Google Speech-to-Text API Automatic Transcription (Chirp). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00increment of salaries of our military uh from 30%
00:00:04to 80% depending on the level, and of course the good news
00:00:07about the rescue of over 300 persons inquire and other
00:00:11places, we bring you that detail with our next guest, stay with
00:00:14us!
00:00:24of
00:01:28of
00:01:32of
00:01:37of of Welcome back to the program.
00:01:41Let's uh get to
00:01:42of talk security. We are joined this hour by a group
00:01:44captain. retired is private security sector reform
00:01:48consultant and
00:01:49of CEO, conflict security and
00:01:53development consul. Thank you indeed group captain for
00:01:56agreeing to talk to us. Just
00:01:58a moment Group captain. Let's take a listen to the commissioner for communications
00:02:02in quara states on the release
00:02:05of uh the victims who were kidnapped the residents who were
00:02:09kidnapped in that states since
00:02:11February.
00:02:15First and foremost we want to say big thank
00:02:18of you to his excellency the President of Federal Republic of
00:02:21Nigeria President Bolamed Tinubu and the Nigerian
00:02:25military for the part they played in
00:02:28our victims. gaining their freedom, we also want to
00:02:32say huge thank
00:02:34in you to the executive governor of Karara state, malam
00:02:37Abdullahman Abdul Razzaq, he has been working tiredlessly behind the
00:02:41scenes to make sure all the world victims regain their
00:02:45freedom. It's been a whole lot, but as
00:02:49we have
00:02:49been saying, all hope was never lost,
00:02:53because we have been working and
00:02:55of because it's a security issue, there's no how we would have come to tell the
00:02:59public how... and what we are doing to release our
00:03:03kidnapped victims. i know lot of
00:03:06details, we cannot tell you the exact number now, we are waiting
00:03:10further um details from the Nigerian
00:03:13military, because they regain their freedom and they are
00:03:17presently with at the military base. once we have more details
00:03:21we will definitely share with the public, but we are
00:03:25grateful for this, it's a huge relief, especially to the
00:03:28kurara state government. Well
00:03:32that's bola Olukojo, she is the commissioner for communication
00:03:36inquire states uh speaking there on uh those
00:03:40victims regaining freedom, the choice of words group
00:03:43captain, I heard very clearly trying to
00:03:47release, trying to ensure they regain their
00:03:50freedom and there's
00:03:52of a debate as to rescue or release uh
00:03:56of of when when victims like this regain their freedom while this looks.
00:04:00in cheering news to many Nigerians because the these victims inqua state
00:04:04precisely have been in
00:04:05of captivity since February, six months and maybe four
00:04:08days or there about plus uh group captain, I'm just wondering
00:04:12perhaps if if you have some sort of insider information as to uh
00:04:16this chering news from Kwara states
00:04:20uh, well thank you very much, first I will say whenever we heard that people that have
00:04:24been kidnapped have been released through whatever means and they
00:04:28are
00:04:28in a healthy and conditions, it is something to celebrate.
00:04:32I do not have any insider information, but as somebody
00:04:36who has been myself involved in hostage rescue
00:04:40operation, I may talk
00:04:41of from a general principle. you see what people normally mistake is
00:04:45that when they say rescue uh kidnap people, it has
00:04:49to do with kinetic operation or fight and shoot and bring them
00:04:52of
00:04:53of even for the most
00:04:54of advanced cost rescue units, which we don't have in Nigeria, here I'm
00:04:58taking like the French.
