*NSA flays unhelpful comments on security by el-Rufai
By Chesa Chesa
President Muhammadu Buhari has issued fresh orders to heads of security agencies in the country to urgently ensure the rescue all persons abducted during last month’s Kaduna train attack by terrorists, as well as other persons still in abductors’ captivity across the country.
National Security Adviser, Babagana Munguno told newsmen in Abuja that Buhari gave the orders on Thursday a meeting of the National Security Council at the Presidential Villa, chaired by the President.
Munguno, was at the press briefing alongside the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, and the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi.
The NSA said the Abuja-Kaduna train attack, which led to the deaths of some passengers and scores kidnapped, was the last straw, and that the president was saddened by the security situation and demanded immediate action from the security chiefs.
He said that the President felt that enough was not being done by the security agencies despite what had been provided by the current administration for them.
Monguno stated that the President coukdbnot solely be blamed for the insecurity in the country as his part is to make strategic decisions which the NAA said he had been doing.
He added that the surrendering of Boko Haram elements has not engendered the desired result in stemming insurgency in the country.
The NSA also disclosed that President Buhari ordered the tightening of the borders to curb insecurity, noting that without the intelligence and support of the local communities it will be difficult to tame the rising insecurity in the country.
According to Monguno: “Mr President commenced the meeting, in his opening remarks he spoke about his sadness in respect of the recent developments in the country, the recent security challenges we’ve had, in particular, the incident in which several Nigerians lost their lives and many more have been taken into captivity by criminals and bandits.
“Mr. President has directed all the operational and intelligence elements to rescue these innocent people immediately and unhurt.
“This is the basis, on which other issues were discussed. Obviously, the Chief of Defense Staff and the service chiefs, as well as the Inspector-General of Police, all briefed the President on the occurrences in their respective organizations.
“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’ve 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’s a need for us to configure how we’re going to make our borders more secure because of the threats coming from outside the borders.”
Explaining further, he said:
“Now, the issue in the Northeast, there’s 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, but 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.
“The present situation in the country calls for a collective effort by all, not just those that have been charged with the responsibility of physically securing the country, the most important thing, for now, is the acquisition of intelligence and the type of intelligence that is needed is human intelligence
“And I need to make it very clear, I have to be very honest; unless the wider society, right down to the local governments, are willing to give the type of information that is needed to block the activities of these criminals, this situation will continue to linger beyond whatever timeframe we’re looking at, towards ending this great problem.
“A lot of lives are being lost, the President is not happy about this situation, he’s made it very clear. The first assignment he’s given to the security agencies, especially the armed forces and the police is to rescue those that are in captivity, not just those that were captured during the last train incident, but those that have been in captivity in other parts of the country. That is the first thing that has to be done.”
On why is it difficult to deploy technology, especially in some areas where the military has been having challenges, he said: “One, technology is expensive. Technology takes time to acquire these things. Since inherently we do not produce this very, very delicate equipment.
“It’s 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’s what I can say about the issue of deploying technology.”
Meanwhile, the Monguno criticised Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for “talking to much” about security issues recently, and warned that such unhelpful comments could pose danger to kidnapped victims as their captors may now restrategise to escape the clutches security agencies.
He said: “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.”
