The Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi, has blamed traditional rulers, politicians and other stakeholders for the growing banditry, insurgency and other vices in the country.

The Minister stated this on Thursday during a one-day security summit by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State.

Represented by his Special Adviser Technical, Almed Jibrin, the minister spoke on the theme, ‘The Nigerian National Question: Implications for National Unity’.

He accused stakeholders of apparent compromise on security.

He said, “The political and traditional elite at the local level are a most times not present in their constituencies and therefore create the vacuum that insurgents, terrorists and bandits fill in the administration of local authorities.

“What about the failure of our religious and opinion leaders who do not provide counter narratives to be misguided religious zealots, as well as sustainable engagement of local population by regional and community leaders?

“What appears to be the most apparent is the lack of efficient intelligence system or lack of will to utilize the provided intelligence in carrying out security operations by the military and para-military agencies, as all security stakeholders appear to be compromised by the insurgents in the Northeast as well as bandits/kidnappers in the Northwest and North Central.”

He called on those instigating violence in the country to desist forthwith. (The PUNCH)

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