http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/viewpoints/vp209052005.html
Imperative of an anti-terrorism agency By Sunny Moneke Posted to the Web: Monday, May 09, 2005 Sorry, your browser does not support floating frames Nigeria needs to urgently create a specialised squad to fight the terrorist scourge TERRORISM is unarguably one of the biggest threats to life and property in our contemporary world. The most significant dangers are those relating to the safety, welfare and rights of ordinary people, the stability of the state system, the health and pace of economic development and the expansion or even the survival of democracy. The USA Department of Defence looks at terrorism as the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to inculcate fear, intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies as to the pursuits of goals that are generally political, religious or ideological. In other words, it is the intentional generation of massive fear by human beings for the purpose of securing or maintaining control over other human beings. Terrorists do not fight on the battlefield. Rather terrorism is on our streets and in our homes. It therefore poses a greater threat than anything we have faced in the past. Terrorists now use aircrafts as smart bombs to destroy buildings, and human suicide bombers to kill and mutilate the innocent. These acts of terrorist violence often result in brutal killings, colossal damage to property and general carnage. The events of September 11, 2001, in which four civilian aircrafts were hijacked by terrorists, and three of these aircrafts were crashed into buildings in New York City and Washington, DC killing approximately 3,000 persons at either the world Trade Centre or the Pentagon will ever remain indelible in our psyche. Frightening past The enormity and the sheer scale of the simultaneous suicide attacks eclipsed anything previously seen in terrorism. The terrorist organizations that perpetrate these unprecedented horror against man kind have come under different shades - the most prominent being the Al-Queda Worldwide network led by Bin Laden and believed to be responsible for the September 11 holocaust in the USA. There are others like the Abu Sayyad Group (ASG) in the Philippines, Breton Liberation Army (ARB) in France, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Islamic Resistance Movement in Pakistan, Jaish- E- Mohammed in India and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). There is also the Aum Supreme Truth (AUM) of Japan, Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA of Spain, the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda and a host of others. It is no longer news that terrorism is not only on the increase, but it has also increased in brutality, producing even more casualties of which Nigeria is not spared too. As a result, the response of many countries has been to increase their defences against world terrorism to the point where aggressive operations such as those seen in Afghanistan and Iraq take the fight to the enemy and the states and countries supporting terrorism. If one is to peruse through records, especially after the World Trade Centre even in New York, series of bombing, hostage taking and suicide missions are still occurring in quick succession. Remember the Bali bombing; the Madrid episode; hostage taking in Russia and the happenings in Iraq. It is a global matter that requires serious global attention. In Nigeria like in other countries it takes different forms and their modus operandi differ - ethnic militias are on the prowl, political assassins are having a field day as cult activities take centre stage in our institutions of higher learning. In 1986, a renowned journalist, Dele Giwa, was killed through a letter bomb, which up till today has not been traced. It is now common knowledge that sophisticated weapons are being brandished and deployed by terrorists to shed blood and maim lives in the country. What about the emergence of the Asari Dokubos and the Atekes of the Niger Delta Region who held the country to ransom for sometime and threatened to blow up oil formations? What about the Talibans who torment people in the North Eastern geo- political Zone particularly in Borno and Adamawa states? What about the bombing of the Government House in Awka in Anambra State while the police watched helplessly as the hoodlums ransacked and destroyed public property? What of the blowing up of the Jos ultra modern market in the wake of the Plateau crisis? There is the unfortunate menace of the Cameroonians Gerdames on Nigerian waters. It is time the authorities in this country rise up to their responsibilities and handle this issue with the seriousness it deserves. Nigeria therefore needs to develop a combat terrorism programme through an agency for neutralizing terrorist groups. Neutralization in this context requires rendering the source of threat powerless or incapacitated. It means putting into place an autonomous body outside of the police, SSS, NIA, Military Intelligence etc. Urgent need Nigeria needs a custom built, multi-pronged agency to fight this enemy of man so that it does not blossom in the country. Such an agency should be given statutory powers to confront terrorism head-on and it should be manned by core professionals. If an agency of this nature is given the necessary support by the government, it will produce results like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). We need an anti-terrorist agency that would have the powers to oversee and protect the society, to ensure that terrorists are brought to justice. This has become imperative because the police is already saddled with the colossal responsibility of dealing with civil unrests, maintaining law and order, law enforcement, arrest and prosecution. So the additional task of handling efficiently, issues bordering on terror becomes quite Herculean. The prevalence of civil unrests and the rising wave of armed robbery and crime in our nation has over-stretched the capabilities of the force and hence the need to set up a complementary institution to handle this all-important war. Of course the anti-bomb squad unit of the Nigeria Police could be absorbed into this agency. The government should not forget the fact that countries all over the world are desperately setting up their counter terrorist units, and the already existing ones are improving their capabilities through both intelligence agencies and their counter terrorist teams. Most countries now possess some specialist teams capable of defeating terrorist organizations when the need arises. For example, Britain parades the pride of its SAS team in fighting this cause while the United States of America is proud of its Delta Force and so it is in other countries like Israel. Our government must realize that terrorism is different in many respects from other crimes such as murder, rape, and robbery, which the police fight tooth and nail to combat daily. It is more calculated, more premeditated and more goal-oriented than impulsive crimes or crimes of passion. Therefore, in this era when arms and ammunition are being surreptiously shipped into the country, it is apt to think ahead. An anti-terrorism agency is long over due in Nigeria and the earlier we create one the better, for a stitch in time saves nine. ------------------------ Yahoo! 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