In a clear accusation, a disgruntled President Muhammadu Buhari informed the security services on Thursday that they were not doing enough to address the country’s security concerns, despite his administration’s massive logistics.
Buhari bemoaned the fact that his prior commands to the military to address the country’s insecurity had had no effect.
He ordered all operational and intelligence agencies to save all people seized by terrorists, including those on the recent Kaduna-bound train, without harm.
That was as Usman Baba, the Inspector-General of Police, explained the reason for the South-significant east’s security presence, stating the police would no longer accept attacks on their troops.
Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), the president’s National Security Adviser, stated his reservations to reporters following a three-and-a-half-hour meeting of the National Security Council at the State House in Abuja, presided over by Buhari.
When individuals were being slaughtered on a daily basis, Monguno added, the president could not be happy. The recent attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train, he added, was the final straw, with some passengers killed and dozens kidnapped.
Despite the logistics presented, the president believed that the security services were not doing enough, according to the NSA.
“We’ve just ended a three-and-a-half hour meeting of the National Security Council, which was presided over by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,” Monguno said. This is the first meeting for 2022, and it focused on a variety of concerns at the strategic and operational levels, as well as broader issues.
“In his opening remarks, he (Buhari) expressed his grief over recent happenings in the country, particularly the recent security issues we’ve faced, particularly the incident in which several Nigerians were killed and many more were kidnapped by criminals and robbers.
“If something happens ten times, we will be upset ten times, and as the head of this country, the father of the nation, he must communicate his dissatisfaction.” You know, he’s just a manager who gives us orders.
“And his dissatisfaction is most likely due to his belief that not enough is being done. As a result, we won’t be able to fully place this on his shoulders.
He’s the decision-maker at the strategic level. However, when these things grow interminable, he must communicate his worry. That’s exactly what he did.
“Mr. President has directed all operational and intelligence units to immediately and safely rescue these innocent people.” This is the foundation upon which all subsequent topics were debated. Obviously, the President was briefed on the events in their respective organizations by the Chief of Defense Staff, the service chiefs, and the Inspector-General of Police.”
The NSA emphasized that the president cannot be held solely responsible for the country’s insecurity, claiming that his role is to make strategic decisions, which he has done despite claims that the military has secured the nation’s maritime domain.
“I submitted a memo to council, and the president is reviewing my proposals,” Monguno added. My ideas are broad and cover all facets of security, beginning with the security of our land borders and continuing throughout the country.
“In terms of national security, we’ve had a lot of success in the maritime area, and the problem has now switched to our borders from the outside,” he said.
As a result, because of the risks coming from beyond the boundaries, we need to configure how we’re going to make our borders more safe.”
The surrender of Boko Haram components, particularly in the north-east, according to Monguno, has not resulted in the anticipated consequence in reducing insurgency in Nigeria, as the threat has relocated to the northwest and north central.
“Now, on the situation in the North-east, there has been a lot of improvement,” he said, “and that has been confirmed to by the governor of Borno State during our most recent National Council of State meeting.” Nonetheless, the fact that the North-east is becoming considerably more stable, with an increasing number of terrorists surrendering to the government, has helped.
has not brought the country’s position to a satisfactory conclusion, because the threat has migrated from the north-east to the north-west and north-central, and this threat must be contained.
“It must be contained together by both the armed forces and the law enforcement forces: the Nigeria Police Force, Civil Defense, but intelligence services have also been urged to improve intelligence collecting.”
The NSA emphasized the need of citizen intelligence, stating that without the rest of society is ready to offer the essential information, the problem of insecurity will persist beyond the time frame set to terminate the threat.
“The current situation in the country necessitates a concerted effort by all, not just those charged with physically securing the country,” he said. “The most important thing for now is the acquisition of intelligence, and the type of intelligence that is required is human intelligence, and I must emphasize this.”
