The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Daniel Bwala, has listed measures the Federal Government is taking to end insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping across the country.
He spoke during a panel discussion on The Link Up Podcast, hosted by EchoRoom and published on Friday.
Bwala said the government was recruiting and retraining more security personnel, noting that the current strength of the security forces was not sufficient for Nigeria’s population and land mass.
“We are investing in training and retraining. First of all, we’re investing in recruiting more security personnel because the ones we have are not sufficient to match the population and the landmass,” he said.
He added that some of the new recruits would serve as forest guards to check terrorists exploiting forests to hide and mine resources illegally.
Bwala said, “We needed to send people to the forest, so we have to recruit more and send them to be forest guards as forest guards. Those ones, the terrorists, are also stealing our mines and resources.”
He said the police, the military, and the State Security Service were also being expanded, alongside marine security operations.
According to him, “We also have these marine guys there. We’re increasing police, soldiers, and DSS. So in terms of personnel, we’re increasing them.”
The presidential aide said the government was working with paramilitary agencies and had licensed some private security firms to provide additional cover.
He added that President Bola Tinubu had withdrawn police officers attached to VIPs, warning that defaulting officers would soon be identified.
On technology, Bwala said drones and interception systems were being deployed to aid round-the-clock surveillance.
He said, “We’re investing in technological devices that, in modern days, help us when we are sleeping, which are the drone system, interception, and all that.”
