The Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has expressed disappointment in Nigeria’s security agencies, regretting that his administration expended about N2.4 billion on security in the last two years without commensurate results in the state.
He stated this in Minna on Tuesday, when the Council of Traditional Rulers led by its chairman, the Etsu Nupe, Dr. Yamaha Abubakar paid Sallah homage to him in Government House.
Advocating the shift of more security roles to traditional rulers, Bello asserted that he has lost confidence in the security agencies over their failure to tackle pockets of insecurity across the country, particularly Niger State in recent times.
While pointing out that the current security challenge in the country is alarming and needs urgent attention, he said, “We spend a lot of money on security but, we do not have a safe environment.
“In Niger state, we spend N100 million, every month on security. I am sure that if we spend a fraction of that money on traditional rulers, we will get better results than what we have now.”
The governor stated that as a result of the failure of the security agencies, government should empower traditional rulers by giving them more security votes to tackle the security challenges.
“I support that we go back to traditional ways of security in our various communities because traditional system performed better in the past and they can do better now if they are given more powers. So, I recommend that more powers be given to traditional rulers on security,” he said.
He lamented the level of insecurity in the state and called on all residents to rise to the challenge by personally tackling the wave headway instead of depending solely on the security agencies.
The governor called on both Christians and Muslims to embark on fervent prayers to overcome the security challenge, saying: “More than ever before, we need a lot of prayers in Niger State because we are now faced with a new wave of security challenge that is unusual.
According to him, “There is a new wave of kidnapping, murder, armed robbery and clashes.
It is a new wave that seems to be engulfing the state. People have decided to take laws into their hands and kill because they have conflict with others and this clearly shows that we are in trouble because these happenings are alien to us.”
Bello then requested the traditional rulers to enlighten their subjects on the need to be more security conscious and report any strange movement in their areas to the appropriate quarters.
