Our security officials need special prayers to overcome challenges – Yuguda

Former Governor of Bauchi state, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, says the nation’s security personnel need special prayers from all well meaning citizens to enable them to overcome security challenges across the country.

Yuguda stated this when he fielded questions from State House Correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.

Yuguda, who identified population explosion as the main factor responsible for the current state of insecurity in some parts of the country, cautioned that herdsmen should not be criminalised since not all of them engaged in banditry.

He said: ”But we see these things keep repeating themselves, we don’t expect them to stop overnight, it’s not possible.

”So we are praying for the president to surmount all these problems as quickly as possible and we believe that the team he has, the police, army, Air Force, the navy are doing their best.

”They should add more prayers and rededicate themselves more and more so that within the shortest time possible, if they have a target of 10 days to defeat the criminals, they should reduce it to five days or even four days.

”Nigeria is such a huge country and with population growing from 60 million in the 60s to over 200 million today.

“So most of these challenges you are seeing today are more about competition for land, especially as regard the so-called herdsmen.

”We know there are quite a number of them that are criminals but criminalising the entire herdsmen I think is unfair because they have been peaceful people.”

Asked to respond to the spate of insecurity in the country, the former governor said the security problems facing the nation dated far back before the Buhari administration.

He acknowledged that the Boko Haram menace started in Bauchi state during his administration but it was addressed promptly.

“Everybody knows that insecurity in the country did not start with the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. We were in government when this insecurity started.

”Most of you are aware Boko Haram started in Bauchi and by the grace of Allah, Bauchi was able to address it.

”Of course it has continued and Mr President has been able to substantially defeat the insurgency in the North East.

”So, as along as the population is willing and he too has the vision to address the problem, I think we are going to win.

”So, really the insecurity in North East and the North West is being addressed and everybody is happy,” he further noted.