Governors to dedicate portion of excess crude account to tackling insecurity

Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) says it will dedicate portions of the excess crude account, natural resource development fund and the economic stabilisation fund to provide support for the procurement of necessary military equipment to address the insecurity challenges in the country.

There has been a surge in kidnapping, banditry and other crimes across the country in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, gunmen stormed Government Science College (GSC) Kagara, Niger state, and abducted 27 schoolchildren.

Barely 24 hours later, some communities in Gurmana, Shiroro local government area of Niger state, was attacked by gunmen.

Kayode Fayemi, chairman of the forum and Ekiti governor, announced the decisions reached by the governors after an emergency meeting held at the banquet hall of the state house.

Fayemi said the governors have provided financial support to victims of conflicts in some states.

He added that the governors are committed to the protection of lives and property in their various states.

“Our meeting also reviewed the challenges of resourcing for our military institutions,” he said.

“We welcome the appointment of new services chiefs and we are supportive of the work they promised to do. We hope a new security architecture will emerge from this new leadership.

“On our part, we are prepared to support the dedication of portions of the Excess Crude Account and the Natural Resource Development Fund and the Economic Stabilization Fund to providing the necessary equipment for the military and other security institutions to address immediately the impunity associated with all of the crimes and criminality that we have highlighted in this briefing.

“In this wise, we have also expressed our interest in strengthening our judicial system so that they can accelerate access to justice for victims of crime and criminality in the country.

“Governors are irrevocably committed to the protection of lives and property in our states and we are full of sympathy with those who have lost lives and property. The governors forum has gone ahead to provide some financial support to victims of the conflicts experienced in Uyo and Ogun states where our delegation visited over the last week.

“Nigerian governors also are very clear that crime and criminality should be comprehensively prosecuted wherever they may occur without ethnic, religious or any other coloration.”

The governors warned against ethnic profiling of crimes, saying that the consequence of such act had been disastrous for some countries.

He said: “Governors are totally opposed to ethnic profiling of crime. Knowing what has transpired in other parts of the world, whether we are talking of the way youths were profiles in Germany leading to the world war, or we talking of the way Tutsis were profiled leading to the genocide experienced in Rwanda, we do not believe that crimes are associated with particular ethnic group.

“And to that extent, we unreservedly condemn any attempt to profile any ethnic group on account of a particular crime.”

Feyemi said the governors also reviewed the National Livestock Transformation Plan and have adopted the modern approach to livestock management.

“Because it the view of all the governors in Nigeria that the traditional approach to grazing is no longer sustainable and that modern approach to livestock management need to be put in place and governors feel strongly that the strengthening of the National Livestock Transformation Plan would be a good place to start this comprehensive revisiting of the livestock management arrangement”, he said.