We must overhaul internal security architecture to address insecurity ―Dogara

THE Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara on Wednesday restated that there was a need to overhaul the nation’s internal security architecture to address the spate of insecurity in the country.

The Speaker, in a statement, said that himself and the Senate President Senator Bukola Saraki met with President Muhammadu Buhari over the Plateau violence, with a view to addressing the state of insecurity in the country.

On how to address the nation’s insecurity, he said that “I want to restate my earlier call for a total reform and overhaul of our internal security architecture which has failed to address the spate of insecurity in the land.”

The statement reads: “we requested for the meeting in order to hear from the president the steps and measures he is taken to end the orgy of killings and violence not only on the Plateau but in other parts of the country.

“The President briefed us on what he saw firsthand when he visited Plateau state on Tuesday and the measures he is putting in place to forestall a recurrence.

“The President has taken enough steps and told us what he is doing especially the reorganisation that he plans to put in place to ensure that
this doesn’t happen again.

ALSO READ: Buhari’s visit to Plateau belated, afterthought ―PDP

“We also used the opportunity to advise the President on other measures and actions that will help bring lasting peace in our country in accordance with the resolutions passed at the joint emergency closed-door session of the National Assembly held some weeks ago.

“These are very sober moments for all us. In a situation where people, in hundreds continued to be killed, we can no longer tolerate this kind of situation as a government.

“We call on all relevant government agencies to quickly provide emergency relief services to people in the affected areas.

“The House of Representatives and indeed the National Assembly will continue to work towards providing all necessary legislative backing to the security agencies more especially funding needed to reform and equip our armed forces to tackle the prevailing security challenges confronting us as a nation.

“I want to seize this opportunity to once again offer our condolences to families of victims of violence in Zamfara, Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Borno, Yobe and other places and urge our citizens to embrace peace without which there can be no meaningful development,” the statement concluded.