By Okechukwu Nwanguma…
Those gunmen- whether known or unknown- attacking Police Stations and terrorising the cities are evil and need to be contained. Their sponsors are enemies of humanity and must be identified and dealt with legally.
Those hailing and celebrating the gunmen attacking Police Stations and killing Police officers are misguided and must realise that they are encouraging criminality.
Those security agents firing recklessly after gunmen have disappeared and killing innocent people are escalating insecurity and deepening public resentment for security agencies.
Those trivialising and rationalising the unjustifiable shootings and killing of innocent people are attracting curses to themselves.
Heads of security agencies giving reckless and dangerous directives to their personnel to ignore the rules of engagement are also to be held responsible for the escalation of violence.
Security agencies cannot succeed in their mandate without community trust and cooperation. They must begin to explore avenues of winning back public trust, respect and cooperation. Killing innocent people- even if they are cheering criminals- further deepens the divide.
All stakeholders must work together to design and collectively implement workable solutions to insecurity.
Nwanguma, the executive director of RULAAC, is a human rights activist.