The Senate on Thursday revealed plans to hold meetings with critical stakeholders in each geo-political zone on insecurity challenges of the country.
This, the upper chamber said, is to unearth the root causes of the menace and devise pragmatic measures to restore peace and stability in troubled areas.
Leader of the senate and Chairman, Senate Ad hoc Committee on National Security Summit, Mr Opeyemi Bamidele reeled out the plans at the inaugural meeting of the committee in Abuja .
He canvassed the need to address the country’s security concerns regionally.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the national summit on security is designed to ensure that every Nigerian lives and works in peace, irrespective of their location and status in life.
Bamidele said no amount of money invested in infrastructural development would translate to any meaningful outcome without peace and security.
“For this reason, transforming pervasive insecurity to enduring peace is at the heart of the national security summit.
“To achieve this objective, the committee will first hold meetings with critical stakeholders in each geo-political zone.
“This is with a view to unravelling the root causes of security challenges, identifying key actors behind it and devising measures for their effective management.
“The committee shall also engage victims of armed violence in different parts of the federation for the purpose of seeking diverse perspectives to these challenges.
“We will interact with our people on ground; listen to their fear and apprehension and get their suggestions on how to transform insecurity to effective order,” he said.
Bamidele further explained that Nigeria can only be on the path of development and prosperity when peace and unity are guaranteed.
“Therefore, the committee will work round the clock to come up with far-reaching measures that will bring about peace and stability.
“The summit will involve every segment of Nigerian society; traditional institutions, government agencies, military and intelligence/security agencies, and local government among others.
“Providing insight into the country’s security dynamics, the senate leader noted the ugly trends of banditry and kidnapping in the North-West.
“Terrorism and extremist violence in the North-East; farmers-herders crisis in the North-Central; separatism and gang violence in the South-East.
“Environmental conflict and oil theft in the South-South as well as abduction and ritual killing in the South-West.
