The COAS stated this during the opening ceremony of the workshop on Future Improvised Explosive Device Challenges and Threat Mitigation held at the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering, Makurdi.

Represented by the Force Commander, Operation Whirl Stroke, Major General Sunday Igbinomwanhia, the army boss said that in a sustained effort to shore up troops’ morale and fighting spirit, the Nigerian Army had embarked on a massive acquisition drive.

“Some of the equipment acquired include Vallon handheld detectors, MRAPs, TCVs, Husky vehicles, APCs as well as UAVs, adding that efforts were ongoing to purchase some Husky vehicle mounted mine detection systems amongst several other pieces of equipment.

“The defeat of insurgency, banditry, and other acts of criminality remains my top priority. It is with this commitment in mind that the procurement of equipment and realistic training of personnel were embarked upon.

“Similarly, the research and development drive for indigenous production of some of our requirements is ongoing. The local production of the Ode rechargeable blasting device and the remote control jammers are commendable but more can be done.

“To this end, the Nigerian Army will continue to sustain its stride of supporting local production of our defence needs to augment our procurement”, General Yahaya said.

The CoAS, however, noted that the workshop with the theme “Capacity Development in CIED for Robust Support to NA Operations” was necessary in order to understand the future of Improvised Explosive Devices, its challenges, how the enemy operates, and knowing how to mitigate the IED threats.

” I am therefore glad that the objectives of this workshop are in line with my desire to defeat an insurgency by ensuring that our troops have freedom of action through effective CIED operation,” he said.

General Yahaya said that effective CIED operations had contributed towards the successes recorded against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups as well as various unscrupulous elements across the nation.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Commander Corps of Engineers, Major General Philip Eromosele noted that the use of IEDs by insurgents as force multipliers has become a trend with unpleasant effects on the outcomes of NA operations and the morale of troops.

To achieve victory in the ongoing CTCOIN and other operations despite the threat posed by the use of these IEDs, General Eromosele said that the workshop would feature a series of events that include presentations, discussion sessions, and demonstrations on the use of the recently acquired sophisticated and highly sensitive equipment such as; CIED MRAPs and Husky vehicles.

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According to NAN, Mohammed stated this when he addressed journalists in Bauchi.

The governor, who noted that addressing insecurity cannot be left to the federal government alone, urged state and local governments, as well as traditional rulers, to be actively involved in ensuring improved security.

“It is the responsibility of the federal, state and the local governments, including all the traditional institutions in the country.

“These problems can only with tackled with concerted efforts and collaboration from the federal, state and local governments.

“As a nation, we are challenged by so many aspects of misdemeanours, crime and criminality. We must be very courageous to say it, and that is not something that is acceptable within the tenet of Islam.

”It is not just a federal government’s responsibility. It’s a responsibility of the federal government, the state and the local governments as well as our traditional institutions and all the stakeholders.

“We are all policemen today. We know these bandits; we know where they stay and what they do. Sometimes, they are aided and abetted by some of us and we should fish them out, because the police in their numbers are already overwhelmed.

“I’m calling on the federal government to work with us as governors and local governments, because that’s where the solution is. I hope we sit down as a country to reflect and make sure we bring solutions.”

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Over the past weeks, there has been an increase in the wave of attacks on schools, communities, and security facilities across the country.

There have been attacks by bandits, insurgents, and unknown gunmen, while thousands of residents in some states have been displaced.

Nigeria recorded more than 10 security incidents on Monday as killings and attacks continued across the country.

Speaking on Wednesday during the 108th annual convention of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), held at the church’s international conference centre along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the former president said he is optimistic that Nigeria will overcome the challenges.

“On the situation we are in the country, I am an incurable optimist about a number of things, particularly about Nigeria. The situation in Nigeria threatening but we won’t be consumed by it.

“Keep praying that the situation will only be threatening, but we won’t be overcome by it.”

On Tuesday, the house of representatives had asked President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency over Nigeria’s growing security. challenges.

