ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi-
The Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has lamented that kidnappings, banditry and other crimes are quickly spreading to other parts of the country.
The Governor called on the Federal, States, Local Governments and traditional rulers to rise up and tackle these security challenges, noting that they are threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria.
He stated this during an interview with journalists on Thursday in Bauchi, during the Eid-el Fitir celebration in the state.
“We are very grateful to God, it (Sallah) has come at a moment we ought to have a sober reflection but we praise Allah that we are celebrating in peace and not in pieces. The Ramadan has been a period of prayers and devotion”.
“We hope and pray that Allah has expetiated our sins and we are brand new today and I have already sent out my message that, as a nation, we need to reflect deeply on our common existence because we are challenged by so many aspects of misdemeanors, crime and criminality and most of it are coming from us, that is the issue of banditry, kidnapping and the rest”.
“We must be very courageous to say it and that is not something that is acceptable in the tenets of Islam, that is something that is very incombrious to the values of Islam and we should fear God because we don’t keep ourselves and our communities. We should have a change”.
“This is escalating to other parts of the country, the issue of insecurity and I call on the federal government to do whatever they can. But certainly, it is not just the responsibility of the federal government alone, but that of the states, the local governments, the traditional institutions, our major leaders, stakeholders, we are all policemen today”.
“We know these bandits, we know where they stay and what they do, sometimes, they are aided and abated by us. We should fish them out because the Police in their numbers, because of the dearth of human capital, cannot fight this war, they are already overwhelmed and I am calling in the federal government to work with us as governors and local governments because that is where the solution is,” he said.
Governor Mohammed said that “the major federal government security architecture has failed” not because of any compromise but because “the situation is overwhelming.”
He called for a sober reflection on the issues bedeviling Nigeria, warning that if nothing is done and the country disintegrates, the consequences will be severe”.
The governor said: “I hope we will sit down as a country to reflect and make sure we bring solutions and we should restrain in our own responses and utterances because this country is so united, this country is so interwoven and if there is any breakages here and there, as being muted by some people, the monumental humanitarian crises will be better imagined because I can’t imagine how it will be and certainly, it is a challenge”.
“COVID is also around, we should be very careful with economy, we should be able to grow it, we should be able to have a round table understanding of our problems rather than escalating it in the pages of the newspapers and the media.”
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