The threat to bomb Lagos reverberated in Abuja yesterday when service chiefs briefed the Senate on the spate of insecurity in the country. Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi, led the service chiefs into the chamber after the public gallery was cleared. Led by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Admiral Sa’ad Ola Ibrahim, Lt. Gen Azubuike Ihejirika (Army) Vice Admiral Ezeoba Dele (Navy), Air Marshal Alex Badeh (Air Force), and Mr. Ita Ekpeyong of the Department of State Security (DSS), they all briefed the Senate behind closed doors. The briefing took about five and a half hours.
Daily Sun gathered that the service chiefs confirmed to bewildered senators that the plan by the dreaded Boko Haram to bomb Lagos was real. A source said: “They told us that the raid last week of a Lagos suburb by security agencies was an act that nipped the act in the bud. Members are paranoid that should Lagos be hit, being the commercial nerve centre of the country, there is not telling what the response from the South-West would be…” The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Dikko Abubakar, was absent at the parley.
He was initially represented by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Administration), Suleiman Fakai, who may have been rejected by the Senate. Already incensed that the IGP did not honour the invitation, Senate President David Mark reportedly wondered why the most immediate senior officer, the DIG (Operations) did not represent Abubakar at the briefing. Fakai told the Senators that the DIG (Operations) was at a meeting with a minister only to amend it later that he was also going to brief President Goodluck Jonathan.
Senators at the executive session told Daily Sun that this excuse may not have gone down well with Mark, who told Fakai that the Senate would not take kindly the snub with a strong reminder that as an arm of government, it would no longer tolerate the manner in which its summons are treated. Fakai was said to have been ordered out of the chamber thereafter. One of the reasons Fakai may have been stopped from briefing the house may be because he was not equipped with any strategic paper or talking points to present before the Senate on what the police are doing to unravel the Boko Haram threat in Lagos.
It was gathered that in the schedule of appearance of service chiefs before the Senate, the IGP was listed first on the line to brief the lawmakers. Sources close to the Police Affairs Committee said the force had advance information about the Senate briefing and were advised to, at least, prepare some notes before coming to the chamber. But another version said that Fatai was allowed to brief the house after some pleas. He filed out of the chamber with the other service chiefs at 4:19pm when the session ended.
Speaking with newsmen after the session, Senate spokesman, Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the parley would be regular, adding that the chamber was satisfied with “the level of interaction with the service chiefs and their efforts in making Nigeria a safer place. “We devoted the entire plenary to an interaction with the service chiefs and other heads of security agencies in Nigeria with a view to finding out the problems and work with the different security agencies in Nigeria in order to resolve them.
“We are calling on Nigerians to cooperate with the security agencies to resolve the security issues.” Asked whether the closed-door session discussed amnesty for Boko Haram, Abaribe replied: “Any other decision is a policy decision that would be taken by the Federal Government. The interaction is aimed at making sure that in the shortest possible time, the security issues will be resolved.” The Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, it was further gathered, was directed to follow up on yesterday’s briefing
Daily Sun
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Had d so called svc chiefs n the seanators earlier taken d proactive stand they r taking now at d beginning of d insurgence, it wld nt ve reached ds level. Our brothers in d north wld nt ve bn massacred. So dy r telling us dt pple in Lagos r more important dn our those in Kano,Yobe n Borno states,abi?
ReplyDeleteAbeg stop being a complainant and shut up...Nigerians a very insatiable people..if dey dont make a move complain,now they are still complain..rubbish.terrorists are not suppsed to be dialoged with thats why it is taking too long.
ReplyDeleteWhat we are suffering in this Nation is human. Why are we even decieving ourselves that we are runing a democratic state when the Citizens are been killed and the President (the House) is not doing anything to arrest the situation.Are u telling us that the so called BOKO HARAM are INVISIBLE? One thing u hv to understand is that the suponsors are among the elite Think for it the rat in the house that told the one outsside that there is fish in the house. MR. GEJ, if u LOVE this country and value the life of those that voted u in, then do something.
ReplyDeleteIt is vividly clear that Jonathan is boko haram and boko haram is more politicaly motivated,than the religious colouration given to it. It is Jonathan strategy for 2015, there is no doubt about this finding and with keen follow up of the bokoharam menace. Henry okah revelations to how Jonathan plan the 2010 independent day bomb to paint the north bad so as to received the nigerian people sympathy to win 2011 election, could have been wave aside, but it become glaring that the same bombing political strategy is been used to destabilize the north, the benefit of the present crisis in the north had not only cripple the economic as propagated alone, it has subdue the political power of the north against 2015, thereby positioning the same Jonathan a upper merit for 2015. The Jonathan strategy now after seeing that the south-west dominated ACN is aligning with the CPC in the north, realised that they could be hard to contend with, want to blow up lagos, so as to set the south west against the north. The question is, why is the bomb found a house own by the bayelsa government?did boko haram also want to enforce Islam in other territory?which i doubt. Who are people financing the boko haram? Wat interest do drug Cartel have in killing of innocent live.
ReplyDeleteAnonymousMarch 29, 2013 at 12:16 AM
ReplyDeleteIt is vividly clear that Jonathan is boko haram and boko haram is more politicaly motivated,than the religious colouration given to it. It is Jonathan strategy for 2015, there is no doubt about this finding and with keen follow up of the bokoharam menace. Henry okah revelations to how Jonathan plan the 2010 independent day bomb to paint the north bad so as to received the nigerian people sympathy to win 2011 election, could have been wave aside, but it become glaring that the same bombing political strategy is been used to destabilize the north, the benefit of the present crisis in the north had not only cripple the economic as propagated alone, it has subdue the political power of the north against 2015, thereby positioning the same Jonathan a upper merit for 2015. The Jonathan strategy now after seeing that the south-west dominated ACN is aligning with the CPC in the north, realised that they could be hard to contend with, want to blow up lagos, so as to set the south west against the north. The question is, why is the bomb found a house own by the bayelsa government?did boko haram also want to enforce Islam in other territory?which i doubt. Who are people financing the boko haram? Wat interest do drug Cartel have in killing of innocent live.
Listen to yourself, don't you sound stupid? Some northern moslems are misled and are also blood tirsty muderers. Its not anything political. Its d same religious war we have alwaysknown to exist in this country. Jonathan is d one paying d sucide bombers that attks churches and kill christians abi? Mr man I don't think so
EVEN THE XTAINS IN THE NORTH KNOWS BOKO HARAM MENACE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RELIGION. There is no busy church bombed in Kano till now. However are there no xtains/churches in other part of the north? why selected states especially those that refuse to vote GEJ in the last PDP primaries. Prayers is seriously going on, the monster BOKO HARAM and their financier will be exposed b4 2015. may be somebody will be in prison for 7 years as prophesied by some xtain prophets last January.
ReplyDelete