Mr Mike Okiro, a former Nigerian Inspector General of Police (IGP), has said that everyone is feeling the negative effects of the country’s current security situation, criticizing governors for not doing enough to resolve the crisis.
Okiro, in an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, noted that insecurity has reached the level of affecting food production in the country and that everyone is feeling the impact of the crisis.
He said, “Now, the issue of food security is one that has been with us for years. And South governments have not done much. And I think it’s time we call it a spade a spade and not to put it into what we are doing in this country.
“Because food security happens to everybody. Everybody faces it, no matter how big or how small you are. All that is security, everybody feel it. Even school children are feeling it. Parents are feeling it. Workers are feeling it.”
“I think it’s time for government to really come up with a different roadmap on how to confront food security in Nigeria. The issue of medicine is not a yes. There’s no country even as big as, even America has mercenaries.”
Okiro, who was at the helm of affairs of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) between 2007 and 2009, advised the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to seek the assistance of mercenaries if the current strength of the security agencies is not capable of getting rid of armed bandits, insurgents, and other criminal elements in the country.
According to the country’s former police chief, fear is prevalent among many Nigerians due to the rising insecurity in the country. This, according to him, will prevent foreign investors from coming in.
The 76-year-old retired police officer called on the federal government to wake up and do the needful in tackling insecurity in the country.
“So people, if you feel you cannot succeed in a venture alone, you have to bring people to assist you. So if the government feels necessary for them to bring mercenaries, people who have the know-how, who are knowledgeable, to confront this food security in this country, they can do it. But to relax and say to Israel, it’s not something good for this country.
“We must proceed. We must move forward. With food security, nobody can move forward.
“Everybody is afraid to go out. Even foreign investors cannot come in. You can’t invest in a situation where the lives and property are not secured.
“So I think government has to wake up. And food security has been there for a long time. But to tackle it each time when government should tackle it,” he added.
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