Nigeria, April 24 -- When the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Adeola Ajayi advocated for self-help and a communal approach to tackling insecurity and crimes such as raids on vulnerable communities leading to unprovoked deaths, insurgency, banditry and kidnapping, he ignited a heated debate about whether his suggestion invited anarchy and mutually assured destruction that could plunge the country into technical warfare.

However, DG Ajayi was not pioneering this perspective. In 2022, General Theophilus Danjuma reiterated the same position at a public event in his home state of Taraba, echoing his earlier 2018 statement responding to widespread violence that left destruction and misery in its wake.

"As a soldier, the ...