00:05:03These are some
00:05:04of the highly trained, highly recognized hostage rescue
00:05:07me units, even for them negotiation is the
00:05:11first option that they're always follow why? because
00:05:15to be honest
00:05:16with you, even the most trained such units cannot assure you that if
00:05:19we storm the area, we can bring back those people alive, including the
00:05:23victims, including the the kidnappers, so the first option for
00:05:27any hostage rescue operation is negotiation. now negotiation
00:05:31does not necessarily me concession, it does not necessarily, but it may include paying
00:05:35of ramsom, but not necessarily so, negotiation also does not
00:05:39mean that immediately release this, "we are looking about
00:05:43how many days have these people spent there along this, so definitely it tells you
00:05:47that they must have been receiving food, they must have been receiving medicine, so sometimes
00:05:51negotiation is even to allow uh life sustaining
00:05:54material to be delivered to the people, there may be children, there may be
00:05:58women, there may be sick people, there may be pregnant women, so
00:06:02negotiation might even allow us a corridor to deliver
00:06:05medicines, to deliver food while we continue talking what is the terms of
00:06:09release, so to me uh as as a profession" what is
00:06:13important is the release and if you can get released without firing a
00:06:16bullet, think it is very fantastic. the only thing is
00:06:20that we have to say payment of ransom that is inst of cash or
00:06:24to make some political concessions or to say that some people
00:06:28may be released from prison, of course it has its negative side, but what i want to
00:06:32disabuse people's mind, and again here even talk to my military people, if
00:06:36you obtained the release of this firing a bullet to do
00:06:39negotiation, in fact that is the highest form of. success, so
00:06:43it is not something, if that's what happened for the military or security forces,
00:06:47there are many security forces that involved to come and say we negotiated, in
00:06:51fact in every host rescue unit you have specially trained
00:06:54negotiators, they use psychology, they use
00:06:58you know human senses, they use everything, the important
00:07:02thing is to get the victims released healthy and in good
00:07:06condition, that is what i want people to understand, it's a developing story
00:07:10group, captain sh, we can see p shows there for our viewers as well
00:07:14uh from uh those were rescued or released in in
00:07:18kara state we here about the about 38 for quara
00:07:22and niger states
00:07:23but group captain the argument is that why is it so
00:07:26easy perhaps maybe some would say easy or easier
00:07:30to um rescue or release victims in
00:07:33this uh part of nigeria in oro state for instance
00:07:3756 days people were in captivity puples and teachers eventually
00:07:41there would be rescue. and regain their freedom, now quara
00:07:45state as well, niger states w kara precisely, um, we are
00:07:49those who say what's the are those who have been kidnapped in northern
00:07:52Nigeria for more than one
00:07:54year, um, goza, we here in b state
00:07:58as well, mass kidnappings as well, so
00:08:02is there something that makes the kidnappings in the north a bit different from the
00:08:06south that gain some where we see successes
00:08:09recorded a bit faster in the southern? region as
00:08:13compared to the northern region?
00:08:17yes, i've heard people are making that comparison, and again i'll talk from
00:08:20general principle, what makes a rescue operation
00:08:24of hostages either easier or faster are certain
00:08:28factors? factors like for example, what do do we know
00:08:32where the hostages have been taken to? that is the first
00:08:35geolocating where the hostages are, if we know that, are
00:08:39they an open area or
00:08:41an enclosed space? "it is always difficult, it is more difficult to
00:08:45rescue people that are put into a forest, not an enclosed place than to rescue
00:08:49people that have been taken
00:08:50to into a house for example, so these are the different aspects we have to look
00:08:54at, when you know the exact location like in this aspect, we know that the nearest
00:08:57bush that they could enter is that kng park, so what does it
00:09:01mean? since the they have disappeared, they must have entered that kaingi park, now if the
00:09:05military or security forces can be able to block the exits and entrances
00:09:09there then the hostages are in, mean
00:09:11the the kidnap." are a fix first they cannot go out, they cannot come
00:09:15out, they cannot receive supplies of food and medicine, because they
00:09:19to apart from the hostages,
00:09:21the to they need survival, they need somebody to deliver food for them, so once you
00:09:24can locate them and block all these exits, then the the hostage,
00:09:28mean the the hostage rescuers, they have an advantage, because now you are putting
00:09:32them with their back to the wall, they have to do some negotiation,
00:09:36whereas in other areas, for example in zampara or in uh
00:09:40or in uh burno much as don't want to admit it, there are places
00:09:44that are not accessible, so if the sees people and enter those places,
00:09:48first you don't even know where they are, so this i think to
00:09:51me, more than bring any political connotation to differences, i
00:09:55think is the terrain, is the modus operandi that will determine
00:09:59whether the people that are rescuing have an advantage or not, if they
00:10:03take them to a wild area with and you are not able to know the place
00:10:06then definitely the the kidnappers have an advantage because first is
00:10:10localizing and localizing have you surrounded the place, up to
00:10:14now in the in the northeast we have places that are not accessible, that is honest
00:10:17truth. captain, let ask you questions that
00:10:21I've always raised, so when you look at the numbers, that are
00:10:25in the red, it always points to the north,
00:10:28sadly multidimensional poverty or poverty
00:10:32itself, out of school children,
00:10:36insecurity, and we can go on and on, and then let's stay with
00:10:39insecurity, for instance, the 19 northern states,
00:10:43do you think they are angry enough to be able to
00:10:47stop in collaboration with the federal government, this mass
00:10:50abductions and killings, or there is an interplay of cul
00:10:55and religion that makes it difficult for them to stand up
00:10:59and say enough is enough, because our people in the
00:11:03north are getting killed every other day, getting kidnapped every
00:11:07other day, the government do their own bits, not enough, but there's an
00:11:10effort, so let's talk about
00:11:13the the elites in the north, the governments the north,
00:11:17are they really showing that they are serious about national
00:11:21insecurity as it pertains to northern Nigeria?
