A socio-politcal organization in the Middle Belt under the aegis of North Central Youth Security Forum (NCYSF)
on Thursday called on President Bola Tinubu to sign the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) Bill into law to arrest the trend of insecurity in the country.
The organization expressed optimism that by giving assent to the NHFSS Bill, its over 20,000 members in the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), would fight the blood-thirsty killers in Nigeria.
The National Coordinator of NCYSF, Yashim Luka, who said these during a press conference in Abuja, believed that more hands would be needed to effectively fight and bring to an end, banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other crimes and criminalities in the country.
According to him, although insecurity in Nigeria has been on for a long time, affecting all parts of the 36 states of the country and the FCT, the North Central, especially Plateau, Benue and others, as well as some states in the North West like Kaduna and Zamfara, have become hotbeds of the nefarious activities of bandits and kidnappers, thereby making life unbearable for residents of affected communities.
Luka recalled that on January 15, it was reported how bandits abducted 10 persons from an estate, Sagwari Layout, Dutse in Abuja, on January 7, killed three of their victims.
He said, “The killers also increased their demand from the initial N60 million per person to N100 million, totaling N700 million. Among those killed was a 13-year-old high school student, identified as Folorunsho Ariyo and Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar. The question is, if the nation’s capital territory is not safe, where else can be safe in the country?
“We therefore express solidarity with the President on his recent statement that his administration is poised to work with a special security outfit that would be purely dedicated to fighting crimes that are planned and executed within and around the forests.
“It is on that note that we, the youths, especially from the North Central, North West and other parts of Nigeria hereby urge our dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to sign the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) Bill into law.
“From available records, the NHFSS has been in existence for over ten years, with well-structured command and control mechanism. The over 20,000 officers and men of the service operating across the 36 states and the FCT have been at the mercy of individuals and groups who believe and appreciate their exploits and contributions to national security, especially on intelligence gathering and tactical operations within and around the forests.
“Gladly, many state governors, including those of Kebbi, Imo, Plateau and others, are already working with operatives of NHFSS by providing them with operational vehicles and other necessary equipment to carry out their patriotic duties to fatherland.
“By giving assent to the NHFSS Bill and thereby making it an autonomous government agency under the Ministry of Interior, the government would have succeeded in empowering the organization to carry out their statutory responsibility with new vigour, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.
“There is no doubt that making the NHFSS a government agency would attract added financial burden on the Federal Government, but the added cost cannot be compared with the huge losses incurred by the nation from banditry, kidnapping and other criminal activities, including killing of hundreds of Nigerian citizens and other nationals, denting Nigeria’s image at home and across the world which in turn affects the government’s drive to attract investors for the hundreds of solid mineral deposits and other opportunities in the country.”
Luka said the NHFSS would be a potential source of massive employment of the teaming army of unemployed young people in the country.
“With the President’s assurances that opportunities would be opened to employ millions of youths by his administration, the NHFSS provides the government the wide window to achieve that, also knowing that employment of young people is one of the surest ways to tackle insecurity by keeping them positively engaged and therefore off the streets”, Luka emphasized.
Friday Olokor, Abuja
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