What Next After The Protest?- The Gatekeeper Strategy & Other Ideas - 4

I shared my thoughts on raising money in the last write up. Now, I want to deal with something that has been a constant refrain in our politics. This is a major reason decent people stay away from politics.

4. Tackling Electoral Violence and Thuggery

I had my introduction to political violence and thuggery during my foray into campus politics during my undergraduate days.

When I contested the first time for the Presidency of the Students Union, someone I knew closely and asked me to step down for one of my opponents. I refused. He told me point blank that if I refused, they would kidnap me and won’t release me until the election was over.

I had to be extra cautious during that electoral process. I never slept in one place twice and only very close friends knew my movement. I lost that election.

During my second attempt which I later won convincingly, I had campus secret cults to contend against. My group had to raise a security formation for me which consisted of students who were well versed in the martial arts (taekwondists and judokas).

They accompanied me everywhere I went and positioned themselves in the crowd whenever I addressed a rally. There was a certain day when we got wind that they were going to stone me during the Manifesto.

My team positioned themselves right beside the arrowheads of that plan and whispered to them that if they attempted it, that would be their last. To their chagrin, they were told they wanted to ‘spend money for me’ by stoning me with coins.

We were a step ahead of them in intelligence gathering and was abreast of their plans. The night before the election, I was rounding up my activities when my security formation excused me, took me out into a waiting vehicle and faced a place called Takie in Ogbomoso.

I didn’t know it was a decoy. As soon as I got to Takie, I was placed into a bus heading for Ilorin in the other direction with two people accompanying me. I didn’t ask any question. I slept in Ilorin that night without any member of my team knowing that I was out of Ogbomoso.

Obviously, my team got wind of an impending attack that night. I left Ilorin by 6am the next morning in readiness for the election which I won.

The use of violence to intimidate contestants to offices and the citizens is not new in Nigerian politics and anyone who wants to participate in the electoral process should be prepared for this. Thuggery is as old as Nigerian politics.

This also includes the use of ‘juju’ and voodoo. Please do not discount this- it is real. A man who was a security guard at a hostel once reached out to me that he wanted to help me.

He told me if I wanted to win the election, I should follow him to a public cemetery where he would do certain things for me. I thanked him and walked away. I was informed about an opponent who took my name to a Babalawo during that period.

Many politicians depend on voodoo to fortify themselves. The candidate you see spewing Queen’s English during the day sits inside a pot of herbs at night. Those are the kind of people you will be tackling. They have their machinery for violence well oiled and ready to be deployed

I gave this background information for you to understand that if you’re going to eat the kernel seeds, you must get ready to crush the palm kernel. You actually combated violence successfully during the #endsars protests.

Do you remember the iconic viral picture of that Agege thug who was initially charging at the peaceful protesters with a machete in his hand but who later fled with a huge stone on his heels? That’s the secret right there.

Most electoral violence thrives on intimidation. If they however encounter resistance and they see they are outnumbered, the thugs will retreat. The secret therefore is in numbers. Ensure a huge turnout of young people at all rallies and even at polling booths.

Let them stay even after the voting to defend their votes. With the huge number around, it’s almost impossible for ballot boxes to be snatched. Anyone who attempts to do so risks being lynched by the mob.

I observed that at some points, the protesters engaged the use of private security guards. That is really good. You must have your own security formation as you can not depend on the conventional security provided.

Secure the services of private security companies and bodyguards (bouncers) and practitioners of martial arts. Let them openly display at rallies and campaign venues. The security guards should have body cams on them.

Engage a security consultant who should be a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations at the minimum. Such a person will understand how to strategize with essence to security. He/she will most likely also know the identity of the major thugs in that area.

When the opponent sees that you have the capacity to counter violence with violence, that is when you will have peace. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force.

Use technology too. Drones should be deployed at rallies with the capacity to locate trouble spots and give an advance warning. Intelligence gathering is key. The more you know ahead, the better you can plan ahead. Identify flash points and mobilize intelligently for those areas

Encourage people at your campaigns and rallies to record with their phones. That will help to capture any scene of violence and deploy such videos in prosecuting the offenders. Recording is a big deterrent to violence especially if they are reported real time.

Offenders and their sponsors now know they will face visa ban in some countries.

To recap: deploy the power of numbers at all rallies and campaign venues including the polling booths. Engage private security companies and martial artists. Use the service of an experienced security consultant. Deploy technology. Use intelligence gathering.

Record with your phones and send videos online and to TV stations. You can neutralize political thugs. Yes, you can.

I will continue with my thoughts in the next part.

Bayo Adeyinka

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