UPDATED: Only Buhari Can Sack Service Chiefs – NSA

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday expressed displeasure over worsening insecurity in the country and did not mince words in telling service chiefs to put in more efforts to arrest the situation.

He told the chiefs their best was not good enough at a meeting he held with them at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd.), spoke with State House Correspondents on the outcome of the closed-door meeting.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, led the service chiefs to the meeting.

Those who attended the session were Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar; Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari; and the Minister of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi (retd.).

Others were the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Adamu; Monguno; Director-General of the Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi; and the Director-General of National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufa’i.

Monguno stated that much as Buhari commended the security heads for the job they had done so far, the rise in killings, banditry and kidnapping was an indication that they must work harder.

The President clearly told the chiefs that he would no longer listen to excuses but that they must stop the killings and loss of economic valuables.

Monguno also said Buhari was not satisfied with the weak synergy between the various security agencies and called on them to work more closely with one another.

The meeting further resolved that the NSA and the governors of the North-West states should meet to re-strategise on how to contain banditry and kidnapping in the zone.

THE WHISTLER recalls that aside from insurgency in the North-East, cases of banditry and kidnapping have been on increase in the country, particularly in the North-West.

In May, Buhari ordered air strikes against bandits and kidnappers in the affected areas.

He also approved special security operations in a number of states, including Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, Kogi and Katsina in a bid to take the fight to the criminals.

However, THE WHISTLER gathered that attacks continued unabated, as bandits and kidnappers developed the capacity to launch surprise attacks on communities, leaving many casualties in their trails.

Frustrated by the current situation, there were protests in some of the states last week as citizens showed their disapproval of the deaths and loss of economic valuables.

The NSA gave details of the proceedings, “Mr President has expressed great concern over the declining security situation in the country. He is extremely unhappy about what is happening and he feels that, even though the security agencies are doing their best, their best is not good enough for him and wants an immediate reversal of the current trend and immediate reversal of our misfortunes in all their dimensions.

“Mr President also told us clearly, in no uncertain terms, that he and indeed the administration campaigned to power on the platform of three issues; fighting insecurity, overcoming our economic difficulties and dealing with the scourge of corruption. More so, he noted that it takes common sense for anyone to understand that without security, the pursuit of the other two will just be an exercise in futility.

“He, therefore, warns the security agencies to take into consideration the wider implication of the gradual decent of the security of this country, he is not going to accept any further escalation of the security situation.

“He also stated that no one was forced on him; he selected everyone individually based on what he feels their records had revealed and therefore, it is up to individual organisations to live up to the expectations.

“Again, Mr President has also said that it is extremely important that we in the security agencies must ensure that we justify the leadership by not disappointing the populace.

“He also pointed out the immediate areas of concern and these areas are also interlinked and we must find a way out, especially the issue of proliferation of drugs, small arms and light weapons.

“These two issues also go hand in hand with the major issues of criminality in this country, be they banditry on one hand in the northwest of Nigeria, or terrorism in the northeast.

“Now, added to these is also another area, which raises concern -the use of unregistered SIM cards. In my own brief, I dwelt on that issue and I raised concern that whatever we intend to achieve, we will not be able to get to the promised land unless we wrestle this issue of unrestrained acquisition of unregistered SIM cards.

“Mr President has directed that I, as the NSA, should link up with the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, to workout a blueprint to ensure the end of the irresponsible use of any SIM card. Of course, I urged my colleagues, the IG and the DG, DSS, to help in this issue.

“Again, my office is going to call on certain governors, starting with the governors of the northwest zone, including the governor of Niger State, to come over into Abuja, so that I meet with them and my colleagues in intelligence and security.

“Finally, is about the issue of lack of synergy within the security sector. This has to be addressed also and has left us in no doubt that unless we address this issue and form a single front, the convergence of efforts, the confluence of all ideas be they operational or intelligence, must be achieved so that we no longer, if at all there was this notion that groups were working in silos or stockpiling , they desist from that with immediate effect. We must have a central platform to coordinate all the efforts, all operations and security.

“In the final analysis, Mr President has said everyone is doing his best, but his best is not good enough, that should send a signal to all of us. But again, it is also incumbent on the wider Nigerian population, to key into whatever the security agencies are doing.

“Understanding that there has been issue of loss of confidence, loss of trust, abuse or whatever, these issues will have to be addressed by a discuss between security agencies and the political leadership and of course the judiciary will come in.

“I, the NSA, wants to reassure Nigerians that each and every department or agency or component, will redouble its efforts and ensure that we reverse our dwindling fortunes for the betterment of this country in the remaining period they have in the life time of this administration.”

Asked whether this was an opportunity for the President to heed the call to sack the service chiefs, Monguno responded, “These are issues that only the President can address, I am just an adviser. It is up to Mr President, he has the prerogative to make any change at whatever time he deems fit; he is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.