New Telegraph

Govs to FG: Equip security agencies to tackle insecurity

…blame porous borders, arms proliferation

Governors of the 36 states of the Federation have told the Federal Government to dedicate part of the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and the Natural Resource Development Fund and the Economic Stabilisation Fund to provide the necessary equipment for the military and other security institutions to address the escalating security situation in the country.

The governors, who held an emergency meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, blamed the security challenges in the country on the nation’s porous borders and proliferation of arms. Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who spoke at the end of the meeting, called for synergy between federal and state security institutions such as “vigilante groups, Civilian JTF, and Amotekun.

“There is the need for them to be synergised so that they will not take laws into their hands, taking into accounts the fundamental human rights of those who may be innocent of crimes in their jurisdictions,” he said. Fayemi expressed concern about the nation’s border management, noting that these crimes were associated with illegal entry of people into the country. He called for strengthening the ECOWAS transhuman border protocol to address the movement of cattle across borders.

“We also believe that the porosity of our borders is responsible for the proliferation of light weapons, and this has led to disagreement between farmers and herders as evident in the violence we are witnessing,” he said. The Ekiti State governor said the governors are committed to the protection of lives and property in their states and expressed sympathy to those who have lost lives and properties in the attacks.

“The Governors’ Forum has gone ahead to provide some financial support to victims of the conflicts experienced in Uyo and Ogun states where our delegation visited over the last week. “Nigerian governors also are very clear that crime and criminality should be comprehensively prosecuted wherever they may occur without ethnic, religious or any other coloration.

“Governors are totally opposed to ethnic profiling of crime, knowing what has transpired in other parts of the world, whether we are talking of the way youths were profiled in Germany leading to the world war, or we talking of the way Tutsis were profiled leading to the genocide experienced in Rwanda.

We do not believe that crimes are associated with particular ethnic group. “And to that extent, we unreservedly condemn any attempt to profile any ethnic group on account of a particular crime,” the governor said. Fayemi said the governors reviewed forestry management and environmental law, stating that the nation’s forests have become the den of criminals and bandits because they have not been properly managed.

“It is the considered view of governors that the forestry management needs to be immediately reviewed in collaboration with the federal authorities so that these problems that we have encountered can be immediately addressed,” he said.

He also said the meeting reviewed the need to strengthen the National Livestock Transformation Plan, adding that the traditional approach to grazing is no longer sustainable. They called for modern approach to grazing and livestock management. “Governors feel strongly that the strengthening of the NLTP would be a good place to start this comprehensive revisiting of the livestock management arrangement,” he said.

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