Gombe State governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has said that the peace and security summit convened by his administration will provide an opportunity for security personnel, government officials and other strategic stakeholders in the maintenance of law and order to aggregate and explore pressing internal issues with a view to identifying new security and community pathways of mitigating them for lasting peace and stability.
The governor stated this while declaring open the First Gombe State Peace and Security Summit, tagged ‘Mitigating Contemporary Security Challenges for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development.’
He also inaugurated Operation Hattara.
He observed that given the theme of the summit and the calibre of resource persons invited as well as its participants, the summit will chart a new direction for mitigating internal security matters not only in Gombe State, but in the country as a whole.
“We are all aware that our country is passing through a delicate period of immense security and economic challenges and risks. Criminal elements all over the country are united in their determination to threaten our common values, destroy our means of livelihood and make life brutish and miserable for our people.
“Since 2010, our security forces have been battling to contain a brutal insurgency waged by Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State, which rapidly spread to other states in the North-East, North-Central and North-West sub-regions,” he said.”
He also noted that while the country was struggling to curb Boko Haram in the North-East zone, another security threat in the form of rural banditry emerged in some parts of the North-Central zone and the North-West zone with significant impact on human and the economic well-being.
The governor observed that the violent conflict which is majorly fuelled by climate change, population growth, proliferation of small arms and light weapons and ethnicity, has equally paved the way for banditry and kidnapping which has since reached alarming proportions in many states.
He said that although the present security situation in the country is generally precarious, the state is relatively secure and peaceful.
“For instance, if we take a look at the Nigeria Security Tracker published monthly by Eons Intelligence, Gombe State recorded the least incidences of killings, kidnapping and other violent crimes during the first quarter of 2022,” he noted.
He said his administration was able to curtail the menace of political thuggery and youth restiveness to the barest minimum through the combined efforts of the political class, security agencies, community, religious and traditional institutions thereby preventing them from metamorphosing into another criminal group.
“It is in this regard that we established the Gombe State Security, Traffic and Environmental Corps (GOSTEC), where we aim to employ about 2,000 youths with the first batch of 500 corps already engaged to support the statutory agencies in the state in maintaining law and order.
“This home grown initiative is aimed at harnessing the energies of our youths in state building in line with our human capital development initiative.”
The governor remarked that for these measures to lead to lasting peace and security, his administration established and sustained an effective partnership between the security agencies and the public.
“To develop this partnership, it is critical that we gain the support and understanding of strategic stakeholders in the state.
Earlier, the Secretary to the Gombe State Government (SSG), Professor Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, had described the summit as historic where it underscores the untiring efforts of the present administration of Yahaya towards the protection of lives and property of the citizenry.
He expressed gratitude to security agencies in the state for working assiduously to maintain the peace in Gombe Stat e, which has so far placed the state as the most peaceful in the North East sub-region.
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