“I have to be very honest; until the rest of society, right down to local governments, is prepared to provide the type of information needed to stop these criminals’ actions, this scenario will continue to linger beyond whatever timeline we’re looking at for resolving this major issue.”
“Many lives are being lost, and the president has made it obvious that he is not happy with the situation. The first mission he’s assigned to the security forces, particularly the armed forces and the police, is to rescue people held captive, not just those held captive during the latest train tragedy, but also those held captive in other regions of the country. The first thing that needs to be done is that.
“On the other hand, my memo focuses on the current situation inside the security forces; their demands and challenges, and the President has chosen to investigate these issues and may convene another meeting in the near future.”
Monguno, when asked why the country had not deployed technology to combat the threat of terrorism and banditry, stated that efforts were being made to do so, but that the requisite equipment was expensive and would take time to obtain.
“The first question, in my opinion, is why is it so difficult to adopt technology,” he says. For starters, technology is costly. Because we do not make these extremely sensitive machines natively, technology requires time to acquire them.
“It’s not that the government isn’t trying, but we need to know who to get this technology from, where to get it, when to get it, and how to get it.”
For the time being, I believe we have, but the problem is that they are insufficient, so it is a continual process for the government. That’s all I have to say about technology deployment.”
In response to allegations of military sabotage in the war against terrorism, Monguno stated that the prospect of rogue elements cannot be ruled out.
“Obviously, we have very extensive borders, and I’m not going to deceive anyone,” he said when asked if he would draw a correlation between border threats and the level of insecurity in the country, and if there was any suggestion that foreigners might have been responsible for the insecurity in the country.
“We all know that because we have such a vast economy, we have infiltration issues. It attracts a large number of visitors from outside, who enter illegally not only through land borders, but also through sea waters.
“Of course, in the case of maritime borders, the vast majority of things have been done in the last year to secure the maritime domain, to the point where the International Maritime Bureau has stated that our maritime boundaries have not been as secure and tranquil in 27 years.”
“That is a fact; it is not a guess.” This isn’t anything I made up. As a result, we’d like to investigate how we may apply similar efforts to our land borders in the maritime sector. “That is something that counsel is investigating.”
The issue of a large police presence in the southeast was addressed by the IGP. “I believe the question is about deployment,” Baba stated. A number of factors or yardsticks influence deployment.
“Just as two states may have a different number of municipal governments, a state or formation may have a varied number of formations.” Formations, commands, zonal commands, and so on are all in place.
As a result, deployment should not be predicated on the location’s size, population, or threat assessment tool.
“It all comes down to how you police a specific location based on the number of personnel you have and your capacity to amass that manpower.” If your command, for example, Kaduna command, has 3000 personnel, For the time being, I am aware that 3,000 personnel are insufficient to protect Kaduna.
“What we generally do is dispatch troops from neighboring states to come in and supplement Kaduna’s efforts with what we refer to as’special duty.
We can take from states where we believe the threat is less imminent or severe than in Kaduna so that you can supplement Kaduna. As a result, Anambra, you can also compliment Imo. It’s dependent on your risk assessment.”
To that end, Baba has issued a warning that the police high command will no longer accept the assassination of police personnel around the country, particularly in the South-east.
He denounced the recent series of attacks across the country against police officers, facilities, and other police operating assets.
As a result, Force Headquarters issued a statement ordering the immediate deployment of additional operational assets to supplement officers and men assigned to Operation Restore Peace in the Southeast and other operations aimed at flushing out criminal elements who disguise themselves as aggrieved citizens to commit crimes.
“Attacks on police officers in the line of duty will no longer be accepted under any guise,” the statement added. “The force regards the lives of its employees sacrosanct, and such unlawful attacks will be sternly dealt with in accordance with existing legislation.”
The IG also reaffirmed the force’s commitment to the protection of lives and property, while emphasizing the importance of respecting the lives and fundamental rights of police officers and other security operatives in order to enable them to better fulfill their sacred mandate of serving and protecting citizens, according to the statement.