00:11:26Well, I will agree with some the socio economic indices that you highlighted.
00:11:30These are things that I know either from NBS reports or even from reports
00:11:34from uh UNDP and the rest. However, I think it will not be
00:11:37fair even assume or speculate that the people in the
00:11:41north or rather the elite are not uh are not
00:11:45angry or are not bedevilled by this kind of security
00:11:48situations. Again when you say the elite from as we do now, if
00:11:52you talk the late brigadier. was kill Rabe, you cannot
00:11:56say but Rab is not part the elite, if you talk the
00:11:59former director general
00:12:03of nysc, general that was taking you, so the point I'm
00:12:07making profile uh high profile traditional
00:12:10rulers, politicians have been kidnapped, so it is really not even the problem
00:12:14the downtoading, so when you say the elite, the elite are not even spared, however
00:12:18if you say that there is more than can be done, I can agree, but uh for
00:12:22anybody who is responsible person. either as a leader either as
00:12:26a parent to say that he's not concerned about insecurity about
00:12:29kidnapping, i think that will be stretching is
00:12:32bit a bit wide, so that is just what i have to see,
00:12:36so let's talk about the remuneration, the great news that came
00:12:40through, the president increasing the salaries
00:12:43of officers, i think from col and above
00:12:47or generals and brigader general about
00:12:5030%, and then just beneath that is about 50%, and then the
00:12:54lower kid is about 80% and then we also have the
00:12:57president expanding the divisions from eight to now with
00:13:01additional for that's 12 so we're seeing
00:13:04you know attempt to bring security closer to the people in terms
00:13:08of response time we're also seeing better motivation from
00:13:11this latest move how do you think this will impact
00:13:15in the immediate term because implementation is another
00:13:19kettle of fish thank
00:13:23you very much first I must say It is very welcome decision by the president and the
00:13:27federal government to increase the salary
00:13:29you know of military servicemen. We
00:13:33cannot continually ask service men and women to undertake dangerous,
00:13:37disruptive and demanting duties across the country while allowing their
00:13:40remuneration to fall seriously behind economic
00:13:43realities. And in most countries, not only in Nigeria, the
00:13:47military remuneration is not ordinary public service remuneration.
00:13:51Why is it so? Military personnel accept restrictions on past.
