By Abdallah el-Kurebe
Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar has urged the Federal government to provide modern gadgets and adequate funding to the nation’s security agencies in order to have prominent surveillance of the nation’s borders.
The Sultan spoke on Tuesday during the opening of the 2014 Land Border Security Seminar in Sokoto.
Organized by the North-West Land Border and Airports (Entry/Exit points) in charge of Travel and Aliens Control, Directorate of State Services (DSS), the theme of the seminar was, “Sustaining Peace Through Cross-Border Security.”
According to him, “The security forces must be fully equipped to be up and doing. We must have modern gadgets to take care of our borders. Only an insane person will not be concerned and worried about the current security challenges in Nigeria,” Sa’ad stressed observing, “Most of the responsibilities of security agencies have now been left with state governors.”
Further observing that border surveillance across the globe was expensive as well as extensive, the Sultan urged Nigerians, including the leaders and the led to go back to religious books as Muslims and Christians.
“We must have the fear of Allah in order to exhibit good governance, then have peace which will lead to socio-economic prosperity in Nigeria,” he stated adding, “The traditional rulers will continue to support the security agencies although they should always be carried along.”
Concurring, Governor Aliyu Wamakko stated that vital as security is, there should be improved funding of the nation’s security agencies.
“You cannot fight crimes with bare hands. Today, if governors withdraw their support to security agencies, most of them will close their offices in the states. It is a must for us to do the right thing in order to get the right results and further move Nigeria forward,” Wamakko stressed.
He further stated that although the nation’s security personnel were well-trained and committed, they must be provided with adequate logistics.
The Zonal Director of the Northwest zone of Travel and Aliens Control, Mr. Reuben Amao said that President Goodluck Jonathan had expressed confidence that the activities of insurgents and other cross-border crimes would be drastically curtailed.
“This will be done with the intensification of joint patrols, military operations and intelligence sharing by Nigeria and neighbouring countries as agreed at the Regional Summit of leaders held on October 7, 2014 in Niamey, Niger Republic.
