The Federal House of Representatives Committee on the Army has commended the efforts of the Gombe State Government at enhancing security in the Northeast sub-region.
Chairman of the Committee, Abdulrazak Namdas gave the commendation when the committee paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Inuwa Yahaya on Monday in Gombe.
Namdas, who stated that the committee was on an oversight visit to the state, said the state government had done well in supporting security agencies in their efforts at providing adequate security to the North-east sub-region.
He stated that although his committee was on the Army, it was not unaware of the support the state government had given to various other security services in their efforts at strengthening security in the sub-region.
“When we see the state government assisting in security issues, we are happy because it helps to reduce security challenges.
“We are aware that the governor facilitated the setting up of a police tactical operation school where they train special protection units for counter-terrorism teams; this is a good one,” he said.
Namdas decried the huge security tasks vested on the army in different states of the federation, stressing, “the Army is in 34 out of the 36 states doing the work originally meant for the police.”
He urged the Federal Government to train and equip the police to reduce the burden on the Army, which is currently involved in tackling banditry, terrorism, cattle rustling and kidnapping across the country.
In his remarks, Gov. Yahaya described the state government’s relationship with security agencies as cordial, saying that their support to security agencies was borne out of the realization that positive outcomes on security could only be achieved through collective efforts.
Represented by his deputy, Manasseh Jatau, the governor said leaving security tasks to only security personnel alone “will mean leaving so many things unattended to and so we are collaborating with the army to improve security in the state.”
He reiterated that security remained a key priority of his administration because of its significance in providing a viable platform for development to take place.
“Whatever goal we want to pursue, security stands first and it is because of this that we are doing all we can to improve our security situation,” he said.