00:13:55freedom, mobility, outside employment and ultimately exposure to
00:13:59injury and death. i have met soldiers that have served in the frontline for three to four years
00:14:03away from their family. some have even suffered apart from financial
00:14:06losses, some have even suffered the fact that their family l is disrupted
00:14:10because they are absent from the reason. so i like this idea, it's a very
00:14:14welcome, especially also, must praise the that the highest
00:14:18percentage goes to the lowest ranks, that's 80% the lower,
00:14:2150% in the middle and 30% at general officer level. that is
00:14:25defensible policy because this percentage increase applied uniformly
00:14:28otherwise can disproportionately benefit those already earning the most that is the
00:14:32generus so I particularly comment the graduated approach
00:14:36and uh you know why I you ask also whether this will
00:14:40immediately you know uh uh be implemented again
00:14:43a very good warning because sometimes in Nigeria we announce something and it is not
00:14:47done the first problem the government is going to encounter is that they have given a
00:14:51September
00:14:52you know start date of this thing please the soldiers. are looking to see that thing reflected
00:14:56in their September P. once you meet that September date, now you have started talking
00:15:00of areas and we know from a argument with teachers,
00:15:04argument with medical workers in Nigeria, once areas start
00:15:08filing then you are going to have a problem, so we hope the president will
00:15:11ensure and has made adequate financial
00:15:14you know provisions that will ensure that those salaries are paid as
00:15:18the date, the soldiers are living in peny, apart from saying that
00:15:22I must also call on the federal government and the authority. to protect this
00:15:26increase, what do mean by protected? protected by making sure that it is
00:15:30uh, it is something that is continuous, protected by making sure that
00:15:34when you pay a soldier or genior officer salary, he does take
00:15:37from that salary to buy things that he needs for operation, things like uniform,
00:15:41things like medical care for him and his family, things like uh food
00:15:45ration. when i joined the military in 1984, when a soldier is on duty, there's
00:15:49a truck that used to go and give him food, i don't that is no longer there, i think if
00:15:53ask modern soldiers they don't even know what is called mestin, there is no soldier that didn't have
00:15:57mestine in those days, all you wait for the truck is to come and give you, now we have
00:16:01allegations that soldiers are buying uniform, in fact alarming
00:16:05things that soldiers are some soldiers say they are buying pragmented jacket that's
00:16:09anti bulletproof which they used to this so as long as you don't protect this
00:16:12salary and you allow soldiers to be using that their salary to buy things they are going to work
00:16:16for, i think then the the mean
00:16:19the the benefits that we are thinking from the that will accrew from increase in salary will
00:16:22fall. to be honest, i will even go as far as to say any person that does
00:16:26uniform work, he shouldn't have to buy a uniform item or any item
00:16:30that you will take for operation, this is very very important. thirdly
00:16:34there's also the issue of accommodation, there are still soldiers.
00:16:37officers that are not accommodated in barack and they rent ideally all
00:16:41over the world, when you have police, when you have any paramilitary, you give
00:16:45them barack accommodation, if you cannot give them barack accommodation then you have, because
00:16:49government is supposed to give them barack accommodation, government is supposed to give them
00:16:53comprehensive medical care, yes thank you, just before
00:16:56we
00:16:57we we round off, is this decision fair for
00:17:00other law enforcement agencies and those
00:17:04responsible for internal security example? the Nigeria Police
00:17:08force, the those who say that the South African police are
00:17:12paid several times higher and much more than the average
00:17:16Nigerian police, the NY, NSCDC as well
00:17:20and other paramilitary uh agencies, is is this fair on
00:17:23them?
00:17:26now talk of fairness, definitely this is one debate that might start
00:17:30and it has already started, not only paramilitary or other security
00:17:34agencies like we see in this rescue operation, it was not only the... military, so
00:17:38maybe I'm sure the president must have thought through this and
00:17:42think
00:17:42what is going for, certainly this uh argumentation will come out, even within
00:17:46the military, if you remember the president spokeman said
00:17:4925000 are going to benefit, by my own calculation, what I
00:17:52know, that is the size, above the size the people in
00:17:56uniform, the people that are outside like me, I'm not talking for myself,
00:18:00but like me, like the retires, they will certainly also ask what is in there for them even
00:18:04though the government didn't say so, but the figure of 250 tells me that it is for
00:18:08those people that are in uniform, now what are you going to do to the retiries? addition
00:18:12to the parability which you said may rais observation, why? the
00:18:15purpose, what people have to understand is that you do these things to make the
00:18:19military or the security agencies attractive for young nigerians to
00:18:22general? it is a common knowledge that in the southeast for example the
00:18:26army is so is facing serious problem even attract young men and
00:18:30women to join the military, it must spread to other parts the country and that in
00:18:33itself is will be security problem if you have people from certain
00:18:37area and they are not joining the military and the only way you can make people to
00:18:41join the military is making the service
00:18:43you know attractive and it's also seeing how you treat those people
00:18:47that are in service and those that are retires because even the people that got this
00:18:5180% tomorrow they are going to be retirees and they will start thinking when i retire
00:18:55what is going to happen for me so again the government like you said you are right other
00:18:59security agencies they have their roles to play like we see in this rescue
00:19:02operation there has military theres dss there is civil
00:19:06defense they also in the government, I'm sure the president must have thought
00:19:09about it and he's going to, maybe he has not told us, but it's something that is
00:19:13debate that will
00:20:18this at the very beginning the show that the
00:20:20Nigeria uh security structure is being reviewed
00:20:24constitutionally where we now have state police, so this is the
00:20:28nationalpolicing bill.com where you can actually
00:20:32submit your memorandum, memoranda for everyone,
00:20:36so if you navigate, just go to... to
00:20:37nationalpolicingbill.com and uh
00:20:41just look at what you you need to know in terms of
00:20:45inquiry and all of that. two weeks has been given for everyone to make their
00:20:49little. to the bill so that we can uh we
00:20:53can uh have a very good
00:20:56police where it will not be abused a subnational level or
00:21:00you people talk about being abused a subnational level the feder can also abuse
00:21:04it so abuse is two way straight so
00:21:08but generally your input will be required the government and the committee
00:21:12the working group has said whatever
00:21:14it is you have as a proposal two weeks is given i think that it has already
00:21:18started counting yeah so do your best
00:21:20put put together your thought, whether as a group, professionals, whichever,
00:21:24however you want to approach this and make your contribution for this
00:21:28constitution amendment that will serve the interest of all Nigerians.
