A former Commissioner of Police, Mr Lawrence Alobi, yesterday advised every citizen to collaborate with government to tackle the prevailing security challenges in the country.
Alobi made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said: “The security of this country is participatory by the government, the citizens and all the stakeholders.
“When the society is secured and saved the citizens benefit and that is why security is a collective responsibility of all of us.
“Every citizen of Nigeria has a moral duty, constitutional duty, to assist the security agents in promoting peace and security and in maintaining law and order.
“When we support and collaborate with the security agencies, support and cooperate with government, have confidence in our government, support government policies and programmes, we work towards ensuring that this country is safe and secure.”
Alobi, who expressed worry over the recent involvement of teenage girls in the activities of insurgency, also warned the masses to be watchful of what happened in their environment.
He added that it was important for the people to take precautionary measures against any incident in advance.
Alobi further advised the residents of Abuja and all Nigerians to be vanguards to one another, adding that the insurgents’ new approach of using female teenagers, as in Kano, could also happen anywhere.
Alobi, who is also the Executive Director of a private security services outfit based in the Federal Capital Territory also advised the media to play their roles positively to save the society.
“The media have a critical role to play in educating and enlightening the citizenry.
“But it seems some media houses are considering what they will tell in their papers that they don’t consider what value the news they are giving to the society.
“What value is it, does it promote peace, the well being of the people, and does it promote unity, progress and the development of the society? Sometime, we glorify criminality and that again has a negative impact on society and even the psyche of the citizens.
“We should promote our government rather than creating fears and condemning our society as no foreigner will come and make our country safe and secure for us.”
