SPEECH Delivered by H.E Governor Mai Mala Buni During Presentation of Security Surveillance Vehicles Donated by the Yobe State Government to Security Agencies in the State on Monday 4th November 2019
Protocols
As-Salamu Alaikum.
Let me begin by saying this upfront: The officers and men of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies are making huge sacrifices on behalf of peace and security in our state and our nation.
They continue to work so hard so that we could sleep with our eyes closed. And in moments of disaster or emergency, they are always the first to rush to the scene, working to save lives.
The people of Yobe State are therefore the better for all the work that our uniformed men and women are doing on our behalf.
I want to thank the Inspector-General, Muhammad Abubakar Adamu for your visit today and for the leadership that you provide for the Nigerian Police. Under your leadership, the police have remained ever committed to the maintenance of law and order, crime detection and prevention, and the protection of people’s lives and property.
However, even with the improvement in security across the state, there is still so much work to be done.
As we all know, insurgents still periodically infiltrate from neighbouring states to carry out attacks against our people. Other criminals also commit other forms of crime, including armed robbery and cattle rustling.
As we move to a post-insurgency era, we also face emergent and continuing security challenges, such as incidences of rape, kidnapping, homicide, and conflict between farmers and pastoralists.
It is clear – we cannot make meaningful socio-economic progress while these security challenges persist. We have to confront them.
It is for this reason that we thought it was necessary to work together with the Nigerian Police to set up a rapid response squad that could deploy anywhere in the state to tackle these challenges and threats.
We are naming this rapid response squad as ‘Haba Maza Squad’.
We know that the officers and men of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies are gallant men and women who are working so hard. Haba Maza is a mantra that charges them to surge forward and to go after criminals relentlessly. Haba Maza is saying that the gallant officers and men would not allow any breathing space for criminals anywhere in our state.
To achieve the overall objective of ensuring peace and security across the state, the Yobe State Government will today provide a total of 30 Toyota Hilux vehicles procured at the cost of N720 million to the Nigerian Police and other security agencies.
Many of you would recall that over the last seven years, the state government has procured and donated over 400 vehicles as logistics support to the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Police, and other security agencies. The 17 Local Government Councils in the state have also been very helpful to them on a regular basis.
At this juncture, I want to call on the Inspector General of Police to establish more police outposts in the state and deploy more officers and men to further enhance security and the maintenance of law and order.
The Police in Yobe State also need more barracks, information and communication equipment, and other forms of operational support. I hope that under your leadership, the capacity of the police in the state would be further strengthened to enable them to perform their duties well.
Let me also request the Inspector General to kindly give special consideration to Yobe State in the recruitment of officers and men into the police force. We have many young men and women who have the desire and qualification to join the Nigerian Police.
Let me end my remarks by reiterating the determination of the state government to continue to do everything necessary to ensure that Yobe remains peaceful and safe for all its people.
And while we are on it, I wish to appeal to our people to continue to support and cooperate with the security agencies by providing them with relevant and timely information whenever and wherever they notice any suspicious persons or movements.
With these being said, I wish to once again welcome the Inspector General of Police on your visit to Yobe today. I will soon make a symbolic presentation of the keys to one of the vehicles for the operations of the Haba Maza Squad.
Thank you so much.
