Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Muhammad Adamu, has called on traditional rulers in the country to partner governments at all level in promoting peace and security.
Adamu made the call at a zonal meeting of Northern Traditional Rulers Council in Kaduna on Tuesday.
He said that there was need for everyone, including community leaders and traditional rulers, to synergise in preaching peaceful coexistence and ensuring prevalence of security in communities.
“Northern Nigeria today is blighted by a deadly, albeit `retreating, insurgency, rural armed banditry, cattle rustling, ethnic and religious conflicts.
”Issues of kidnapping, abduction and other security challenges have been bedevilling our society but we have re-strategised and will make sure that we tackle these challenges squarely.
“We have made provisions for special forces that will tackle the kidnaping along Kaduna-Abuja Expressway.
“We are working tirelessly to make sure Nigeria becomes safe,’’ Adamu said.
On his part, Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai, called on the youth to shun any form of violence and urged them to be law-abiding while government was working to empower them.
“We can’t solve the problems of insecurity all alone as government and appointees; we need the immense support of the traditional rulers.
“I urge us all to continue to have this meetings on a regular basis in order to address the problem of insecurity bedevilling northern Nigeria,’’ he said.
Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, called for harmony among people in northern Nigeria.
Mustapha said that the challenges in the North revolved around intolerance, absence of peaceful coexistence, illiteracy and lack of unity.
He, however, expressed confidence that the meeting “is more than able to provide solutions to our problems.
“The Federal Government is doing everything to make sure that Nigeria becomes safe for everyone; the present government came on board on the backdrop of insecurity, economy and the fight against corruption.”
In his contribution, Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, commended the effort of the military and police towards combating crime, saying “we will continue to support and do everything to ensure security in Nigeria”.
In his remarks, the Sultan of Sokoto, Dr Sa’ad Abubakar, said that discussions at the meeting would produce workable solutions to security problems in the region.
He said that the traditional rulers were sad over the threats to security in the region by kidnappers, cattle rustlers and farmers/herders clashes.
“Perpetrators of violence must be punished in order to end the impunity with which crimes were committed in Nigeria,” the sultan, who is also Chairman of Northern States Traditional Council, said. (NAN)
