Yusuf Bello| President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday at a meeting members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Security Council queried security chiefs over the proliferation of small arms in the north east and the rising security challenges in the country.
“These terrorists are in the localities. How is it that they are not short of small arms?” the President was quoted as querying the security and intelligence chiefs at the meeting.
According to a statement by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, the meeting which ended with calls for a joint strategy to bring various conflicts to an end within time limits, also agreed that field commanders should take measures to protect civilian communities, as a confidence-building mechanism between the military and those communities.
President also used the opportunity to dismiss the assumptions that the terrorists in the North East had far more weapons and money than the government.
He stressed that what was left of them were “mere scavengers desperate for food, raiding shops and markets, and killing innocent persons in the process.”
“We have said enough on the need for them to rejig their operations. I am glad that there are better synergy and cooperation which are very important”.
“I have directed the service chiefs to meet among themselves in-between the National Security Council meetings. The services have resources; yes, they need more, and mobility, and are doing their best, but there is a need for better gathering and interpretation of intelligence. Our intelligence-gathering must be improved, the president said.”
Buhari who informed the governors of the imminent shipment of military weapons and aircraft from Jordan, China, and the United States, however, called for patience on the part of the people, saying it was important that trained fighters and pilots who must first receive appropriate training man the new weapons and aircraft.
He commended the level of support from neighbouring countries in the war against terrorism in the troubled North East.
“They are cooperating with us. On Boko Haram, we are making progress with Benin, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon,” he said while restating that intelligence-gathering must improve to be able to track small arms in the Northwest, North Central and Northeast States.
The President was also satisfied with the level of naval activity in the Gulf of Guinea, using newly-acquired equipment but demanded that hard-to-reach areas of Lake Chad, where Boko Haram terrorists have found new havens, as well as the forests now inhabited by bandits, must be accessed and rid of nefarious elements.
He said, “The Chief of Defence Staff has spoken about their study of the forests and their potential danger to security.
“We must make sure we follow the bandits and terrorists, but there must not be deforestation in view of the climate situation.”
Tuesday’s meeting was presided over by President Buhari and wa attended by the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as well as the heads of defence, security, and intelligence agencies.
Members of the Security Committee of the NGF, represented by a governor from each of the six geo-political zones, joined the meeting virtually.
Leave a Reply