Senators and the Service Chiefs in the country had a six hour meeting in Abuja on Wednesday to discuss the threat of the Islamic group Boko Haram to Lagos.
The meeting which started at about 10.56am took place in the Senate Chamber, and was a closed door one, as no member of the press was allowed in.
Present at the meeting were the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sa'id Ola Ibrahim; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubike Ihejirika; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Dele Ezeoba; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh.
Also in attendance were the Director-General of the Directorate of State Services, Ita Ekpeyong; the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, represented by Deputy Inspector-General (Administration), Suleiman Fataki.
While the security chiefs were billed to brief the senators on their operations concerning curtailing the activities of the Boko Haram Islamic group, and insecurity generally in the country. However the security chiefs were reluctant to give details of their operations.
A Senator at the meeting who pleaded for anonymity confided in one member of the press said: "You know these are security men and they are fully aware that they are speaking to politicians. They chose their words carefully so that they will not play into the hands of the people they are dealing with.
"You are aware that two of our colleagues in the Senate are facing investigation or trial for links with the Boko Haram group.
"After the briefing, we asked general questions about the seriousness of the threat we are facing and whether the strategy would get the job done.
"One of us asked what their position was on the calls for dialogue with the sect, and the unanimous answer they gave was that they were in support of whatever decision the President takes."
When asked specifically about the recent threat to Lagos, the Senator said, "You know I cannot give you details. Everyone was concerned because attacking our commercial capital will have dire consequences. We all agreed we must do everything to nip it in the bud. On the whole, all options are open. That is all I can tell you."
At the end of the meeting, the President of the Senate said, "At plenary, the Senate was briefed by the Service Chiefs and afterwards, they took questions on the same subject matter.
At a press briefing shortly afterwards, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, Eyinnaya Abaribe, told the reporters that the Senate was satisfied with the briefing it received.
He said, "The Senate devoted the entire plenary to an interaction with the service chiefs and heads of security agencies in Nigeria with a view to finding out problems and work with the different security agencies in Nigeria.
"We are satisfied with the level of interaction and efforts aimed at making Nigeria a safe place, we are calling on Nigerians to cooperate with our security agencies to resolve these issues."
Abaribe added, "All options on how to operate and fight terrorism for which we also signed several protocols, I'm sure that these kind of interaction that our security agencies are having with their counterparts in terms of security means that the fight against terrorism is a collective one."
Source: The Punch
Senators and the Service Chiefs in the country had a six hour meeting in Abuja on Wednesday to discuss the threat of the Islamic group Boko Haram to Lagos.
The meeting which started at about 10.56am took place in the Senate Chamber, and was a closed door one, as no member of the press was allowed in.
Present at the meeting were the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sa'id Ola Ibrahim; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubike Ihejirika; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Dele Ezeoba; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh.
Also in attendance were the Director-General of the Directorate of State Services, Ita Ekpeyong; the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, represented by Deputy Inspector-General (Administration), Suleiman Fataki.
While the security chiefs were billed to brief the senators on their operations concerning curtailing the activities of the Boko Haram Islamic group, and insecurity generally in the country. However the security chiefs were reluctant to give details of their operations.
A Senator at the meeting who pleaded for anonymity confided in one member of the press said: "You know these are security men and they are fully aware that they are speaking to politicians. They chose their words carefully so that they will not play into the hands of the people they are dealing with.
"You are aware that two of our colleagues in the Senate are facing investigation or trial for links with the Boko Haram group.
"After the briefing, we asked general questions about the seriousness of the threat we are facing and whether the strategy would get the job done.
"One of us asked what their position was on the calls for dialogue with the sect, and the unanimous answer they gave was that they were in support of whatever decision the President takes."
When asked specifically about the recent threat to Lagos, the Senator said, "You know I cannot give you details. Everyone was concerned because attacking our commercial capital will have dire consequences. We all agreed we must do everything to nip it in the bud. On the whole, all options are open. That is all I can tell you."
At the end of the meeting, the President of the Senate said, "At plenary, the Senate was briefed by the Service Chiefs and afterwards, they took questions on the same subject matter.
At a press briefing shortly afterwards, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, Eyinnaya Abaribe, told the reporters that the Senate was satisfied with the briefing it received.
He said, "The Senate devoted the entire plenary to an interaction with the service chiefs and heads of security agencies in Nigeria with a view to finding out problems and work with the different security agencies in Nigeria.
"We are satisfied with the level of interaction and efforts aimed at making Nigeria a safe place, we are calling on Nigerians to cooperate with our security agencies to resolve these issues."
Abaribe added, "All options on how to operate and fight terrorism for which we also signed several protocols, I'm sure that these kind of interaction that our security agencies are having with their counterparts in terms of security means that the fight against terrorism is a collective one."
Source: The Punch
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