How to tackle security challenges in Niger – Ex. Gov Aliyu

John Adams, Minna

Former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has advised the state government to make use of local intelligent to help provide information to security agents as a possible way out of the current security challenges bedevilling the state in recent times.

Governor Aliyu said the neglect of local intelligent, especially movement of strange faces in the community is largely responsible to the growing insecurity in the country.

Former Governor Aliyu who spoke in Minna against the growing insecurity in parts of the north pointed out that the government unlike in the past, no more use local intelligent to address the security challenges.

According to him “the traditional institutions in collaboration with the locals should be able to monitor movement of people within their community, ascertain their identities and know where they person is coming from.

“We are no more using the local intelligent, the traditional institutions to tackle security problems. For every village if we have any person coming in, he must report to Mai Angwa before he will be allow to stay, and honestly that is how Minna was secured in those days. ”

In addition to this, Aliyu said the government must be ready to support security agents with both money and logistics to be able to win the war against bandits.

According to him, “during our time we had a real security meeting on the notorious Alawa forests and we pushed in all the security agencies and we achieved good results.

“Immediately the contingents were moved there, I rented helicopters to move around the place and wherever they see a village that does not look like a village they will go down and confirm who they were.

“I paid a lot of money because you can’t have a security without spending money, you have to mobilized properly, especially for every assignment like that and I achieved a positive result.”

It should be recalled that some communities in four local government areas of the state have been under siege from armed bandits, making life meaningless to the people.