Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin, has revealed that the military is currently confronting 14 security threats across the country.
Olonisakin disclosed this at a reception organised for him by the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations in New York, the United States of America.
He was at the UN headquarters for the second Chiefs of Defence Conference, alongside more than 100 other chiefs of defence staff all over the world.
“By my estimation, we have about 14 security threats that we are confronting, ranging from terrorism, insurgency, kidnapping, cultism, to issues linked to armed robbery.
“We are handling operations in all the geo-political zones of the country, but, the major one is the one in the North East, which is Operation Lafiya Dole.
“We have, of course, operations down South and taking charge of militancy and oil theft; we also have that in Lagos.
“But, the major one is Operation Lafiya Dole, which, of course, since we came on board, have stepped up the scheme. Right now, we have been able to decimate Boko Haram, but what they are doing right now is hitting soft targets, through suicide bombers.
“We realised that, to mitigate this particular menace, is not only about the military. So, we needed to carry the whole nation along, to be able to address that.”
To mitigate incidences of suicide bombings, Olonisakin said the military high command has met with other stakeholders, to encourage the populace to provide them with necessary intelligence.
He said the command realised that intelligence was vital to handling the menace of suicide bombings.
The defence chief also said the military had commenced the process of restoring full civil authority in areas formerly controlled by Boko Haram terrorists.
“We are working alongside the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.
“We are also ensuring that the civil authority is put in place; places that the military had taken over, we encourage the Police and Civil Defence to come on so they can provide civil authority for displaced people to move in.”
Olonisakin noted that last week, many Boko Haram militants surrendered.
“We have what we call Operation Safe Corridor in Gombe that is to handle this kind of surrendered terrorists.
“I believe in the next couple of days, repentant Boko Haram terrorists will be moved to that Operation Safe Corridor where they will conduct de-radicalisation and integration procedure for them.
“Down South, of course, we have issues, too, but the military is stepping up its game to make sure we address security challenges back home,” he said.
Nigeria’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof. Tijjani Bande, commended Nigeria’s security forces for decimating the Boko Haram as a fighting force.
“Soft targets are being exploited by desperate group but in truth, even beyond Boko Haram, other challenges are also being addressed.
“What important is the synergy that has been expressed by Chief of Defence Staff in relation to what all the security agencies are doing together; when we work together, we are secured,” Bande said.
Meanwhile, Borno Police Command said it has deployed 3, 000 policemen to Maiduguri and other areas liberated from Boko Haram.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Victor Isuku, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri, yesterday, said the measure became imperative to enhance security network in Maiduguri and other communities liberated from the insurgents.
He explained that the command had taken proactive steps to deal with security threats and protect lives and property in the state.
He said the personnel had already resumed duty in their various posts.
On the foiled suicide bomb attack by the insurgents at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), the PPRO said the command had deployed additional personnel to strengthen security at the institution.
“The command had recently deployed a full unit of mobile police personnel, guards and sniffer dogs to the university, to complement the presence of security personnel there.
“These deployments have started yielding results toward preventing
attempts by these enemies of peace to threaten the lives and safety of the university community and its environs.”
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