The Governor of Niger State and Chairman North Central States Governors’ Forum, Abubakar Sani Bello, has charged the military to go back to the drawing board to end insecurity in the country.
Addressing the Strategic Leaders and Members of Course 30 of the Nigerian Defense College, Governor Bello charged them to reflect on why the fight against insurgency has not yielded the desired result and come up with strategic roadmap to end the menace soon.
This is as he wondered why the military, known for its gallantry worldwide, is having difficulties curbing the security challenges bedevilling the nation.
According to the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Bello, Mary Noel-Berje, the charge was given while he was presenting a paper on “Strategic Leadership: My Experience as the Governor of Niger State” at the National Defence College, Abuja, an event organised for the Higher Defense Management Course 30 of the College.
“We need to do further retrospection as to why the Nigerian Military that is praised all over the world for its gallantry seems to be fighting insurgency and banditry without an end. As strategic leaders and Members of Course 30 of the Nigerian Defense College, I challenge you to come up with strategic roadmap to end this menace soon,” Governor Bello was quoted as saying.
Recalling how Niger State used to be one of the most peaceful states before the setting in of terrorism, kidnappings and cattle rustling in some parts of the state, the Governor pointed out that his administration has been battling the security challenges with every sense of responsibility and determination.
“As the Chief Security Officer of the state, we took our responsibility of providing quality information to the security agencies, effectively supporting them with logistics and morale-boosting gestures.
“We have also brought in non-state actors like the vigilantes and the hunters to support the conventional security apparatus considering their knowledge of the terrain. On many occasions, I have had to visit the affected communities and had one-on-one dialogue with the victims as well as interact with the members of the troops on the ground,” he said.
The Governor urged the security agencies to respond promptly to the intel of the information provided by the state government, use technology to fight terrorism rather than the conventional way.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
