Gabriel Olonisakin, chief of
defence staff, says the absence of the service chiefs from the meeting of the
house of representatives last Friday was not a deliberate act to disrespect the
lawmakers.
Olonisakin spoke on Monday at a
meeting with the leadership of the house of representatives in Abuja.
Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker,
had invited the service chiefs to discuss the country’s security crisis but
they did not show up when it was first scheduled.
The absence of the service chiefs
angered Gbajabiamila who threatened to report them to President Muhammadu
Buhari.
But Olonisakin said the service
chiefs recognised the concern of the house but was unable to appear on Friday
“due to other national assignments”.
He thanked the leadership of the
house for the opportunity to interact with them on the issues of insecurity in
the north-east.
“We are here to listen to the
security concerns of the house and address them with the support of the
legislature,” Olonisakin said.
“Our various chiefs of operations
were here to represent us, they are senior officers in charge of the various
headquarters and are qualified to respond to issues.
“I wish to put on record that
contrary to insinuations, the absence of the service chiefs on Friday was not a
deliberate act to disrespect the institution of the assembly.
“We hold the national assembly in
the highest regard and wish to appreciate the institution for the support in
the fight against insurgency.”
He said the armed forces in
collaboration with other security and intelligence agencies have been
contending with terrorism for many years in the region.
He said in spite of the
challenges, appreciable progress had been made in the fight against insurgency
in the zone.
He added that the armed forces
will continue to strategise to address the changing operational situation of
the insurgents
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com