In comments believed to be a response to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Monday said that the Muhammadu Buhari administration is not overwhelmed by the security challenges in the country.
Obasanjo, while reacting to the recent attacks on a Kaduna-Abuja train, where a yet to be fully computed number of Nigerians were killed by terrorists, and tens of passengers unaccounted for, said the security challenge in Nigeria has overwhelmed the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
Said he: “If anybody comes to say I want to see you, I want to talk to you, I will say ‘you’re welcome. This is because I believe very strongly, and I have said it publicly and I will say it again that the situation we are in this country is not a situation where one man will say yes, he has a solution unless we are deceiving ourselves. I believe we need to sit down collectively and look at the situation.
“A situation where you are not safe on the road, you are not safe on the train, you are not safe at the airport, shows a very serious situation.
Mohammed on a TVC programme, “This Morning,” monitored in Abuja by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The minister, who condoled with the families of the victims of a recent train attack, cited the various Federal Government’s efforts in tackling the security challenges in the country.
According to him, the government is fast-tracking the installation of some security gadgets on railway tracks to ensure adequate surveillance.
“The Federal Government is working toward ensuring that such incident does not reoccur.
“One of the things that the government wants to do is to fast-track the installation of a surveillance and monitoring system, not just on the Abuja-Kaduna rail track.
“But also on the Lagos-Ibadan and Warri-Itakpe rail tracks to ensure that at any given time we will be able to monitor from the control room,’’ he said.
Mohammed further said that in spite of the security challenges, the military and other security personnel were doing their best and have recorded successes in their fight against terrorism.
“We must give kudos to our military; you know that we are not fighting a conventional war but terrorism, hence the need for everyone to support the security agencies so as to win over the menace.
“The Federal Government has also given the military the enabling environment to continue in the fight against terrorism and banditry,’’ he said.
The minister also assured Nigerians of the Federal Government’s commitment to ensure that every state is secured.
▪︎ Additional report by NAN