The Nigerian Ambassador to the Benin Republic, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd), has called for comprehensive measures with all stakeholders playing key roles if Nigeria was to effectively tackle insecurity and restore peace and order.
Nigeria currently faces various forms of insecurity in different parts of the country such as insurgency in the North East, banditry and kidnapping in the North West, agitations for secession in the South East, and crude oil bunkering in the South-South leading to the loss of thousands of lives, billions of dollars on economic losses, billions of naira in ransom payment, destruction of properties in millions, jeopardizing children’s education among others.
According to the former Chief of Army Staff, Nigeria needs to apply a 66.67% non-kinetic approach to banditry by engaging bandits in dialogue using traditional leaders in the various communities. He also called for the creation of border security to tackle the migration of foreign bandits and other foreign criminals into the country, noting that everybody needs to participate in achieving a peaceful nation.
Addressing a one-day symposium on National Security with the theme: ‘Politics and Insecurity in Nigeria; the Way Forward’, organized by Arewa House on Saturday in Kaduna, Buratai tasked the National Security Adviser to collaborate with foreign security chiefs of neighboring countries to fish out sponsors of insurgency and banditry in Nigeria to curtail their nefarious activities.
Buratai suggested the adoption of a comprehensive and integrated approach to enable the entire society to play key roles in tackling the country’s security challenges.
He explained that the approach should entail the involvement of critical stakeholders from the society, such as religious leaders, youths, teachers, women, civil society, media, law enforcement as well as the security and intelligence agencies.
