Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered heads of security agencies in the country to address the alarming insecurity in the country, saying he is not prepared to exit office as a failure.
He spoke at a meeting of the National Security Council held at the Presidential Villa Abuja Thursday.
Addressing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (retd), quoted the president as saying he would make fresh changes in the country’s security architecture, if necessary, to turn things around in the various theatres of operation in the ongoing war against insecurity.
He said President Buhari was largely briefed on the successes recorded in the operations in the North-east, especially the large number of Boko Haram insurgents surrendering to government troops there.
Surrendering insurgents
He said the Boko Haram fighters were leaving the terrorist camp in droves as a result of the relentless activities of the security agencies.
“The last National Security Council meeting we had was on the 8th of June. From that time till now, a lot has happened within the security domain. Mr. President called for this meeting. And it was actually supposed to be for next week, but he drew it back for today, for obvious reasons.
“The meeting briefed Mr. President on the current security situation in the country. Well, I’ll say from the last time we met till now, and all the issues that were brought before the president, were mainly issues arising from the successes recorded in the theatre of operations throughout the North East.
“It is evident that a lot of successes have been recorded. Large numbers of people are surrendering in the north east as a consequence of the relentless efforts of the Armed Forces, intelligence and security agencies.
“This is very, very evident. We’ve never had such large numbers of people defecting from the other side, back to the Nigerian side, mainly, as a result of many issues within the theatre, issues of infighting among the various factions of the terrorist groups.
“But with the new drive of the Armed Forces, the police, the intelligence agencies, there have been greatest cooperation, greater synergy in intelligence sharing, as well as our partners in the regional intelligence fusion unit.
“So, the president was briefed, the president is quite happy that there’s been tremendous success, especially with the advent of the new service chiefs and Inspector General of Police. And he’s also made it very, very clear that he’s not ready to exit government as a failure. He is not going to tolerate failure and that he’s made changes and is ready to make further changes if he is not satisfied.
“He is completely determined to ensure that there’s a turnaround in the fortunes in the theatre of operations. We also addressed the issue of the prevailing situation, which is widespread, you know, issues of hunger,” Monguno said.
Plans for repentant fighters
The NSA also told journalists that government had plans for the large number of Boko Haram insurgents that surrendered.
“Yes, there are plans. But I don’t want to immediately divulge what has been decided on those plans till the President takes a firm decision on the plans.
“But definitely that is one of the things that he intends to address, the number of people coming. And it’s not just in Nigeria, even in northern Cameroon, you have equally large numbers of people surrendering to the bonafide agencies of government. But that is all as a consequence of the regional cooperation between the various countries and the agencies of those countries,” he said.
On hunger in the land
On the widespread hunger and pains among Nigerians, he said: “The President is not oblivious of the pains of the people, and is working with the Vice President and other members of council. He is going to employ the relevant ministries, departments and agencies of government to address this issue.
“As far as he is concerned, it’s also an emergency situation that people should not be left to wallow in hunger, and in despair, this is something that he’s also going to look into. And he’s going to use all the necessary, all the relevant tools at his disposal to address the issue of widespread hunger.”
North-west
The NSA also said the meeting dwelt on the security challenge in the North-west.
“And then also the issue of insecurity in the northwest, which is still, even though for those of us who are within the security system, we have seen a significant drop in the number of incidents of kidnapping and banditry, nevertheless, a lot has to be done. Because like I’ve always said in the past, as far as the people are concerned, there shouldn’t be any incident of kidnapping, banditry, and other incidents of insecurity.
“So, the president is also aware of that and he has also made certain assertions which I am not willing to say right now, till he’s made the final decision on those things. But generally, the atmosphere is improving, especially in the north eastern part of the country. The president is very, very happy with the drive in that part of the country,” he said.
Plateau killings
The NSA said the meeting also deliberated on the recent killings in Plateau state.
He said while President Buhari lauded Governor Simon Lalong for his efforts at bringing the situation under control, he charged security agencies to step up and restore normalcy to the troubled spots across the state.
The NSA said there was the need for Nigerians to forge a sense of oneness, unity, and put aside whatever suspicions, apprehensions or agitations that exist.
“In the context of the 21st century, you can’t deal with these emerging crises in a cut and dried manner. We have to use everything at our disposal, all the elements of national power, including the population, the wider community needs to work with the security agencies to deal with these problems.
“Responses have to be fast. We can’t act on stale intelligence. And that is why as things are happening, right from the grassroots level going all the way up, the local government, the state governments, and then of course, the federal government has its own parts to play.
“People should not cover for those who they have identified, unscrupulous, undesirable people, it is very, very important that we share because in today’s context, the highest value intelligence doesn’t necessarily need to come from the agencies of government. It could come from any other tangential organisation, institution or group,” he said.
We are not failed state -Lai
And further to this, Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed has said Nigeria is not a failed state and cannot go the way of Afghanistan where the Taliban took the rein of power.
The minister stated this in Washington DC during his engagements with international media organizations, including the BBC Radio and Television, Bloomberg and Politico.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the minister is in the U.S. to meet with international media organisations and think tanks on the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and efforts made so far in tackling insurgency, banditry and all form of criminality.
Speaking with NAN after his respective meeting with the three media organisations, Mohammed said insinuation in certain quarter that the security situation in Nigeria could degenerate to that of Afghanistan was not correct.
He said Nigeria was winning the war against terror and the country cannot go the way of Afghanistan where Taliban, a terrorist group took over power.
The minister said: “Nigeria is not and will not be a failed state. Yes, we have challenges in some corners of the country but that has not made Nigeria a failed state.
“A failed state is one where basic facilities are not available and everything has broken down but, Nigeria is not in that stage.”
While insisting “Nigeria is not at war”, the minister said fake news and disinformation were being used to portray the country in precarious situation.
Mohammed said the development in Afghanistan had proven right the position of President Buhari that when fighting an unconventional war; the country had to be resourceful.
“If what happened in Afghanistan is something to go by, then the federal government should be given kudos for the way it has handled insurgency in the last couple of years.
“The lessons from Afghanistan today is that for over 20 years of American intervention and over a trillion dollar spent and thousands of American lives lost, it took the Taliban just few weeks to recapture Afghanistan.
“This should be a lesson for everybody that when you are fighting an insurgency or movement driven by ideology, it is always difficult to overcome and you must be resourceful, deploying both kinetic and non-kinetic approach.
“When people were saying we should invite mercenaries, the president was focused and maintained that our military have what it takes.
“The president should be given kudos for believing in our military and deploying both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches,” he said.
The minister said while a lot of efforts had been put on kinetic approach, the Nigerian military also engaged in non-kinetic approach, building hospitals, reviving schools, teaching in some of the schools and delivering medical care to people in the affected areas.
He said the non-kinetic approach to fighting insurgency in the North-east had led to droves of insurgents coming out to surrender arms and pledging their loyalty to the government.
Mohammed also said with the recent development of many Boko Haram coming out voluntarily to surrender their arms, the country is winning the war against insurgency.
On banditry, the minister said bandits were now suffering more casualties than ever before.
He assured that the delivery of the Super Tucano military platforms by U.S. to the military would be a game changer in the fight against banditry. (NAN)
