Minister of Interior Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau said yesterday that the country is faced with poor logistics, including inadequate weapons and ammunition, to tackle insecurity.
He spoke in Abuja at an emergency one-day internal security summit to examine the reality of the present security situation within the country.
Dambazau, who expressed sadness over the development, said: “There is also a general problem of command and control, indiscipline, poor attitude to duty and poor welfare among the personnel of the security agencies in the field, which ultimately impacts negatively on operational efficiency and corporate image of our services.
“The prevalence of porous and poorly managed borders also makes it easy for trans-national criminal activities to flourish, especially trafficking in drugs and arms and movement of terrorists. In the same vein, the spread and access to smuggled weapons, particularly AK47 assault rifles, aggravates insecurity.”
According to the minister, some of the threats were politically motivated from within the country.
Dambazau added that some were induced from outside the country by those who were not comfortable with Nigeria’s potentials.
The minister said government is presently pursuing the implementation of a tripartite agreement for the voluntary return of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon.
Nigeria, he said, was also in the process of entering such agreement with Niger and Chad, where there are also thousands of Nigerian refugees.
His words: “There are many challenges contributing to insecurity and impeding optimum performance of security agencies. I will mention a few of them. Notably, there is poor logistics, including weapons and ammunition.
“So much has been happening in terms of criminal violence, specifically rural banditry, kidnapping, cattle-rustling, communal violence, herders-farmers conflict, etc, and of course the number of victims has been increasing. It is the responsibility of government to protect the lives and properties of its citizens, and we are the very people entrusted with that responsibility by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Of course, we all know that successes have been achieved regarding the degrading and dismantling the activities and structures of Boko Harem in the country, especially in the Northeast. But we also know that part of the frustration is that the leadership of this terrorist group has been unleashing suicide missions using particularly the girl-child against soft targets. We are also aware that post-conflict peace-building is of greater challenge, especially as regards rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced persons, who are mostly women and children.
“The success of our post-conflict peace-building efforts will largely depend on our ability to coordinate and execute reconstruction, rehabilitation, resettlement and reconciliation efforts, including de-radicalisation and counter-narrative programmes.”
The take-off point for tackling insecurity in Nigeria, the minister said, is intelligence; actionable intelligence.
He said: “Currently, there are very large swathes of ungoverned forests that are inter-connected, covering Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Yobe Borno and Adamowa states, serving as sanctuaries for armed bandits and violent criminals. Over time, these bandits and other violent groups have perfected a pattern of launching indiscriminate attacks on hitherto peaceful communities, killing, maiming, abducting, raping and traumatising scores of defenceless citizens under several guises.
“The areas worst hit by these attacks include Birin Gwari and the adjoin communities, southern parts of Kaduna. Large parts of Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Adamawa states. In the last few years, the entire Zamfara State has been reduced to a killing field to our collective shame.
“Other adjoin states such as Katsina, Kogi and Sokoto states have experienced similar carnage from armed bandits. A few other sanctuaries exist, albeit to a lesser degree, across the geopolitical zones from whence criminal organisation unleash violence on hapless citizens in isolated communities and unsuspecting commuters of our’ vast national road networks. Particularly, Abuja-Kaduna road and Jos-Riyom axis have acquired notoriety for wanton premeditated killings of innocent way farers. This situation is exacerbated by the inability of vulnerable communities to promptly call for help in the event of attacks.”
The minister assured that the outcome of the security deliberation would lead to the strengthening of Nigeria’s national security.
The representative of the Minister of Defence, Brig. Gen. Umar Ibrahim, the representative of the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Vice Marshal Olusoji Awomodu and Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS), Muhammed Babandede also addressed the gathering.