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Fayemi said there is a “direct correlation” between the persistent insurgency and heightened insecurity in parts of the country.

Speaking after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa on Monday, he said both issues must be tackled collectively.

Fayemi, who is the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), also disclosed that President Buhari will approach the national assembly for more funding for the equipment of the armed forces.

He said: “I can tell you, and I don’t think I’ll be breaching any confidence, that one of the good news I came away with, from the President now on this issue is that he’s already informed the National Assembly that they will be receiving a special request from him on procurement of equipment on an accelerated basis for our security services because that was one of the issues that we put before him and he was very categorical that yes, we have a point.

“Some of the equipment that had been procured are on the way, they haven’t arrived, but they will soon arrive. There is also a need to buy more equipment and he is going into government-to-government partnership with a number of countries and that would necessitate an accelerated clearance from the national assembly.

“What I’m saying, in essence, is they’ve been able to assess their situation on coming to that office and they made a very honest assessment of what’s on ground, which is militating against their effective clearance of the insurgents and that’s something that will happen.

“Having said all of that, I also don’t think we’re naive enough to think that it’s simply a military action that will resolve all these security challenges. They have root causes and the root causes require political will, political action on our part against poverty, against inequality, against the disconnections between our youth and the government because these are some of the things that have pushed younger people into harm’s way and into becoming cannon fodder for those who don’t have the interest of our country at heart and are ready to destroy the country.

“There is a direct correlation, I’ve said this to you before, between insurgency in the north-east, and what we’re seeing manifesting itself as banditry in the north-west, or kidnapping in the south-west. Some of the people involved in these are also the ones responsible for insurgency.

“They are using the resources that they make from kidnapping for the activities that they’re conducting in the north-east. So we need to take a comprehensive look at all these things and not treat them in compartments. We must treat them as a comprehensive issue and then tackle them collectively.”

Fayemi said apart from tackling criminality with force, the government must also resolve issues such as “poverty, inequality, social disconnection between leadership and the youth, which had rendered the youth available to derailing tendencies”.

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In a directive to the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), the President ordered that there must be a clear pathway to ending the resurgent banditry that has continued to cost lives and the displacement of thousands of families from their towns and villages.

Recall that recently, the Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Hon. Nasir Magarya, wrote a letter in which he appealed to President Buhari to intervene and stop the incessant killings by bandits in the State.

In this respect, a meeting is soon to take place that will deliberate on security and the issue of illegal mining which is fueling the crisis in Zamfara State.

In addition to NSA the convener, the meeting will be attended by Major-General Bashir Magashi (Rtd), Ogbeni Ra’uf Aregbesola and Architect Olamilekan Adegbite, Ministers of Defence, Interior, and Mines and Steel respectively.

Also to attend the meeting are the Directors-General of the Department of State Services, DSS, and the National Intelligence Agency, NIA.

Beyond the problems of bandits and cattle rustlers, the scale of lawlessness has been aggravated by illegal miners who are harvesting resources they have no legal rights to exploit.

Official statistics suggest that there are more than 20,000 such miners undermining this important part of the economy, operating in a manner that is extraordinarily harmful and destructive. The result is chaos.

This meeting is expected to address these and associated issues of corruption, government oversight and lawlessness.

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Fayemi, who is also the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), spoke on Tuesday when he led three governors on a solidarity visit to Aminu Masari, governor of Katsina, over the abduction students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina.

The students were released after six days in captivity.

According to NAN, Fayemi was accompanied by Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto; Atiku Bagudu, governor of Kebbi and Badaru Abubakar, governor of Jigawa.

He was quoted to have said governors need to address the issues of banditry, kidnapping and criminality, including the causes of these problems.

“For us, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), we believe that we not only have to be on top of banditry, kidnapping and criminality generally, but we also have to be on top of the causes of these problems,” he said.

“Social inequality and poverty are key issues and we need to ensure that our governments, our states pry away our young people from the merchants of death who are using them as cannon fodder for these criminal brigandage.

