Malachy Uzendu and Tony Ailemen
30 December 2011
Abuja — Worried that the spate of killings by Boko Haram is about portraying him as an extremely weak leader who can not be entrusted with protecting the lives of Nigerians and foreign nationals in the country, President Goodluck Jonathan is set to effect major changes in the nation’s security network.
Information gathered from the Presidency indicates that virtually all the security chiefs would be asked to go home as their services would no longer be required.
Jonathan himself confirmed the development last Wednesday in the Presidential Villa while reacting to the charter of demand by the Christian Association of Nigeria, who blamed him and the nation’s security chiefs of the incapable of securing Nigerians.
He had said: “We will restructure, we will re-adjust and make sure we get a team that will meet with the challenge we are facing today”.
Daily Champion gathered from sources in the Villa that “the President is just tired of these killings. He knows that the Customs are not doing well enough to protect our borders. He knows that the Immigration is not doing enough to prevent unknown aliens from gaining access to our vast territory.
“He knows that the Police are not doing what is expected of them, likewise the Soldiers who have been seconded on internal security and so, he has been analysing all these things and will by the new year, take appropriate decisions, including massive reorganization, and would bring in people who would be ready to do what they are constitutionally expected to do.
“Apart from the State Security Service (SSS), which other arm of security do you think is doing any reasonable thing? Is it the ones who would release suspects kept in their care? Is it the ones who openly abuse their uniforms, cheating the public and even raping women all over the places? Is it the ones who have a duty to police the influx of contraband, yet it seems they are the ones who even courier these items themselves?
“I can tell you that Mr. President is disturbed by these events and especially the killings in the country. He is also disturbed that huge sums of money daily pass through the banks without the Intelligence Monitoring Units keeping a track on them. He knows that the Boko Haram have sponsors but, he is disappointed that the security chiefs are not taking any reasonable action to bring up cock-sure evidence against the suspected high-profile Nigerians who sponsor these people,” the Presidency sources stated.
Even a casual trip to the Force Headquarters further reveals that they were expecting serious changes in the place, but the anxiety is the system over there is terribly bad already and would not be easy to rectify.
At the Defence headquarters, hushed tones were also discussing the fate of the top military brass, which it was said to have outlived their usefulness.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday ordered top security chiefs in the country to go after the main sponsors of Boko Haram.
The marching order was handed over to the service chiefs at the meeting he held with them at the Presidential villa, yesterday.
Although the meeting held behind closed doors, Daily Champion gathered that the President directed the National Security Adviser (NSA) and security chiefs in the country to embark on a thorough overhaul of the security operational strategies of the security agencies in dealing with the Boko Haram violence.
The President was said to have warned that government would no longer spare any security officer who fails to act promptly on any information concerning the activities of the terrorist group.
“Go after those involved in this heinous act. We must stop this Boko Haram madness,” the president was said to have told the security chiefs.
It would be recalled that President Jonathan had last Wednesday told leaders of the Christian Association (CAN), led by Ayo Oritshejafor that he was contemplating an overhaul of the security apparatus in the country.
Both the Inspector General of Police Alhaji Hafiz Ringim and Oluseyi Petirin, Chief of Defence staff (CDS), confirmed to State House correspondents, after the meeting that the President Jonathan has taken decisive actions to restructure the security apparatus in the country.
He said the seriousness of the challenges formed the focus of the Thursday meeting adding that with the new strategy been put in place by the president, a lot of things will change in the coming days.
Hafiz Ringim, Inspector General of Police (IGP) told State House correspondents in a separate interview that President Jonathan’s concerns about the security challenges in the country led to the emergency security meeting where the service chiefs and top security chiefs reviewed “the situation where we were, where we are now and where we need to be, that is what we discussed”.
He said they are all worried with the spate of terrorism in the country saying: “Terrorism is everywhere all over the world particularly here in this country as you are aware it is a very new phenomenon here. We have not had this kind of thing before and we are just having it now so we are all scrambling to find our feet and face it squarely, that is what we are doing”.
“Security agencies and most importantly Nigerian police have made a lot of gains which have not come to the fore. I want to seize this opportunity and talk to everyone of us to remain resolved and resolute to join in the fight against this cankerworm that will not leave anyone of us if we do not put our acts together. This is something that should galvanize us in our quest to remain together and also to bring down the scourge”.
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