..Urge Tinubu to sign Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) Bill into law.
.As Agric minister calls for collaboration with agro-product dealers to ensure food security.
Youths of the North Central zone operating under the aegis of the North Central Youth Security Forum (NCYSF) have taken the lead in condemning and protesting the rising rate of insecurity and violent crimes especially kidnapping, extortion, banditry and armed robbery within Abuja and throughout the zone in recent months.
The concerned youths reasoned, with some justification, that the stack vulnerability of Abuja, the Federal Capital, to bandit attacks and the ease with which gunmen launch attacks, kidnap people at random for ransom without fear of arrest, shows clearly that every part of the country has become easy target.
Addressing a press conference Thursday, on the concern of the youths, Comrade Yashim Luka, the National Coordinator, North Central Youth Security Forum (NCYSF) regretted that banditry and other forms of insecurity in the North Central especially Abuja has become very worrisome and a source of concern.
While regretting that insecurity and kidnapping has become “one of the greatest challenges currently facing Nigeria, which have been rising precipitously, Yashim concluded that the twin evils of “banditry and kidnapping for ransom with their attendant wanton killing of victims, sometimes, even after the criminals have collected huge amounts of money from relatives of their captives might overtake the nation except remedial actions are immediately taken to check the menace.
He said although insecurity has been with Nigerians for a long time and has affected all parts of the 36 states of the country including the Federal Capital Territory (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.”
Yashim recalled that just recently bandits abducted ten persons from an estate, around Sagwari Layout, in Dutse, Abuja, killed three captives while instantaneously increasing their ransom demand from the initial N60 million per person to N100 million, totaling N700 million.
He observed that among those killed was a 13-year-old high school student, identified as Folorunsho Ariyo and another captive Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar and wondered whether the nation’s capital territory is still safe with such carnage.
“We condemn in the strongest terms possible, the wanton and unprovoked killing of innocent Nigerians, most of them, young men and women who still have the future ahead and a lot to offer the nation.
“In spite of these ugly occurrences, however, we also wish to commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has taken very strong measures to address insecurity and other criminal activities across the country.
“The recent marching order given by the President, to security agencies, to bring an end to the heinous crimes perpetrated these enemies of Nigeria as well as the proactive measures being adopted by the security agencies, are reassuring about the country’s capacity to stamp out the negative trend in no distant time.
“We also believe that more hands are needed to effectively fight and bring to an end, banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other crimes and criminalities in the country, especially as these afore-mentioned dangerous activities are planned by hoodlums who use forests and bushes as hideouts.
“It is therefore pertinent to state that in order to effectively fight and defeat banditry, kidnapping and such other crimes, the Federal Government, as part of its general security architecture and strategy, should take deliberate and permanent measures, to ensure that forests are made uncomfortable for criminals through the empowerment and deployment of well-trained and properly equipped professionals, who are specially conditioned to combat criminalities planned and executed within and around forests.”
The group supported and canvassed for 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 control and command 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 the agency an autonomous government agency under the Ministry of Interior, the government would have succeeded in empowering the organization to carry out its statutory responsibility with new vigour, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.”
The group argued that although making the NHFSS a government agency would attract added financial burden on the Federal Government, stated that the added cost cannot be compared with the huge losses incurred by the nation through lose of lives from banditry, kidnapping and other criminal activities, including killing of hundreds of Nigerian youths and other nationals, which has den Ted Nigeria’s image abroad.
“Aside from the above, the NHFSS is 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,” the youth leader concluded.
.as Agric minister calls for collaboration with agro-product dealers to ensure food security.
however, Suppliers and dealers in agricultural materials used by farmers and other active stakeholders in the food production value chain have been advised to key into the present administration’s programmes aimed at boosting crop yield and increasing food supply in the country in the next four years.
The Minister of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, stated that the administration’s plan to increase and strengthen crop production to achieve food security will succeed faster with collaboration between key actors in the agricultural sector such as agro-products dealers and government.
Kyari made the call during a courtesy visit by a delegation of the Nigerian Agro Input Dealers Association (NAIDA), led by the President, Alhaji Kabir Umar Fara in Abuja.
He pointed out that the essence of collaboration was to ensure that products supplied meet prescribe d standards in terms of quality and quantity to ensure food sufficiency.
Kyari emphasized the need for the association to sell only certified and approved products sourced from registered input producers who can easily be accessible should tbe need arise.
Sen. Abubakar charged the association to come up with policies and programmes that would check the rampant adulteration of products, noting that marketers in every sector are the face of government.
He also urged farmers to properly use and apply the entire inputs given to them, in line with the best agricultural practices for maximum productivity.
Earlier, the President of Nigerian Agro Input Dealers Association, NAIDA, Alhaji Kabir Umar Fara explained that NAIDA is an umbrella of input distributors in Nigeria, pointing out that members deal on fertilizers, organic and inorganic, seeds, petrol chemicals and farm implements.
He stated that the association was a structured national body with six zonal vice presidents and state chapter chairmen, whose names and contacts have been supplied to the Ministry to ensure synergy at the grassroots and are committed to ensure that agric business gets the best.
Umar Fara stated that the association sensitizes farmers to buy their inputs from established approved centers.
Speaking further, the president of the association stated that when the cost of Inputs are high, some dealers have the tendency to do the wrong things like also hiking prices, assuring that it is the duty of the association to assist the ministry stop the members.
He added that, “now, there is sales permit issued by the Ministry, if you don’t have sales permit and you are guilty of unfair increase in the sale of our inputs, you would be arrested immediately”.
He commended the ministry for also deploying foot soldiers in each of the states, for purposes of collaboration with the 36 states and FCT to ensure compliance with rules and guidelines governing agricultural products dealership.
