By our reporter| The federal government on Thursday admitted that Nigerians are fed up with worsening insecurity in the country and are resorting to self-help.
The national security adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno who stated this says while briefing reporters on the outcome of the national security council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja, admitted that the country is in a difficult situation, and that president Buhari is aware of the people’s concerns.
According to him, the growing insecurity is driving Nigerians to self-help, as the council has agreed on new strategies to combat the threats.
“Today’s meeting was convened by the president, as a continuation of the meeting that took place last week to discuss the technical issues and the taskings that were given to the various security agencies,” he said.
“Again, the council deems it necessary to inform the general public, that fighting this type of asymmetric conflict is a collective effort. It’s not something that should be confined to only the security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies.
“When we keep saying whole of society approach, whole of government approach; to get a whole of nation approach, what it means is that everybody has to partake in this enterprise.
“The truth is that no country can ever overcome the difficulties of an asymmetric conflict by virtue of the fact that the enemy of the state is embedded within the population within the wider society.
“It is true that the local people are averse, they’re scared, they’re worried and there’s no confidence. That is understandable. But without their support, the cooperation in terms of giving information, makes it very hard for the operational elements.
“We are in a very difficult situation. And Council understands. Mr. President understands people’s concerns about the growing insecurity. But I can assure you that there’s no straight cut and dried method of dealing with this thing unless all of us embrace each other.
“I know people are weary, people are tired, people are beginning to gravitate to other places for self-help. The truth is that help is rooted in everyone working for the other person.”
According to the NSA, the council is in the process of winding up an investigation on the attack on the Kuje correctional centre in the federal capital territory (FCT), and those found culpable will be “held accountable for their deeds”.
Brigade of Guards troops decimated
Commenting on the recent ambush of Brigade of Guards troops in Abuja by suspected terrorists, the NSA confirmed that personnel of the battalion were decimated during the attack.
He hinted that a significant number of officers were killed.
“A few days ago, troops of the guards brigade were ambushed and decimated. Had there been collective effort by way of just snippets of information, we might have averted that incident,” he said.
“That is not to say that the responsibility is for those outside the security domain. It’s a collective responsibility.”
He also said the media needs to be more careful about reporting security challenges, just as he urged politicians to be cautious when making statement on the state of the country’s security.
“Council is also concerned about the nature of media reporting incidents with regards to insecurity. It is important for the media to understand that certain reports being generated by the media, either the way the manner in which they report can also aggravate the delicate situation,” he said.
“So, council is urging the media to be very careful in whatever it reports. Whatever gets out to the public space can have a debilitating effect on the population.
“Equally, the political elite is also urged to take into account the consequences of utterances, especially from people who have established a reputation — people who are considered leaders of thought; people who are considered to have some kind of influence in society.
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