THE Federal Government has commenced a nationwide stakeholders’ engagement on internal security and conflict resolution with a view to tackling the security challenges of the nation headlong.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, called on security agencies to wake up to their responsibilities, saying “enough is enough. Some nations have faced them before and have come out victorious.”
Aregbesola, who spoke in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Wednesday, also urged Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts at ending insurgency in the country.
In a speech titled, “The People as the Cornerstone of Security,” the minister said the summit was arranged to tap from the wealth of experience of the Kanem Borno Empire, which made it to stand for 1,200 years, more than the Byzantine Empire or the Roman Empire.
The Director, Press and Public Relations in the ministry, Mohammed Manga, said in a statement on the summit that the President and members of the cabinet were greatly pained over the hardship Nigerians were facing as a result of the security challenges in some parts of the country.
He said the Federal Government was determined to do whatever it deemed necessary to bring an end to the activities of the marauders.
The statement said, “Enough is enough. Some nations have faced them before and have come out victorious. We are going to do the same and nothing is going to stop us. But to be able to win, we need the support of the people.
“We must understand that the defence and security architectural complex is a pyramid. Sitting on the top is the military, followed by the police. Next are the other security agencies, and at the base, carrying and supporting the complex, are the people who are the security-agency-at-large.”
The minister also commended the security agencies for their doggedness in the fight against crime and criminality in the country and called on them to see the people as important to achieving success.
According to him, the people are the essence of a nation and not just a territorial space, constituting the singular most important basis of all the institutions of state, The Point reports.
The minister added, “Any security agency operating within a national space that disregards the support of the people is simply doomed in its mission of defence and security. I am of the firm opinion that if the security agencies have the trust and support of the people, the terrorists and those constituting threat to life and property in any part of the country, would not be anonymous.
“They would have been handed over by now. The insurgents and other criminals who are disturbing us, are not ghosts but humans, nevertheless they are a tiny minority. They can never withstand a united and determined people who take their security seriously.”
He stressed that formidable military might and cutting-edge technology were necessary in the fight against crime and criminality, noting that without the support of the people, they might be ineffective.
“The government needs the support of the people in confronting a mobile, flexible and fluid insurgents that hide among the people,” the minister said.
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, however, assured that the Government and people of Borno would continue to support the efforts of the Federal Government at restoring peace and security in the state.
He thanked the President Buhari-led administration for liberating a substantial part of the state and the North-East from the grip of the insurgents, adding that some time ago, 23 of the 27 Local Government Areas of Borno State were under the firm control of the insurgents.
But he said with the concerted efforts of the Federal Government in calling for military intervention, the situation had been reversed.
