The Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and Nigerian Maritime Adminstration and safety Agency (NIMASA) have urged stakeholders in security sector to be proactive in gathering security information toward tackling the menace of insecurity.
The two agencies made the plea at a workshop organised for security operatives in Ekiti on the way forward to ending the state of insecurity.
The one-day capacity building workshop, held in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday brought together different security agencies to brainstorm on the security challenges in the state, with a view to proffering solutions to them.
Retired Capt. Sunday Adebomi, the Chairman if SEMA in Ekiti,
while declaring the workshop open, said there was need for collaboration among security operatives in the state.
He then called on security agencies to collaborate in order to perform effectively, urging them to synergise with local communities for enhanced intelligence sharing and proactive policing.
Adebomi said that tackling insecurity requires information gathering, advising security personnel to intensify efforts at ensuring that the issue of insecurity was tackled headlong.
The security expert, however, recommended that all security agencies in the state should be made members of the State Security Council.
He urged the three tiers of government to ensure that modern technologies was provided to enable them to confront the issue of insecurity.
Adebomi identified lack of inclusiveness in the security council as hampering the fight against insecurity in the state.
He urged the security agencies to see security as a communal corporate responsibility.
Adebomi further stressed the need for synergy among them in order to achieve a holistic security report.
Also, Dr Bashir Jamoh, the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Adminstration and safety Agency (NIMASA), represented by Mr Felix Owoh, the Deputy Director, Special Duties, called for community policing, saying there is need for all security agencies to work together.
Jamoh called for the deployment of more surveillance teams for effective patrol of the 16 local government areas and to all the flash points in the state.
He suggested the deployment of immigration personnel to all the entries and exit points in the state to check the influx of illegal immigrants.
In his remarks, the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti, Mr Moronkeji Adesina, delivered a paper on: “Challenges of Internal Security in Ekiti State: The Way Out”.
Adesina, represented by ACP Sheu Alao, identified inadequate manpower and equipment and deplorable condition of roads as some of the factors that contributed to insecurity in the state.
The police chief recommended the recruitment of more manpower, including local vigilante groups and other security personnel to bridge the gap between the security agencies and the communities in the state.
“There should be regular training and re-training of security personnel,” Adesina said.
Commenting, the General Manager of SEMA, Mr Jide Borode, said the agency has been proactive in responding to people who were affected by disasters.
Borode said that communique drafted from the workshop would be forwarded to appropriate quarters to address insecurity in the state.
The workshop was attended by regular and paramilitary security agencies. (NAN)