From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has tasked the 36 state governors to provide adequate security for their people in the nature of the South West Security Network known as Amotekun with full compliments of weapons to face and deter insurgency and terrorism.
This is even as the forum called for community policing as a means to curb the menace of insecurity in the country.
Rising from an emergency meeting, the group which comprises political leaders and eminent personalities from the South West, South East, South South and North Central geo-political zones of the country took a swipe at the Federal Government and the National Assembly on the current security situation in the country.
In a communique issued at the end of the meeting, copy of which was made available to newsmen in Akure, the Ondo State capital, the forum chastised the federal government on its stance on state police and autonomy for the federating units in the country, urging the federal government to ensure there’s true federalism in the country.
The communique was signed by some leaders of the forum including Oba Oladipo Olaitan, Mrs. Buknor Akerele, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, Senator John Azuta-Mbata and Amb. Godknows Igali frowned at the killing of innocent people in some parts of the country and urged the federal government to ensure adequate protection of all citizens as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, stressing that protection of lives and property remains the primary responsibility of any government.
The communique read: “The Federal Government of Nigeria and particularly the National Assembly must now accept their failure to provide the most fundamental security of life and property across the country, whilst we witness the impunity of Fulani terrorists and their foreign collaborators wrecking genocidal attacks on indigenous communities across the nation and particularly in the Middle Belt region as happening currently in Benue state.
“For the umpteenth time, SMBLF calls on the President and the National Assembly to rise to their constitutional responsibility and duty to protect life and property of Nigerians.
“We propose that the Nigerian federation should ensure enhanced autonomy of the federating states such that each state shall have its own independent Police Command with complimentary divisions at the local government and community levels.
“That all police officers from the rank of a Chief Superintendent of Police and below should be deployed within their state of origin. We also condemn the planned National Forest Guards as an additional federal security structure in the states and demand that all security institutions or formations apart from the armed forces, police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence and the Department of State Services should be part of the security architecture of the states, more so as land and forests are exclusive constitutional prerogatives of the federating states.
“We condemn the rituals of fire-brigade deployment of members of the armed forces to troubled areas spread across the country as ineffective and put unnecessary pressures on the military from its constitutional roles of defending the nation’s territorial integrity.
“That pending full-fledged restructuring towards true federalism, governments of the states of the federation should take immediate measures to provide security for their people in the nature of the Amotekun, the South West Security Network with the full compliments of weapons to face and deter insurgency and terrorism.
“That these security measures are considered more effective than the current unitary architecture in a Federation which renders Governors as Chief Security Officers of their states only in name.
“States with prevailing culture of animal husbandry and with the assistance of the Federal Government should encourage ranching within their territories,” the communique added.
Present at the meeting were former deputy governor of Lagos State, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Chief Nnia Nwodo, former president-general, Ohanaeze, Bassey Ekefre, deputy national chairman, PANDEF, Prince Okey Nwadinobi, Chief Sola Ebiseni, Mr Luka Binnya and Emeka Sibeudu among others.
