Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed said in a town hall meeting that kidnapping and banditry are not federal offences in Nigeria.
He responded to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who decried the insecurity situation in the country.
He said: “It is shocking that a party that ruled this nation for all of 16 years does not know that kidnapping and banditry are not federal offences.”
He also added: “That the governance of human society should be based on Law rather than the whims and caprices of human beings and must be obeyed by all as all persons are equal before the law including the lawgivers;
“That there is an urgent need for political restructuring and not separation; That the Judiciary be decentralized and reformed through Constitutional Amendment to remove the unitary control of the Superior Courts;
“That governments at all levels should ensure free, qualitative and compulsory Primary Education for all children of school age;
“That the Military, Police and other Security Agencies be expanded in number, retrained, provided with modern equipment and technology to cope with emerging security challenges;
“That both religious and traditional leaders encourage and promote inter-marriages for unity as contained in the 1999 Constitution as amended, Article 15, 3(c) which prescribes inter-marriage among persons from different places of origin, or of different religious, ethnic or linguistic association or ties;
“That the establishment of State Police be supported by the National and State Houses of Assembly to enable State Governments to have firm control in addressing security issues;
“That Traditional Rulers be given their age-long role of maintaining peace and security within their domain;
“That Local Government Autonomy be actualized to enable them have control of their areas including the ungoverned spaces in tackling security challenges;
“That the Farmers/Herders clashes be addressed by the establishment of ranches, grazing reserves with modern amenities to check the trans-humans of the herders.”