00:21:32This is not the time to say, uh, my voice will not be heard, it doesn't matter, it doesn't, my
00:21:35voice does not count, to say, oh, they will not listen for all it once we've been
00:21:39doing, have they listened to us, no, you have to make your imputs,
00:21:43democracy uh sort of gives room for
00:21:46participatory governance, so this is an opport, I like the fact that you can do
00:21:50this on socials for so for young nigerians we are the ones
00:21:54who use the smartphones and we are always online so
00:21:58all right we understand it's closing on the 13th of august today is
00:22:02august 6th already so we are almost
00:22:05closer almost halfway halfway already so
00:22:07close halfway so please we have - one week plus uh to ensure
00:22:11that you get to uh make your contributions
00:22:15because we really it's our police and it's going to affect us
00:22:19so whether you like it or yes, so let's talk about
00:22:23Ash, we've talked extensively about, but David do, his uncle is the governor
00:22:27the state, David is a musician, one of Nigeria's
00:22:30superstars, he
00:22:31is the chairman the imole youth campaign council as
00:22:35well, he was very, very influential,
00:22:38instrumental rather uh to his uncle's victory the last time, so he's back
00:22:42again on the in the trenches to make case for his, so let's take a listen to
00:22:46David.
00:22:54so uh, I like the fact that you know what,
00:22:58it's good to support um family, so um,
00:23:02so I like the fact that he's able to
00:23:05do this, and he's someone that has
00:23:06been always been very vocal, um, David O, he likes to
00:23:10comment issues of national interest, some celebrities like to just sit on the
00:23:13sidelines on defens, but he's been very vocal when it has to
00:23:17do with politics, just other subnationals, but at
00:23:21the national uh levels as well, at the video
00:23:25there.
00:23:26all right, come out
00:23:30and exercise your right to
00:23:32vote, do not be afraid
00:23:36or intimidated. your vote is your voice and your choice
00:23:40must be respected, no political
00:23:43ambition, disagreement
00:23:47or election is what the... for an osion son
00:23:51or daughter, let us
00:23:54reject violence, I'll say it again, let us
00:23:58reject violence,
00:24:01intimidation, provocation, and most
00:24:05importantly destruction, to our
00:24:07daddy from emo
00:24:10states, I say this with
00:24:14respect, sir, I have heard rumors
00:24:17suggesting that there are... used to
00:24:20interfere in the Oushen state
00:24:23election or use the state as a
00:24:27political battleground to prove
00:24:29point
00:24:33like very respectful some would say respectable fellow
00:24:37to our daddy in the most states referring to the
00:24:39governor of man i don't know did man say
00:24:43anything the chairman the
00:24:47APC campaign council yeah remember
00:24:50yeah, i was thinking whether he said anything recently, but i just remember
00:24:54chairman the campaign council, we we there shouldn't
00:24:57be violence, election is not war, is unnecessary, i think he
00:25:01echos it, of course is partisan is supporting his uncle
00:25:05uh, but it's
00:25:06what it is, let's go there, i'm praying, i'm hoping that there will be a day when elections will be
00:25:10so peaceful that you know you lose your polling unit as a man
00:25:14congratulations, lose my pulling, i say congratulations because we know the
00:25:17election was free and fair, not this
00:25:20manipulation just let's make sure
00:25:24the judges have other