To win the war against terrorism and bring the 13-year-old Islamist insurgency and banditry to a close, uprooting traitors and cleansing the security agencies of betrayers should be a major plank of the strategy. According to the National Security Tracker run by the Council on Foreign Relations, between January 1 and May 15, this year, criminals killed 323 security agents across the country. The victims included soldiers, police officers, and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Nigeria Correctional Service. For a country fighting insurgency and various forms of criminality on all fronts, the avoidable loss of its security personnel should not be allowed to continue. Other security agencies too should look inwards and root out fifth columnists in their ranks, including the SSS and the police.

Source: Punch May 25, 2022 15:25 UTC