President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday gave a “marching order” to the service chiefs to rescue all the abductees and others still in the terrorists/ bandits’ camps. The president said he is saddened by the security situation in the country and demanded immediate action from the security chiefs.
The National Security Adviser, retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Munguno disclosed this at a media briefing after a meeting of the National Security Council at the Presidential Villa.
Persecondnews reports that Munguno addressed the media alongside the Inspector General of Police, Mr Usman Alkali Baba, and the Minister of Defence, retired Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi.
The Chief of Defence Staff and the service chiefs, as well as the lG of Police, all briefed the President about their respective organizations.
Buhari, according to Munguno, said the Abuja-Kaduna train attack was the last straw which led to the deaths of some passengers and kidnapping of scores.
“The President has consequently ordered the rescue of all kidnapped persons unhurt using the train attack as a fulcrum.
“He felt that enough was not being done by the security agencies despite what has been provided,” he said.
He noted that the surrendering of Boko Haram insurgents has not given the desired result in stemming insurgency in the country.
The NSA said a further tightening of the borders to curb insecurity has been ordered.
He believed that without intelligence report and support of the local communities it will be difficult to tame the rising insecurity in the country.
“I submitted a memo to Council and my recommendations are being looked into by the President. My recommendations are wide-ranging and they touch on all aspects of security, starting with the level of security of our land borders, as well as within the country itself.
“In terms of securing the nation, we have recorded a lot of successes in the maritime domain and obviously, the problem now has shifted to our borders from outside.
“As a result of that, there is a need for us to configure how we are going to make our borders more secure because of the threats coming from outside the borders,” Munguno said.
“On the issue in the Northeast, there has been a lot of improvement and that has been attested to by the governor of Borno state during our last National Council of State meeting.
“Nevertheless, the fact that the Northeast is becoming much more stable, more and more people from the terrorists have started surrendering to government, has not really brought to an end the way we would want the situation in the country because the threat is now shifted from the Northeast to the Northwest, and the Northcentral and this threat has to be contained.
“It has to be contained collectively by both the armed forces as well as the constabulary forces; the Nigerian Police Force, Civil Defense, but the intelligence agencies also have been directed to enhance the acquisition of intelligence.”
On why is it difficult to deploy technology, especially in some areas where the military has been having problems, Munguno said:“One, technology is expensive. Technology takes time to acquire these things. Since inherently we do not produce this very, very delicate equipment.
“It is not as if the government is not making any effort to acquire but we need to know who to acquire this technology from, where, when and there are certain processes.
“For now, I know we have but the plight is that there are inadequate, so to the government, it’s a continuous process. That is what I can say about the issue of deploying technology.”
Munguno also criticized Kaduna Gov. Nasir El-Rufai for what he called his loudmouthedness in commenting on terrorists’ activities, saying it may indirectly help them to restrategize as well as endanger the lives of those in captivity.
“El Rufai’s comments could compromise the security situation as the bandits can relocate to other destinations, if they know that their current hideout is known.
“Governor, Nasir El-Rufai spoke about the security agencies saying we know who they are, where they are. Again, that is the danger.
” When you start talking too much. You give away a lot, I agree. Now, even if they say we know where they are, that in itself is already a problem.
“Because once you say it, whether it is true or false, the person who has your people in captivity will move to another location. It’s just as simple as that. So sometimes is best to just keep silent, mum is the word,” Munguno said.
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