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The Coalition of North-central Elders (CNCE), has told President Muhammadu Buhari to reshuffle his security architecture by immediately sacking service chiefs.
The group made the call in the wake of the security alert raised by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), alleging Boko Haham had laid siege on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, describing it as the first of kind in the history of the country.
Mr. Usman Bida, National Chairman of the group and Mr. Moses Okudu, its National Secretary in a communique on Monday, expressed disbelief in the assurances by President Buhari to arrest the challenge, claiming that sacking the service chiefs was the only way to bolster the country’s security, This Day reports.
The said the alert by NCS was testament to ‘intelligence failure’ on the part of security agencies primarily tasked with intelligence gathering, surveillance and the defense of Nigeria.
The statement read in part, “we join other well-meaning Nigerians to call on Mr. President to immediately restructure the current security architecture in the country with the sacking of the service chiefs as the first steps.
“Nigerians are tired of rhetorics and promises of the security situation getting better.
“We are saddened that there is no state in the North Central that is free from terrorists’ attacks or that has not had its own fair share of the mindless killing of innocent citizens one time or the other, a region that was the most peaceful in the entire North.
“When we were about to recover from the arrest of over 400 terrorists with dangerous weapons in Toto Local Government of Nasarawa State by the military, which was quite commendable, we are taken aback by the recent intelligence reports released by Nigeria Customs Service of the presence of Boko Haram elements in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and some local government areas in Nasarawa and Niger states. This is a complete failure of intelligence.
“As it stands today, the well-meaning citizens of North Central and Nigeria are frightened by this information.
“Some parts of Nasarawa, Niger and Kogi States are no-go areas because of the activities of these terrorists that kill, kidnap, and rob people at will as if we are in a Banana republic.
“In Niger State, people are killed on a daily basis, women are raped and children killed by this terrorist group.
“We voted for President Buhari because of his vast experience in security and integrity and we expect the best from him.
“Mr. President, we are with you and will always be, but we feel your continued retention of the service chiefs for the last five years running is totally against the wishes of Nigerian people given that it is causing a lot low morale and bad work zeal in the entire Armed Forces. We appeal that you act now.’’
The group claimed that Nigeria’s security forces possess personnel capable of outdoing the current security heads and implored President Buhari to take the bold step of sacking them for fresh ideas on tackling rising spate of insecurity.
“Mr. President, sir, four officers cannot be more experienced than thousands of the officers we have in the armed forces. It is on this note that we appeal to you to, as a matter of urgency and national importance, sack them from office,” they said.
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.