“We can only do that through providing them with alternative means of livelihood and support system that will not entice them to these elements that are endangering the whole of our country… We are all tired, we are all frustrated that these issues are happening.”

Fayemi said governors must work with President Muhammadu Buhari to put an end to banditry, kidnapping and other problems, instead of engaging in repeated talking.

“And this is something that we are committed to as governors, in working with Mr President, so that we don’t keep on talking about something over and over again,” he said.

“But we know that with concerted efforts on our part as governors and the commitment of the Federal Government, the professional conduct of our security services and our social investment programme intensified, we shall see the end of these criminality, brigandage in our states. “

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The north has been affected by kidnapping, banditry, as well as attacks by insurgents, leading to loss of lives and properties.

The president’s wife, in a post on Saturday, shared a short video clip on Twitter, which also had the hashtag #Achechijamaa, meaning “help the people”.

The 22-second video showed president Buhari and his security chiefs in different meetings, while the audio is an excerpt from a song recently released by a Adam Zango, a musician.

In the Hausa song, “Arewa na kuka” meaning “the north weeps”, the singer asked Buhari to pay attention to what people are saying and put an end to the killings in the north.

“We are dying, Baba. They’re killing us, Baba. The north is weeping, our blood is being shed, our people are being killed,” the musician renders in Hausa.

This development comes days after the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), asked the youth to embark on massive protests within the 19 states to call government attention to the spike in insecurity that has bedevilled the region.

The first lady’s post also comes amid nationwide protests calling for a reform of the police force and better welfare for the masses.

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The President spoke in Kaduna during the combined Passing Out Parade (POP) for 67 Regular Course and Short Service Course 46 (Army), at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).

“We remain focused in the fight against insurgencies, banditry and others forms of criminality across the nation. We remain committed to ending the security challenges bedeviling the country.

“I am confident that the training received by the cadets has adequately equipped them to face any challenge in the line of duty.”

Buhari advised the cadets to strive to keep pace with the ever changing challenges which, he said, were complex, fluid and dynamic.

Buhari expressed confidence that the cadets had gone through rigorous and demanding tasks and were, undoubtedly, infused with a sense of self-esteem, efficacy and accomplishment.

He also reminded them of the need to be committed to core goals of national cohesion, peace and unity.

Buhari commended the resilience and steadfastness of the Armed Forces, especially their professionalism and bravery in tackling the menace of terrorism, insurgency and banditry in the North-East and North-West geo-political zones.

He also lauded their handling of the herders/farmers conflict, kidnapping, piracy and communal clashes in other parts of our country.

“Very soon, you will join your senior colleagues in the field and you will be expected to contribute your part in the defence of your country.

“With the quality of training you have received, I am convinced that you will discharge your duties professionally and responsibly.

“I can say without any fear that the future is promising for our national defence and security,” Buhari said.

The president charged the cadets to remain loyal and patriotic, urging them to consistently sustain and strengthen the two virtues.

He urged other Nigerians to also embrace the spirit of patriotism, noting that it was the only path to greatness.

“In spite of our obvious differences, we must strive to ensure that our actions and utterances are geared toward strengthening our democratic framework.

“We must subsume our personal and sectional interests to the overall national aspirations of unity, economic prosperity and good governance.”

He commended the NDA for remaining focused and committed to its core mandate of training officer cadets since its establishment in 1964.

“I have been made to understand that the Academy, in furtherance to enriching its training curriculum, recently took the cadets on a tour of frontline communities in the North-East theatre of operations.

“The tour was to keep the cadets informed of the challenges of real battle scenarios and to boost their combat readiness.

“As a retired General, I can say with all sense of responsibility that I am encouraged by the excellent work invested in the training of these officer cadets for service to this great nation and humanity in general.”

The president appreciated the Commandant and entire staff of the Academy for their relentless efforts toward ensuring that the cadets received adequate training that would enable them to contribute their quota to nation building.

The President commissioned the cadets into the Nigerian Armed Forces after the parade.

