Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani-Bello has called on leaders, especially elected and appointed public office holders to make use of their political will and join hands with security agencies to curb insecurity across the country.

He also solicited the continued support of the military in fighting the security challenges in the state.

The Governor made this plea when he hosted the General Officer Commanding 1 Division Nigeria Army, Major General Mohammed Mohammed in his office in Minna, the state capital.

Sani-Bello said the increasing wave of insecurity required leaders at all levels to rise up to the situation, stressing that they should not be carried away by the paraphenilia of the office, which provided adequate security for them.

According to the Governor, “Today God has chosen us as leaders; myself as the Governor, you as the GOC and others in their respective offices. We are protected by the virtue of our offices, we have enough security around us and travel freely, which every ordinary Nigerian cannot.

“God has given us this opportunity as leaders. We should not be carried away by the security we are enjoying now and fail to use our good offices, our influence and our connection to help address the various security challenges confronting us as a country.

“We cannot continue to live with the illusion that we are secured, just because of the office we occupied. A time will come when we will be out of office and we shall be vulnerable. It is high time we join hands with the security agencies to address the matter once and for all.”

Sani-Bello called for the support of the military in curtailing the recent security challenges been encountered in the state, as the nefarious activities of the criminals, which were hitherto alien to the state, have started to take their toll on the source of livelihood of the people and the economy of the state.

“I believe that with your (military) support, we will have a safe environment. Niger State Government has worked very hard to fight insecurity and we have been able to restore some safety and peace within the state.”

He encouraged inter-agency collaboration between the military and other security agencies, and challenged them to re-strategise ways of curbing the lingering criminal activities in the state.

The Governor, who commended security agencies in the state, revealed that there was collaboration with others states in curbing security challenges.

Earlier, General Mohammed had said that he was in the state as part of the military's efforts of ensuring that the insecurity in the North West and North Central zones of the country are addressed collectively.

He assured Sani-Bello of military support in his quest to ensure that security is restored to the state.

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