By Lanre Oloyede
A Support Group of All Progressive Congress, APC, under the auspices of APC Professional Forum, has charged president Muhammadu Buhari to review the security strategies regarding training and re-training of security operatives in the country.
This followed the security breach at Kuje medium correctional facility last week Tuesday in which suspected members of Islamic State of West Africa Province, ISWAP, released over 800 inmates including Boko Haram convicts.
In a statement issued Thursday and made available to journalists in Abuja,
Acting Chairman, Board of Trustees of the forum, Mr Nkem Okeke, stated that the new measure should include rehabilitation of dilapidated security infrastructures, reworking of security architecture, and recruiting of more patriotic Nigerians into the security forces to increase their capacity.
The group, which condemned the act of terrorism and breach of security across the nation including the recent assault at the Medium Correctional Centre, Kuje, Abuja, leading to the dastardly release of terrorists and criminals, and the attack on the Presidential advance team to Daura, Katsina state, urged the various security agencies to rise to the occasion to stem the unfortunate spate of jailbreaks and stop the marauding terrorists whose agenda is to bring the nation to its knees.
“Considering our rising population, the ratio of security personnel to citizens needs to be raised. The government should evaluate senior commanders’ performance on key performance indexes and hold them accountable for national security breaches.
“With the above parameters, the Forum is quite optimistic that it will boost the moral of our security agencies to enhance our national security. We however, continue to thank the President and the security agencies for the sacrifices, victories, and gains recorded thus far since 2015 under his administration,” Okeke stated.
Okeke added that there should be a swift response to threats posed by non-state actors “who do not share our values as a united purpose-driven nation.”
“Toward this end, our security agencies, whose constitutional duties is to protect lives and properties, should restore the confidence of the citizens in their ability to give their utmost best to the country’s efforts to defeat the insurgency and banditry, as well as win back the support of Nigerians against perennial security challenges facing us as a nation.
“We also urge the Service Chiefs to exhibit higher standards of professionalism, discipline, unity of purpose, and harmony in their respective positions, especially in intelligence sharing and dedication to duties.
“As stakeholders in the Nigerian project and in line with our objectives, the APC Professionals Forum tasks all Nigerians to brace up to the challenge by sharing intelligence and information with security operatives to arrest the situation. The quest to eliminate terrorism should be a challenge all Nigerians must confront with unity of purpose,” the statement reads in parts.
