Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), has said Nigeria’s security agencies have the capacity to trace and locate bandits and terrorists just as they are able to track ordinary citizens and social media personalities.
Buratai made the remark during an interview on TVC while reacting to the recent abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State.
The attack, which reportedly claimed the life of a teacher who was killed by the kidnappers, has renewed concerns over the worsening security situation in parts of the country.
Speaking on the capabilities of security agencies, the retired army chief said he does not believe security operatives are incapable of identifying and locating criminal groups if they can successfully track citizens through modern technology and intelligence tools.
“I don’t believe security agencies cannot locate bandits if they can locate ordinary citizens and social media influencers,” Buratai said.
The former army chief, however, stressed the need for stronger capacity building across the country’s security institutions.
According to him, more personnel should be recruited into the military, police and other security agencies to strengthen the fight against banditry, terrorism and kidnapping.
“However, I would not like to say a capacity building challenge, but I think they may have their reasons, but what I know is that there must be capacity building of all the security agencies.
“We need more troops to be recruited, more operatives, more policemen need to be recruited, trained, and retrained,” he added.