Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, a former Commissioner of Police in Lagos State,has blamed politicians for activities of bandits terrorising the country.
Tsav told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Makurdi that banditry and most insecurities occurring in the country were created by politicians.
He said most politicians knew exactly who the bandits were and why they were carrying out such activities.
“Banditry and insecurity are created by politicians and the politicians know who the bandits are. They know why these people are doing this.
“I want to appeal to our political class to have a change of heart and cooperate with security agencies to reduce criminality in the land.
“If the police are courageous enough to search houses and monitor activities of politicians, you will see what they will recover from them,” he said.
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He said increased level of corruption and porous borders had also contributed in the ongoing security challenge as most arms were smuggled into the country through the borders.
Tsav therefore advised the Federal Government to embark on massive employment of security personnel as this would mop up most of the unemployed youths from the streets and reduce criminality in the country.
According to him, security agencies, especially the police, lack manpower to handle the incessant security breaches in the country as most of the ones in the service were currently attached to politicians.
“In the police service, for instance, we have few policemen and most of them are attached to politicians. In fact, the government should reduce salary of the legislature to fund the new intake.
“It is dangerous to attach a police officer to stay with a politician for more than two years because the moment they stay long with them they become very loyal to them instead of the Nigeria police force,” said the ex-police chief.
Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Saddique Abubakar, also said yesterday that said the military had substantially contained emerging banditry in some parts of the country in addition to the successes recorded in the fight against insurgency in the North East.
Speaking in an interview with reporters in Yola, Air Marshal Abubakar, who was in Yola to celebrate the Eid-el-Kabir with officers and men of the Air Task Force, engaged in the fight against insurgency in the north east, said the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) would continue to motivate its personnel to boost their morale in the task of keeping Nigeria and the society safe.
“We are making progress and all hands most be on deck to address the challenges, particularly the new challenge of banditry,” he said.
According to him, the NAF has established the quick Response Units in some states to bring security closer to the people.
The CAS lauded Nigerians for their understanding and urged the public to do more in terms of volunteering timely relevant information to security agencies.
He noted that the provision of adequate and effective security information to relevant authorities was the obligation of all Nigerians.
“I want to emphasize that security is not just about security agencies; everybody has a role to play to ensure Nigeria is secured,” Abubakar said.
While reiterating the commitment of NAF to ensuring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nigeria, the CAS lauded the Federal Government for doing a lot in equipping NAF in terms of aircraft and training to discharge its responsibility.
He lauded the performances of officers and men of the air task force, pointing out that his decision of always marking festive periods with them at the frontline was among others, to appreciate them and boost their morale to do more in discharging their assigned tasks.
