German political foundation, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), has said the security situation in the country worsened despite the death of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau.
The resident representative, Dr. Vladimir Kreck, disclosed this at the just concluded retreat to discuss new bills for addressing insecurity in Nigeria held in collaboration with the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
He said: “The security situation in the last three years has worsened enormously considering the mass kidnappings in the Northwest. I am not so sure whether the death of Shekau is a true advantage to the cause against insurgency in the Northeast. We now have to face even a stronger Islamic State problem and of course, the insurgency in the Southeast, the militancy in the South-South and all the farmers’ conflict in the North Central and southern part of the country.
“Who is the leading agency for instance in the fight against terrorism? Who is the leading agency in certain situations where it comes to law enforcement? Which agency is supposed to assist and how should they? It is not enough for instance in the latest Police Act to state that the police are supposed to collaborate with other agencies. You have to go beyond that, you have to become technical to explain how the police and to which extent the police and other agencies are supposed to work together.”
He said further: “Every country is sovereign and it’s up to the government itself to decide to which extent they are willing to request foreign assistance especially in conflict as we have in the Northeast and their willingness to accept foreign soldiers on Nigerian soil.”
He added: “I believe that Nigeria has the resources and the potential to tackle all these security challenges but they must be more focused on the major security challenges and resources must also be put especially in these areas to overcome them quick enough before the point of no return is passed.”
