INSECURITY: YAR’ADUA’S FG IS SEEKING TO HIRE MORE POLICE AND ARMED FORCES

Babatunji Wusu –

Abdulaziz Yar’adua, the senate district representative for Katsina Central, revealed on Friday that the federal government is seeking to hire additional security guards in order to combat the nation’s escalating crime rates.

The nation is currently battling a number of crimes, including oil bunkering, abduction, and banditry.

In a nation of 220 million people, Yar’adua bemoaned the quantity of security agencies, stating, “If you put them all together, they are not up to one million.”

There are plans to fix this, according to the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Army.

Speaking on Channels TV he said, “First of all, you have to understand that we have a problem with the strength of the police and the military and other security agencies that we have.

“They cannot really police and secure this nation. You must understand that, and I know the president, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is working on that.”

According to him, with the number of security personnel in Nigeria, criminals will have the upper hand.

Yar’adua said, “You see, in this type of insurgency we are fighting, you really need the strength of the army, police, and other security agencies must be increased. First of all, you know that the number of forests we have in Nigeria where we have these criminals have enclaves is almost 100 – forest reserves. If you look at the North-West, the latest statistics we have from civil societies and some security experts is that we have over 30,000 bandits and kidnappers.

“So, if you look at it, with the strength of military personnel we have, we cannot really tackle insecurity.”

In addition to the hiring of security guards, Yar’Adua said that the root cause of Nigeria’s escalating insurgency is underdevelopment.

The lawmaker said, “One of the challenges is that we always concentrate on the kinetic but the non-kinetic approach is very important.

“We do not have development at the grassroots, and where these bandits go to recruit is at the rural areas.”