The Department of State Service has begun its third quarter security meeting of its State Directors in the North-East, aimed at reviewing strategies towards strengthening intelligence gathering as well as brainstorming on the general security situation in the zone.
The Chairman of the Occasion and State Director for Adamawa, Mr Babagana Bulama, said the meeting was providing the needed platform for far ranging discussions on security matters in the sub-region.
Mr. Bulama said the zonal meeting would equally strengthen efforts at ensuring efficient harmonisation and utilisation of assets, platforms and resources in the zone.
“The meeting has also given the opportunity for experience sharing, assessing threat to national security affecting the sub-region as well as analysing efforts by military, security and intelligence services in neutralising them,’’ said Mr. Bulama.
According to him, participants are expected to come up with solutions to guide the service commands and other stakeholders in the sub-region to strengthen the existing measures and sustain the holistic approach in tackling security challenges.
For Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, more collaboration was needed among the security agencies in the state and North-East, so as to address the security challenges in the region.
Represented at the event by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Manassah Jatau, Governor Yahaya said collaborations of such nature had led to the operational successes recorded in the area and the peaceful coexistence among the residents, saying security agencies are meant to complement one another and not to compete.
Governor Yahaya said his administration had prioritised security and taken measures, such as the engagement of stakeholders, to ensure peace in the state.
He said his administration had incorporated into the security architecture of the state traditional, religious and community leaders, scholars, hunters, vigilantes, youth and other voluntary bodies.
“This is so on account of our conviction that many security issues will be left hanging in the balance if the issue of security is entirely left to the security personnel,” Yahaya said.
In the meantime, the DSS Director, Gombe State, Mr. Abba Adams, commended the governor for prioritising the state’s security issues, noting that the state has remained peaceful.
Similarly, the Commissioner of Police in Gombe State, Mr Ishola Babaita, said security agencies in the state had been working together as a team, attributing the peace being enjoyed in the state the the collaboration between them.
