment in crime control, especially in Ondo State.

On his own, Acting Chairman of Police Community Relations Committee, Okeagbe Akoko Chapter,  Chief Olutayo Balogun demanded for a committed approach to fighting security challenges in the country.

Chief Balogun  said the declaration of bandits as terrorists  does not change how the criminals operate.

He  maintained that declaring bandits will not change the status quo, hence he called on the federal government to see banditry or whatever name it may be called as a serious threat to the peace of the people.

The PCRC Chairman said  there is the need to fight the    so-called bandits with all seriousness as treating them with kid gloves will make them snowball to insurgents which  will eventually start another tumultous war.