President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday ordered Service Chiefs to work together in order to strengthen the fight against insecurity.

He gave the order at a meeting with Heads of all the nation’s security agencies at the Presidential Villa.

The meeting was the first by President Tinubu with the service chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor.

Others at the meeting included the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya; the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo; and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amao, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba.

Others are the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Maj Gen Adebayo; the Director-General of the Department of State Service(DSS), Yusuf Bichi; the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar

Addressing State House correspondents after the meeting, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, said the President demanded frequent consultations among the agencies.

The President also mandated the security agencies to develop a blueprint to deal with the issue of crude oil theft and changed them to meet the requirements of the changing times.

Monguno said: “The President has revealed that in moving this country forward, he needs the security agencies to redouble their efforts. And he also pointed out that his own philosophy is one of the contemporary security measures dealing with the requirements of the time.

“He has made it very clear that he will not accept a situation in which our fortunes keep declining. And his own trajectory is that national security has to be coordinated.

“All agencies must work to achieve one single purpose. Working at cross purposes and colliding with each other is not something that he will condone. He has made it very, very clear that all the security agencies must comply with the demands of coordination, with the demands of frequent consultations and also timely reports which must be acted on.”

The NSA said the president told the security chiefs during the two hours meeting of his determination to build on gains made so far, reverse misfortunes and turn the tide in favour of the country.

He added that Tinubu said the country should not be on its knees struggling while other countries were walking and achieving greater heights.

He said: “Having been briefed by the participants of the meeting, Mr President addressed prevailing issues confronting the nation in terms of insecurity and also mentioned his own philosophy towards dealing with national security issues.

“First and foremost, he appreciated the armed forces and intelligence agencies and the wider paramilitary agencies for the work they have been doing in the past couple of years. Their sacrifice, their loyalty, and he also paid tribute to those who died in defending this country, from the great big menace of terrorism, insurgency, banditry, oil theft, sea robbery, piracy, etc, etc.

“He is going to embark on a lot of reforms in terms of our security architecture, he is going to take a closer look at our misfortunes in the maritime domain, focusing particularly on the issues of oil theft, which is not going to tolerate. Wherever the problem is coming from, it must be crushed as soon as possible.

“President has said clearly that he will do whatever is within his powers to enable the operational elements but the intelligence agencies must also make their work easy for them by providing the type of intelligence that they require to carry out the assignment.”

The Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has recorded another milestone in the aviation industry, with the passing out of the first set of arms-bearing Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel on Friday.

Describing the achievement as unprecedented in the promotion of national security, Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika noted that he was sure that all the graduands received the best training and are well equipped with the morals, the discipline and values that are expected from the training they received.

Advising the newly graduated armed security personnel at a ceremony in Abuja, the Minister said, “This should come to you as a clarion call to work within the precepts of the training. This training that you have received is expected to commit you to the level of dedication that is expected in ensuring that the nation of Nigeria will not only be proud but also reap the benefits of this well-organised training”.

The minister recalled the Turkish Airline incident in 2016 where some aggrieved passengers overpowered AVSEC officials at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and gained access to the tarmac.

Sirika also cited an incidence at the Sokoto Airport where some political supporters forcefully entered the tarmac, stressing that these actions were clear security breaches which would have been prevented by the AVSEC personnel if they were armed.

He assured the personnel that uniforms, armoury and other things that would enable them to discharge their responsibilities of securing and safeguarding airline officials, passengers and other airport users have been made available.

He warned that the aim, intention, training or the purpose of the arms was not to harass or intimidate innocent airport users, but to protect them, and that no misdemeanour on their part would be taken lightly. The civility of civil aviation, he said, must be upheld at all cost.

“In acceptance to be trained as aviation security personnel, you must realize that it is a privilege to serve your country at this level as the aviation industry is one place where adherence and commitment to rules and standards are applied strictly to the letter.”
The Minister also warned that the government will not tolerate conflicts with other security operatives at the airports and that what is required is collaboration and synergy between them for the safety and security of airport users and infrastructure.
“For us, our focus as a government has been to ensure that we are secure and safe at our airports. Aviation is not just about building terminals because safety is one of the most critical aspects,” Sirika noted.
He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment to the development of the sector, with particular focus on safety and security, which has culminated in the realisation of the project and other legacy achievements in the industry.

•Mourns the dead, says, ‘We cannot re-build Nigeria through crime and violence’

The Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, has strongly condemned the shooting at Enugu-Ukwu, Anambra State, yesterday targeted at the convoy of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, describing it as “unfortunate and condemnable”.

Speaking to newsmen at the Abuja Airport, Obi said he was saddened when he heard about the news, especially when lives were lost. He called on the perpetrators of such crimes nationwide to have a re-think about their actions, which he described as “injurious to the growth and development Nigeria urgently needs now that suffering abounds in the land.”

Obi, who described most of the shootings going on in every part of the country as one of the cumulative effects of bad leadership over the years, said that the best way to tackle them was to go to the root causes of discontent in the land and nip them in the bud rather than pretending that Nigeria has been fair to Nigerians.

Obi

Part of his words: “I have continued to lay emphasis on the urgent need for enhanced security and protection of life and property in our society. I reiterate my unwavering commitment to put an end to all forms of violence in different parts of the country by seeking the root causes, under my watch, when elected the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Violence and killings of Nigerians under any guise whatsoever will not be accepted or tolerated under my watch as President.”

Commiserating with Governor Chukwuma Soludo, he encouraged him not to relent in his efforts to restore sanity to the state.

Obi also commiserated with the Senator Ifeanyi Ubah and the affected families over the painful incident and loss of lives. He said: “I deeply commiserate with my brother, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, and extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones in this ugly incidence.”