We will review ways of dealing with security challenges – Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the Federal Government will change its security strategies to combat the rising wave of killings in the North and deal speedily with other forms of security challenges in the country.

He spoke on Tuesday in Lafia where he was conferred with a traditional title by Emir of Lafia, Hon. Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad I, who described him as a man of integrity.

Osinbajo was on a one-day official tour of Nasarawa for the inauguration of the Nasarawa State Infectious Diseases, Diagnosis and Research Centre as well as the opening of a Job Fair for Employability and Entrepreneurship Programme for Nasarawa State Youths.

Speaking with journalists on arrival in the city, the VP said the security situation in Nigeria could not be tackled using the conventional methods.

He added that this was why the President said new ways of dealing with the situation were being explored.

The VP also called for more intelligence gathering, especially at the local level.

He also spoke on the Boko Haram killings in Borno on Saturday, saying, “I think it is an enormous tragedy; a horrible tragedy. It is made worse of course by the sheer fact that as the President said, a group of people could so insanely and in such a dastard manner kill innocent people; people who were going to their farms to work.

“I spoke to Governor Babagana Zulum as well as the former governor, Senator Kashim Shettima, right after the incident to express my condolence but more importantly to try and think through ways of dealing with this kind of random incident.”

He said there was an ongoing effort to rejig the security architecture.

“I think it is important to understand also that the conventional means of dealing with some of these issues; the conventional means of dealing with this security type of challenges especially the randomness is probably to keep reviewing it, which is why the President has said that he is taking a serious look at how to deal with these issues especially around the randomness and some insane person goes into a place and kill people, that is not the sort of thing you are prepared for conventionally.

“So we have to do a lot more local intelligence which is some of the community policing efforts we are planning so that information supplied faster especially at the local level and then reaction will be possible.

“But it is a major tragedy; it is a very unfortunate thing and our hearts are with the families of the farmers who were killed in such a terrible way. But we are confident and the Federal Government will continue to do everything especially in terms of trying to ensure security in the North-East and all over Nigeria.”

Osinbajo during a courtesy call on the Emir of Lafia, was conferred with the traditional title of Madugu Jihan Nasarawa, which translates to leader and captain of Nasarawa.