The Federal Government has outlined a multi-pronged strategy aimed at tackling insurgency, banditry and kidnapping across the country, with plans to recruit more security personnel, deploy advanced technology and strengthen international partnerships.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Daniel Bwala, disclosed this during a panel discussion on Friday.
Bwala said the Tinubu administration had intensified efforts to address Nigeria’s security challenges by increasing the number of personnel across the country’s security agencies, stressing that the current workforce was inadequate for Nigeria’s population and geographical size.
“We are investing in training and retraining. First of all, we’re investing in recruiting more security personnel because the one we have, they are not sufficient to match with the population and the land mass,” he said.
According to him, part of the new recruits will be deployed as forest guards to flush out terrorists and criminal gangs operating from forests, where they also engage in illegal mining and other criminal activities.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Daniel Bwala
He explained that the recruitment drive covers the Nigeria Police Force, the Armed Forces, the Department of State Services (DSS) and marine security agencies to improve security operations nationwide.
Bwala further revealed that the government was collaborating with paramilitary organisations and had licensed some private security companies to complement the efforts of conventional security agencies.
He also disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had ordered the withdrawal of police officers attached to VIPs to boost frontline policing, warning that officers who failed to comply with the directive would soon be identified and sanctioned.
On technology, the presidential aide said the government was investing heavily in modern surveillance equipment, including drones and interception systems, to strengthen intelligence gathering and enhance round-the-clock monitoring of criminal activities.
“We’re investing in technological devices that, in modern days, help us when we are sleeping, which is the drone system, interception and all that,” he said.
