President Muhammadu Buhari who had a meeting with governors of the 36 states in Abuja on Tuesday December 8, has asked them to work with local chiefs in their various states to tackle insecurity.
In a statement released by presidential aide Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari was quoted saying that working with monarchs and other community members would boost local intelligence gathering and aid the work of security agencies.
He said;
“The sub-region is no longer safe, more so with the collapse of the former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi’s regime and the cross border movement of weapons and criminals.
“Governors must work with traditional rulers. Try and work with traditional rulers to boost intelligence gathering.”
Buhari also spoke about illegal refineries in the Northeast and Southsouth. He said;
“Every day I get situation reports about illegal refineries and the blowing up of pipelines. You must stop local rogues from sabotaging oil installations.”
On banditry and kidnapping, Buhari said:
“Security is important and we must secure the whole country. We are thinking very hard on the issue of kidnapping. We will make it possible for the military to get to the bandits and kidnappers and eliminate them.’’
He added that the country’s military would continue to get the support they need to fight criminals.
Buhari said;
“I am not going to the public to speak about the vehicles and equipment we have ordered. What I can say is that the military received armoured cars and other equipment and they are training the trainers. More of such equipment, including military aircrafts will come in.”
