By Zubairu Idris
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.- Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), has urged local communities in Northern Nigeria to intensify efforts toward providing intelligence information to security agencies on activities of criminals there.
He said that such information would enable the security agencies to address the insecurity bedeviling states in the North Western region of the country.
Monguno made the call in Katsina on Wednesday after meeting with Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State on security challenges bedeviling the state.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has directed me to lead the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu; the Director General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Rufai Ahmad; the Director General (DG) of the Department of State Security (DSS) Yusuf Magaji Bichi;and the Chief of Defence Intelligence Agency, AVM MS Usman, to find solutions to the security challenges in the north western part of the country.
“We had a frank discussion with the governor on the recent happenings in Katsina state and other states in the northwest region .
“What I saw on ground is very disturbing; obviously, we need to have collective efforts from both local communities and security agencies in tackling the situation.
“We need to build confidence to win the trust of the local communities,” he said.
The NSA said that they started with Katsina state because it was the most affected by the problem.
He noted that they had discussions with the governor on the causes and possible solutions to the problem.
According to him, the President Buhari-led administration has been spending more on security than the previous administrations since the country returned to democracy.
He said that the security agencies would need more of intelligence information now the local communities to end security challenges in the region. (NAN)
