Security: Govts In Troubled States Have Failed, Sports Minister Declares

Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has ascribed the lingering insecurity and killings in some states to the failure of state and local governments in the area, and therefore asked the federal government to declare a state of emergency in those states.

He mentioned the states as Plateau, Benue, Zamfara and Taraba.

Speaking to newsmen today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the minister condemned the renewed killing of people in some local government areas of Plateau in the past few days, even as he criticized those apportioning blame on the federal government over the persistent crisis in the Plateau.

He insisted that the state and local government authorities should be held responsible for the problem, adding: “collapse of local government administration had contributed immensely to the inability of the security personnel to arrest the problems.

“The Plateau crisis can be traced to many years of inaction by previous and current administrations in Plateau state despite the Federal Government’s efforts to address the problem.

“It is disheartening that Plateau state has been witnessing killings of innocent citizens in the last four to five days and this is very annoying and disturbing to the government and inhabitants of the state.

“I alerted the Federal Executive Council on Sept. 5 on the need to take drastic and emergency measures to tackle the crisis because the local and state governments have failed in their responsibility of offering useful information to security agents despite the huge resources being spent on security.

“It has, therefore, become imperative for the federal government to declare state of emergency in Plateau and other troubled states across the country so as to put a stop to the killings.”

The Sports Minister identified lack of dedicated leadership at both local and state levels as main factor responsible for the inability of the combined efforts of the security personnel to check the killings in Plateau, Benue, Taraba, Zamfara and other troubled states.

He advocated for the re-reintroduction of Crises Resolution Committee at the local government level.

“But security personnel alone cannot achieve much in addressing the problem without the support and cooperation of the state and local governments as well as the local communities

“There is the need for collaboration between all the three tiers of government, the local communities and Youth Councils in order to find a lasting solution to the crisis.”