President Muhammadu Buhari has
cancelled his planned five-day “casual leave’’ as a mark of respect for victims
of Boko Haram attacks across the battlefields in the Northeast zone of the
country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that the President had planned to spend the casual leave at his home
country, Daura, Katsina State from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2.
The president, according to NAN,
had earlier cancelled his official trip to Benin City, Edo, where he was
initially billed to inaugurate the Edo-Azura Power Plant and grace the Chief of
Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference.
NAN reports that already the
advanced teams of the president, who left Abuja for Katsina and Benin on
Sunday, had been asked to return. NAN gathered that the cancellation of the
trips would also enable the president to continue his ongoing meetings and
consultations with relevant security and intelligent community aimed at
addressing the nation’s security challenges.
However, the president is
expected to declare the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference, which was
moved from Benin City to Maiduguri, Borno, on Nov. 28 at the Government House
Conference Hall (CGH).
President Buhari’s aide on New
Media, Alhaji Bashir Ahmad, had on Sunday confirmed this development on his twitter
handle.
He said: “President Muhammadu
Buhari is expected to declare the COAS Annual Conference on Nov. 28, 2018 at
the Conference Hall CGH in Maiduguri, Borno state.
“The conference was earlier
scheduled to take place from 26 -28 November 2018 in Benin, Edo state.
NAN also gathered that the
shifting of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference from Benin City to
Maiduguri might not be unconnected with the killing of Nigerian soldiers at
Metele, a remote village bordering Nigeria and Chad.
NAN learnt that President Buhari
would use the opportunity of the COAS conference to address the Nigerian
soldiers at the battlefields to further boost their morale.
It would be recalled that
President Buhari had on Sunday presided over a meeting of security chiefs at
the Presidential Villa, Abuja, as part of the ongoing efforts to engage
military and intelligence community towards addressing Boko Haram insurgency.
In a tweet in Abuja on Sunday,
the President’s aide on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, said all the service chiefs,
the Inspector-General of Police, Idris Ibrahim and the Director-General of the
Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi were part of the meeting.
“All the Service Chiefs, I-G of
Police and DG of DSS were at the State House this morning. As President Buhari
said (Saturday) yesterday, in the coming days, he will be engaging the Military
and Intelligence Chiefs in extensive discussions on the next steps we shall be
taking,’’ Ahmad said in the tweet.
President Buhari had pledged on
Saturday to ensure that the loopholes, which led to the fatalities are blocked
once and for all.
On 18 November, the Al Barnawi
faction of Boko Haram attack the 157 Task Force Battalion based at Metele in
northern part of Borno state, killing scores of Nigerian troops.
The military authorities are yet
to give the specific number of casualties.
Buhari in a statement issued by
his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu in Abuja
on Saturday, reiterated his administration’s commitment to the security of
military personnel and other citizens.
“No responsible
Commander-in-Chief would rest on his oars or fold his hands to allow terrorists
to endanger the lives of military personnel and other citizens”, Shehu quoted
the president as saying.
“Our loyal forces have proved
their strength over the terrorists and we are ready to give them all the needed
support, in terms of equipment and manpower, to succeed in ending the renewed
threat.
“In the coming days, I am
engaging the military and Intelligence Chiefs in extensive discussions on the
next steps we shall be taking.”
The President noted that fighting
terrorism had taken a global dimension, which necessitated international
collaboration among states facing similar security challenges.
He, therefore, reassured
Nigerians of his continued commitment to their security and of his efforts to
sustain the momentum in the previous significant successes recorded against the
terrorists.
The president, however, advised
Nigerians against making a political capital out of the national tragedy,
saying “members of the armed forces are one family, commonly committed to the
security and safety of all Nigerians.’’(NAN)
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ReplyDeleteVery nice idea.. Our GCFR is not resting neither is he folding his arms
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