Mohammed Abubakar, the Inspector General of Police has blamed the current insecurity problem in the country on the inordinate scramble for the dividends of Nigeria’s oil wealth.
The IGP said this yesterday at the welcome address delivered at the opening ceremony of a two-day national summit on “Security Challenges in Nigeria” with the theme, “Addressing Nigeria’s Security Challenges for Sustainable Peace and Development”.
Abubakar said the police is putting adequate measures in place to strategize and overcome the security challenges.
“The security situation in Nigeria, in recent times, has been a source of great concern to all patriotic citizens and to the international friends of Nigeria. The security challenges posed by the oil politics resonated with militancy in the Niger Delta, the rampant kidnapping in the south-east, communal, ethnic and religious crises prominent in the north; and the current terror crimes exemplified by the Boko Haram insurgency combined to inform the urgent need for a summit of this nature.
“The Nigeria Police Force is not alone in the dire quest for solution to the country’s security problems which tends to retard delivery of democratic dividends in some parts of the country. If the security problems are adequately contained, every other thing will naturally fall into its proper shape,” he said.
In his opening address, President Goodluck Jonathan represented by the minister of police affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade, acknowledged that it was time for Nigerians to seriously rise up and address the security challenges confronting the nation.
According to reports, the chairman of the occasion, former IGP Mohammed Gambo Jimeta, said Nigeria’s security problems are self-inflicted. He called on the ruling class to rise up to the challenge and do something to alleviate the sufferings of the masses.
He warned that if nothing is done, the situation will further degenerate making it difficult to control.
