The Inspector General of Police,
Ibrahim Idris, has said that the only genuine solution to herdsmen/farmers
crisis in some parts of the country is through dialogue.
IGP Idris said this at the public
launch of his book titled: ‘Security and Justice: The pathway for peace and
reconciliation in Nigeria’, in Lagos while appealing to Nigerians to shun
inciting statements and stop playing politics with crisis.
Idris disclosed that he was
personally in Benue State to discuss reconciliation moves with the parties
involved, adding that the responses had, so far, been encouraging.
The IGP said: “The challenges we
are having with these herdsmen have gone down. In Benue, we have 15 Police
units on ground and I have been monitoring their successes. I was in Benue and
we have been having stakeholders’ meetings, we have been discussing.
“Based on this, people have been
coming openly to state their problems and it is through these means that we can
understand each other and reconcile our differences.
“The role of traditional rulers
in this reconciliation process cannot be over emphasised because most of them
have the ears of their people. When you have political disagreement in these
communities, these traditional rulers are handy.”
He explained that the reason for
writing the book was in recognition of the Nigeria Police as the nation’s core
law enforcement agency which is constitutionally saddled with the
responsibility of preventing and detecting crime, apprehension and prosecution
of offenders, preservation of law and order.
“I have watched with troubled
heart the security challenges confronting this country. The challenges of Boko
Haram in the North East, the challenges of kidnappings and armed robberies,
cattle rustling and militancy in virtually all parts of Nigeria.
“The farmers/herders clashes, the
challenges of assassination for various reasons, the challenges of conflicts
among the divergent communities which often times take dangerous dimensions and
occur along the fault lines of ethnic, religious, regional and political
differences between the divergent groups and communities.
“These challenges if not properly
managed at the pace we are going, coupled with inflammatory and inciting
statements ,will tear this country apart and drag us into an unending crisis.
“As the IGP, it is my
responsibility to put sufficient security architecture in place to manage the
challenges aforementioned. I can say with confidence that the emplaced
preventive and detective strategies have been largely successful in managing
the situation based on my achievement so far,” Idris added.
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