Former Governor of Bauchi state Mr Isa Yuguda said Tuesday that soldiers, policemen and other security personnel need special prayers from well-meaning Nigerians to enable them overcome the security challenges in l the country.
Yuguda said this while fielding questions from State House correspondents after a close-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
He said population explosion in the country is one of the factor leading responsible for the current state of insecurity in some parts of the country.
“Everybody knows that insecurity in the country did not start with the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. We were in government when this insecurity started.
”Most of you are aware Biko Haram started in Bauchi and by the grace of Allah, Bauchi was able to address it. Of course it has continued and Mr President has been able to substantially defeat the insurgency in the north east.
“So as along as the population is willing and he too has the vision to address the problem, I think we are going to win. So, really the insecurity in north east and the north west is being addressed and everybody is happy,” he said.
The former governor also cautioned against criminalising all herdsmen in the country, stressing that not all of them engage in banditry.
“’Nigeria is such a huge country and with population growing from 60 million in the 60s to over 200 million today, so most of these challenges you are seeing today is more about competition for land, especially as regards to the so-called herdsmen.
”We know there are quite a number of them that are criminals but criminalizing the entire herdsmen I think is unfair because they have been peaceful people,” he said.
