Niger Commissioner Seeks Prayers to Surmount Insecurity

By Laleye Dipo

As bandits continue to invade parts of Niger State unabated, the Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Idris, has said the state needs prayers to be able to surmount the present security challenges facing it and its people.

Idris made this known in a chat with THISDAY after an expanded security meeting in the state held at the Government House which lasted about 48 hours.

The security meeting, which was presided over by Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, was attended by all commissioners, security chiefs in the state, traditional rulers and local government chairmen.

“We need prayers from every quarter to succeed because we are dealing with one situation that is highly complex.

“We are not dealing with a different entity that is estranged from the society that you can just approach and take care of them and then go to rest, we are dealing with individuals that are part and parcel of the society you are trying to save,” Idris said.

He added that the fight against insurgency has also been made more difficult because strategies put in place are always divulged to the insurgents before the plans are executed.

“There are measures that we are taking that we are keeping close to our chests because we found out that we meet at security level. We meet, we agree with security personnel on strategies to curb the menace. Before we take action, those we are to take action against have already got to know our plan. That is why we are being careful,” he said.

Asked if government has been able to discover these moles, Idris said: “We are not pointing accusing fingers at anybody, the problem is that there are moles within the government, you have moles everywhere.”

The commissioner however said that the expanded security meeting was able to “evolve new strategies” to fight insurgency and banditry, adding that the traditional rulers being closer to the people will now be used to gather information about what goes on in their domains.