The call for everyone to win the war against insecurity taking a toll on the country and its resources has again been stressed.
They said Security men and their apparatus should not be left alone in the fight, and rather every individual is a key factor in one way or the other if only the war is to be won in due course.
According to the chairman, Blueprint Newspaper Limited, Alhaji Mohammad Idris, at the 2021 Annual public lecture and awards organized by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in Kaduna with its theme,” Insecurity in Northern Nigeria; Implications to Nation’s Economy”.
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Alh. Idris said Insecurity has been a big challenge for us, noted not just in Northern Nigeria but across the country.
He explained it is something that has given everybody a sleepless night but was quick to appreciate the efforts by the government is doing its best to ensure that the situation is under control.
According to him, “Govt has to come more effectively, the private sector has to come in, the federal government has to come in, security is everyone’s problem, is not just For govt or any individual alone. We all have to come together, provide some synergy so that the situation can be tackled”.
The seasoned publisher also appealed to the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai, quest speaker of the occasion to have a re-thought in its stance on negotiating with criminal elements, even though he noted it is the best practice that is recognized by the outside world.
Though he admitted criminals should not be negotiated with but advocated, there should be a way of opening up channels to house continuous engagements with the bandits and criminal elements.
He emphasized ‘war can not be won alone militarily’.
“This is not just a military or security situation, and therefore the solution can not be entirely left to the security agents. So, we must include back door or backchannel communication so that we can understand these people thoroughly and talk them out of this situation”.
“We must all come together and recover our senses and find common grounds on this issue”, he noted.
Meanwhile, earlier in his speech, Mallam Nasiru El- Rufai, Governor of Kaduna state, outlined the various means by which bandits raise money for themselves to sustain their nefarious activities.
El-Rufai, represented by the State Commissioner for Internal security and home affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said the armed bandits get money through ransom paid to them by families of kidnapped victims, through the selling of rustled cows and cattle.
He also said that the criminal elements imposed levies on farmers to gain access to their farms.
Other means of a source of Revenue identified by the Governor include Gunrunning and joint operations carried out by different gangs.
He analysed that the bandits mostly spend these revenues on purchasing ammunition, food supplies, logistics and drugs.
The Governor expressed that Banditry is blind to ethnoreligious political affiliations but is only after their targets’ economic value.
He, however, confirmed the state is taking measures to tackle security challenges by synergizing with other Neighbouring states, reforming the Kaduna state Vigilance service (KADVS) and more support to the military and other security agents to take the fight to the bandits’ dens.
