The Plateau State Director of the Department of State Services, Shehu M. Waziri, has urged the public to willingly and sincerely divulge useful security information to the nation’s security agencies.
The DSS Director made the call on Wednesday at a peace dialogue programme organized by the Institute of Governance and Social Research.
The programme, tagged: “Identifying the challenges of early warning responses and maintenance of peace,” held in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
Waziri said as security agencies, they will continue to educate Nigerians on the roles of security agencies and how to divulge information in order to curb insecurity.
Speaking at the event, the President of the IGSR, Prof. Isawa Elaigwu, said security is everybody’s business, hence the need for everyone to understand how and why early warning responses are important.
Elaigwu said it is very important for parents to also educate their children on how to report any suspicious movement or act.
Also speaking at the event, retired Major General O. Oshinowo said when he was the Commander of the Special Task Force in Plateau State, mechanisms were put in place for the passage of immediate early signal to the security out fit.
Discussants at the programme identified and highlighted that community leaders and traditional rulers are key players to defence and maintenance of law and order.
They further identified the roles of religion and religious leaders as other means of getting things right.
Further more, discussants also identified intake of illicit drugs, dwindling moral values, careless attitude of parents, leaders and political class towards arresting the circle of conflicts prior to its escalation into violence as a major factors that lead to insecurity.
They also identified influence of “stronger personalities above weaker institutions of the security agencies” as another factor that needs to be looked into.
The programme was attended by community leaders, traditional leaders, security agencies, youth and women drawn from the six Local Government that constitute the Plateau North Senatorial District.