General Christopher Musa (retd), former Chief of Defence Staff, said that building community resilience is crucial to curbing the growing wave of kidnappings across the country.
General Musa made this statement during his ministerial screening for the position of Minister of Defence on Wednesday at the Senate, following his nomination by President Bola Tinubu.
The former Chief of Defence Staff, while responding to questions from senators, described the increasing cases of mass school abductions as tragic but stressed the need for a holistic response, adding that empowering communities is essential because most crimes are localised.
He said: “The issue of kidnapping of students is very unfortunate, but since last year, the Safe Schools Initiative has been implemented. We need to review it critically and ensure the approach is holistic.
“Now, we must build the resilience of our communities because crime is localised. If we are able to build the capacity of the locals themselves, they will be the first responders.”