A retired United States Army officer, Major Yinka Ogunsanya, has condemned the payment of ransom to terrorists by government authorities, describing it as a dangerous practice that strengthens insurgents and worsens Nigeria’s insecurity crisis.

Speaking during a popular media platform, Boiling Point, Ogunsanya warned that negotiating with terrorists under any guise undermines the country’s counter-insurgency efforts.

The online town hall meeting, themed “Decentralised Security Architecture: Redefining Federal and States Roles in State Policing as Nigeria Battles Escalating Insecurity,” was supported by the National Association of Seadogs, Ash Montana Deck, as part of its Citizens Summit programme.

Ogunsanya stressed that unless the government criminalises negotiations with terrorist groups and adopts a comprehensive security strategy, structural reforms such as state policing may only scratch the surface of the country’s security challenges.

“Government ransom payment is what is empowering the terrorists and further deepening insecurity. The practice of paying ransom to these criminals is a betrayal of the anti-insurgency war,” he asserted.

He advocated for the internationally recognised “3Ds” approach to combating insurgency — Development, Diplomacy and Defence, noting that Nigeria’s current method has largely been “enemy-centric,” relying heavily on military force and a centralised command structure.

“The international method of fighting insurgency often employs the ‘3Ds’ framework: Development, Diplomacy, and Defence,” he said. “Conversely, the Nigerian method has historically been ‘enemy-centric,’ focusing on hard military power and a top-down command structure. This often leads to a disconnect between the federal ‘liberators’ and the local ‘occupied’ populations.”

According to him, Nigeria must transition to intelligence-led, community-based policing while maintaining federal oversight for cross-border crimes.

“To transition successfully, Nigeria must adopt the global standard of localised intelligence-led operations while maintaining federal oversight for cross-border crimes,” he stated.

While supporting decentralised policing in principle, Ogunsanya cautioned against adopting foreign models wholesale.

Retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Leye Oyebade, warned that rushing into the creation of state police without proper “architectural strategies” could be “wasteful but disastrous.”

He cited issues such as community involvement, patriotism, intelligence sharing, trust, funding and inter-state collaboration as critical foundations.

“The architecture to be put in place must consider inter-state synergy and sharing of roles. The prevalence of types of crime varies from one state to another. Without this synergy, a suspect can run from one state to hide in another,” Oyebade said.

The Olowu of Owu, Oba Prof Saka Matemilola, who delivered the keynote address, noted that the issues of delay in response, inadequate manpower, fear of governors abusing state police for private use, political persecution and funding for the discussion. (Daily Trust)