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Ganduje, who spoke with reporters at the State House, said he came to brief the vice president on efforts being made to address the challenges.

He said that military was putting in its best and was being supported to keep criminals away from the Falgore Forest.

The governor said: “Just to brief him about the security issues in Kano State, especially pertaining to kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery and other criminal activities in the zone.

“I submitted a report to him that it is all well; we are managing; there is high coordination of the security agencies in Kano; they are working very hard.

“The only problem we have is the Falgore Forest for which we are providing infrastructure for military training in order to prevent the bandits from colonising that particular environment. We are working very hard on that; so, briefly, that is what I have come to discuss with him.’’

He said that the vice president was happy and felt encouraged with the report.

On the Kano Economic City, he said that Kano was a mega city; therefore, commercial activities must be encouraged.

According to him, all the markets in Kano are filled to capacity, hence the need to expand to other places.

“So, to create a new economic city is the answer; it has reached an advanced stage; there are so many facilities there. Apart from the shops there, there are mega hotels, there are banking halls and also there are trailer parks and so many other things that you expect to see in an economic city.

“The work has reached over 70 per cent; so, we are happy; even the drug sellers are being allocated a place there to avoid selling drugs indiscriminately.

“You know the Federal Government’s policy on drugs now; and those who are in corporate business, there is premises for them.’’

Ganduje also spoke on the N880 million recently distributed to the 44 councils in Kano state for the renovation of primary schools.

He said that the main essence of that programme was to encourage community participation in the development of education in the state.

The governor said that his administration had designed a package for direct labour, rehabilitation and renovation of schools.

“Now, we have created what we call education promotion committees and we have given them N20 million each with identified schools to be renovated, with the scope of work to be undertaken.

“We have given them three weeks to complete that project; so that they will come and report and our supervisors and engineers will also give the same report.”

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The Permanent Secretary, Special Services, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Dr Amina Shamaki, made this known at the opening of Federal and States Security Administrators’ meeting in Birnin Kebbi.

The permanent secretary however said that the attacks have been on the decline.
She noted that the North West which was one of the most peaceful zones of the country, had in the last few years, witnessed attacks by bandits.

Shamaki said the security situation in the zone remained a source of concern to the security agencies and the general populace.

“From January to July, 2019, about 330 attacks were recorded, resulting to the death of about 1,460 civilians.

“However, between June and July, 2019, the number of incidents declined, especially in Zamfara State, that had been the epicentre of armed banditry,” she said.

Shamaki also attributed the decline to the combination of both kinetic and non kinetic measures put in place by the government.

“The dialogue initiated by the current Zamfara state governor, Bello Matawalle, in particular and the other governors in the zone is worthy of commendation and should be adopted by states with similar security challenges.

“Application of the carrot and stick approach is an effective strategy that enables criminals wiling to embrace peace to do so while repentant ones are identified and isolated for appropriate actions by the security agencies,” she said.

According to her , while bandits’ attacks have reduced in Zamfara, the incidents have risen in the contiguous States.

Shamaki, therefore, stressed the need for vigilance and close monitoring of the repentant bandits by the security agencies to prevent them from going back to the trenches.

“Another security concern is the porosity of our borders; the borders aided smuggling of Small Arms and Light Weapons from war-torn zones, including Libya and Central Africa Republic, terrorism, cross- border crimes, human trafficking, irregular migration and smuggling of migrants, among others.

”The Federal Government is doing a lot to improve border security with a view to addressing some of these challenges.”

The permanent secretary appealed to States that share borders with the country’s neighbours to support the government ‘s efforts by enlightening their subjects on the implication of harbouring irregular migrants and other aliens in their midst.

In his remarks, Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, thanked the security agencies and judiciary in the state for contributing to make the state peaceful and model for other states.

“It doesn’t matter if one state is peaceful while others are not, we should collapse the Silos that divide us, embrace and understand each other in order to help ourselves in the provision of security in this country,” he urged.

The governor wished all participants fruitful deliberations and memorable stay in the peaceful state.

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