19,000 paramilitary personnel recruited to boost internal security ― Dambazau

THE outgoing Minister of Interior Lieutenant Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (Retd) on Tuesday handed over the reins of the ministry to the Permanent Secretary, Barrister Georgina Ehuriah in line with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Dambazau, speaking during the short handover ceremony, disclosed that the ministry successfully recruited 19,000 paramilitary personnel between 2016 and 2018 to boost efforts at strengthening internal security.

He assumed duty as the Minister of Interior in November 2015, and passed through ups and downs, especially the internal security challenges ranging from Boko Haram insurgency to farmers-herders clashes, kidnapping for ransom among others.

He said: “Quite a number of people I met here have left and it is my turn to leave. I am going to leave with mix feelings in the sense that I am going to leave ministry behind that I enjoy so much working in.

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“But also know that I am leaving the ministry better than I met it. I want to believe that we have added value to the system. The details of what we have done are contained in the handover note.

He said one thing his administration had done was to sanitize the process of recruitment which was one of the major issues when he assumed office, adding that this was to the extent that recruiting 2,000 personnel was a problem leading to death and injury of some applicants.

He said within 2016 and 2018, the ministry successfully recruited about 19,000 people without any incident, saying this was an indication that the problem associated with recruitment into the paramilitary agencies has been solved.

He disclosed that prudent management of resources by the agencies under his watch led to the realization of over N113 billion as revenue and over 112 million dollars as revenue in the last few years.

He said his administration strived to strengthen the institutions under the Interior Ministry, stressing that for any nation to develop, the institutions must be strong.

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He lamented that at the time he came in there was only one rickety fire truck in Abuja after visiting fire stations in Abuja and Lagos, but with the support of President Buhari, the Federal Fire Service could now boast of about 40 new fire engines.

He commended the staff of the ministry for maximum support and appealed to them to extend the same hand of fellowship to his successor in order to move the ministry to the next level.

Permanent Secretary, Georgina Ehuriah while receiving the handover note, commended the panache the Dambazau brought to the office as interior minister.

He commended him for various innovations and initiatives aimed at resolving the myriads of internal security challenges in the country.