Insecurity: Niger Gov, Bello Wants FG to Re-introduce Air Border Patrol

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has advised the federal government to re-introduce aerial border patrols across the country as one of the ways to check the influx of gunmen men into the country.

The governor’s advise was contained in a paper titled: Strategic Leadership: My Experience as a Governor”, which he delivered at the weekend, at the National Defence College Abuja.

Bello, in the paper, according to aa statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mrs Mary Noel Berje, believed that, “aircraft patrol at the border is imperative in order to stop the movement of weapons into the country.”

According to the statement, Bello also said the country should “do further retrospection as to why the Nigerian Military that is praised all over the world for its gallantry seems to be fighting insurgency and banditry without an end.

“As strategic leaders and Members of Course 30 of the Nigerian Defense College, I challenge you to come up with strategic roadmap to end these menace (Insurgency) soon

“As the Chief Security Officer of the state, we took our responsibility of providing quality information to the security agencies, effectively supporting them with logistics and morale boosting gestures. We have also brought in non-state actors like the vigilantes and the hunters to support the conventional security apparatus, considering their knowledge of the terrain.

“On many occasions, I have had to visit the affected communities and had one-on-one dialogue with the victims as well as interact with the members of the troops on ground,” he said, urging the security agencies to respond promptly to the intel provided by the state government and use technology to fight terrorism rather than conventional way.

Bello, who recalled how Niger used to be one of the most peaceful states before the setting in of terrorism, kidnappings and cattle rustling in some parts of the state, pointed out that his administration, “has been battling the security challenges with every sense of responsibility and determination”
He also maintained that, in spite of the effect of COVID-19 pandemic and the heightened insecurity in the state, his leadership style guided by the Principles of Strategic Leadership, has brought in positive changes to governance in the state.

The Commandant of the National Defense College, Rear Admiral Murtala Mormoni Bashir, assured the governor that the participants would come up with a strategic plan that would assist in curbing the activities of terrorists in the country.