Beyond affirmation of the dreadful state of security, last Monday’s kidnap and subsequent release of Chief Samuel Oluyemisi Falae by individuals thought to be Fulani herdsmen exploited fissures in nationhood triggered by the immediate past government of Goodluck Jonathan. While the country yet grapples with the hangover from a divisive 2015 election campaign by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the last thing the system needed was the seizure of a distinguished political figure by a deviant group known to have caused havoc around the country.
Falae, a former presidential candidate of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) and chieftain of pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, was abducted from his farm in Ilado village, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State on his 77th birthday. He regained freedom late on Wednesday, four days after his disappearance.
According to witnesses, 20 suspects who may have acted as proxies made the rude anniversary call. The gun-wielding crooks assaulted some of the 200 workers and their principal with machetes before taking off with their obvious target.
Born on September 21, 1938, in Akure, Ondo State, Falae attended Igbobi College and Government College, Ibadan, as well as the University of Ibadan (where he was politically active) and Yale University in the United States. Following stints in the private and public sectors, the economist took up appointment as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SSG) between 1986 and 1990.
His time in office coincided with the government’s adoption of the unpopular Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). He also served as the Minister of Finance in the military regime of Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) before joining the democratic transition programme.
When IBB banned ‘old breed’ politicians, Falae became the preferred candidate for followers of the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, and progressives within the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He contested the SDP presidential candidate post and seemed set to lose to Shehu Musa Yar’Adua before the elections were cancelled. Thereafter, he threw his support and organisation behind MKO Abiola’s presidential ambition.
Following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 polls and emergence of the military government of Gen. Sani Abacha, Falae became a prominent member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) that fought for the restoration of democracy. Arrested and detained by the military government, he was released in June 1998 after Abacha’s death.
Falae contested the 1999 presidential elections on the joint platform of the AD and the All People’s Party (APP) against PDP presidential candidate Olusegun Obasanjo without success. He swept the South West but failed to garner significant support elsewhere.
He lived in semi-retirement as a large scale farmer and traditional ruler of Ilu Abo until the rude interruption. As confirmed by the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Wole Ogodo, a history of confrontations existed between the chieftain and herdsmen over the latter’s constant encroachment on his property to graze cattle.
Disturbed by the incident, President Muhammadu Buhari directed Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, and other security agencies to ensure a safe and speedy rescue. Through his spokesman, Femi Adesina, the president denounced the spate of abduction in the country and condemned the “callous and reprehensible kidnapping of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and elder statesman”.
Falae’s ordeal once more questions the crime-fighting credentials of the Nigeria police. The IG may sustain his predecessor’s policy of eradicating road block and improving the police’s battered image, but reform remains daunting. Despite official censure and calls for community policing, some would rather play renegade cop, mounting and dismantling checkpoints while denizens terrorise innocent citizens behind them.
Decades of underfunding and corrupt practices reflect in poor equipment, inadequate training and deplorable welfare. Thus, policemen are sometimes reduced to observers or supervisors in the payment of ransom for victims, including hapless colleagues.
Far from being the first high-profile case in the country as the long list of abductees parades industrialists, politicians, lawyers, journalists and other professionals, the latest episode rankles nonetheless. Kidnappers seemed to have a field day in the build-up, increasing in measure the worth of their quarry. For the famous victim, the Ilado suspects tendered a valuation of N100 million and only shaved N10 million off when concerned family members offered N2 million during Monday night negotiations.
Considering the emotional outburst that trailed the kidnap, the most dispassionate analyst will labour to separate fact from sentiment and politics from justice. The All Progressives Congress (APC), through its state chairman, Isaac Kekemeke, considered the act “an (one) insult too many for our people to bear, as this same set of people violates the farmstead of our people unchecked and even our highways without control”.
Rallying support for a prominent colleague, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) South West Zone (Agbekoya) issued a 24-hour ultimatum before mobilising a search party. The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) extended the countdown. Its founder, Frederick Fasehun, described the offenders as “enemies of Nigeria’s unity” and carpeted the Federal Government for not reacting within 24 hours while directing members to join in the search for the septuagenarian.
Praying for an early and safe return, the Ondo State Council of Obas, chaired by Oba Victor Kiladejo, appealed for calm and cooperation with the authorities.
Yet, the scenario was always likely. As long as the police, a critical component of internal security, devoted half of its estimated 300, 000 personnel to the protection of top politicians and society bigwigs in a country of 170 million as recently alleged by the IG, security agents would be outnumbered and possibly outgunned.
In the aftermath, the phrase ‘one too many’ has taken on renewed connotation. Before kidnapping becomes fashionable and acts of brigandage assume ethnic colouration with regularity, the authorities must find a way to contain a crime that some ascribe to economic inequality and the celebration of quick, unexplained sources of wealth.
Olu Falae may yet be the catalyst for improved security services, considering President Buhari’s vow through his spokesman that Nigerians “will no longer be left at the mercy of criminal elements”. It is all that the ordinary citizen can hope for in dread of the next alarm.
No comments:
Post a Comment