Kidnapping: Governors, paying ransom to bandits are empowering them – Rtd General

The former General Officer (GOC) Commanding, 3 division of the Nigerian Army Jos, Brigadier. General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed has regretted the payment of ransom and royalty some governors are paying bandits for the release of their kidnapped victims.

He said, the development is empowering and emboldening them even as they use ransom to acquire the sophisticated weapons they use in carrying out their nefarious activities against Nigerians.

He also said there was lack of political will and commitment on the part of the political leaders to put an end to the pervading insecurity and insurgency across the country, particularly in the Northern part of the country,

He noted that lack of political will from the government is responsible for the increasing proportion of security challenges bedeviling the country, stressing the needs for the government to as a matter of necessity put the necessary machineries in place to end insecurity in the nation.

According to the retired Military officer, the goverment has all it required to put an end to the prevailing security challenges that has ruined the nation, stating that the government at all levels should as a matter of urgency use the instrumentality of the law as enshrined in the Constitution to safeguard the lives and property of the people.

Speaking with journalists in an interview in Minna at the weekend, Rtd General Bello Abdullahi explained that lack of the political will was the reason some state governors are clamouring for the establishment of their states police to safeguard their respective states.

He pointed that the president as the Commander-in-Chief and the governors as the chief security officers of their respective states are “toothless bulldog” that cannot bite without further directive from the Commander-in-chief for them to take the required measures to take the needed step.

He argued that the 1999 constitution as amended rendered the state governors as the chief security officers of their respective states incapacitated to safeguard and protect their citizens, insisting that with their own state police under their payroll, they will be able to confront any of the security challenges in their respective states because it’s under their control as the chief security officer of their respective states.

He maintained: “Lack of political will and lack of commitment on the part of government is responsible for the insecurity and banditry and other security challenges bedeviling the Northern part of the country.

“The governors as the chief security officers of their respective states are toothless bulldog that cannot bite.

“The governors don’t have the means to make things work. The priority of government given to what we require as a nation is not what the nation needed for now, as the Constitution is supreme. If given the security adequate attention, it’s only the Federal government that is in full control of the nation’s security architecture.

“Like i said, the political will is not there. That is the reason some governors are all calling for the establishment of their own state police that they can control to safeguard and protect their people”, the retired general told journalists.

While urging the government at all levels to adequately fund all the security agencies in the country to curtail the increasing insecurity in the country.

Bello admonished the people to always be security conscious and report any unusual and suspicious movement around them to the appropriate security agencies for prompt action.