VP Sambo in emergency meeting with service chiefs over Kaduna, Yobe

Posted by admin Kaduna, Latest Politics, State News, Yobe Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

2012

VICE-PRESIDENT Namadi Sambo, on Tuesday, met in an emergency session with service chiefs over escalating violence in parts of the country.

The National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, General Andrew Azazi, who fielded questions from State House correspondents after the meeting which took place at the vice-president’s wing of the Presidential Villa, said the vice-president summoned the meeting in the absence of President Goodluck Jonathan, to assess the security situation in the country.

He said security forces had moved in to curtail the escalation and the situation had stabilised in some places, especially in Kaduna where bomb attacks in churches led to reprisals last Sunday.

“It escalated but the security forces have moved in. So, the place is stabilised. You find that the governor and religious leaders are also talking,” he stated.

The NSA stressed the need for religious leaders to talk to their faithful on the importance of peace in the country, saying, “what we are talking about is how do we extend this discussion beyond just the state that it can [include] church leaders so that they can talk to the leaders in the mosques to see how they can tell the adherents to please be mindful that we need to address the security situation in the country peacefully.”

On whether the talks were not coming too late, he responded: “Talking can never be late. Whatever is the situation, you have to end up talking. We want leaders to be proactive. We want church leaders to be proactive, we want youth leaders to be proactive to make sure that what you call reprisal doesn’t make sense to anybody.

“What we need to do is to be mindful that, look somebody is killing somebody in Zaria and you are retaliating somewhere in Zonkwa. That is criminality.

“Things happen, but as a nation, as a people, we must address situation, not necessarily by killing each other.”

He regretted that no matter how hard the security forces may try, it was not possible to completely tackle terrorist acts, especially because of the size of the country.

Also at the meeting with the vice-president were Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin; Chief of Army Staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ola Saheed Ibrahim; Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Muhammed Umar; acting Inspector General of Police, Alhaji M. D. Abubakar and the Director General of State Security Service, Ita Ekpenyong.

Insecurity: Reps summon Jonathan, security chiefs
The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, summoned President Good-luck Jonathan and his security chiefs to appear at a closed door session of the House, to brief them on what the government is doing to tackle the security challenges threatening the unity of the country, with the Boko Haram menace topping the list.

Those who were to appear alongside the president included General Azazi; Air Chief Marshal Petinrin; Mr Ekpeyong; General Ihejirika; Vice Admiral Ibrahim; Air Marshal Umar and Alhaji Abubakar.

The House resolution was sequel to a motion of matters of urgent national importance, moved by Honourable Yakub Barde on the spate of insecurity in the country, especially last Sunday’s bombing of three churches in Kaduna, where scores of lives were reportedly lost.

The lawmaker, who regretted the unfortunate incident, said the bombing was now threatening peaceful coexistence in the state, saying that “Kaduna has always been known to be peaceful, but these unfortunate attacks are driving fear into the minds of the people.”

Barde said it was time the House took a deeper look at the security challenges facing the country, especially in the North, where the Boko Haram sect had killed several hundreds through suicide bombings in the last 12 months.

On his part, the minority leader of the House, Honourable Femi Gbaja-biamila, kicked against the trip to Brazil for the earth summit, embarked upon by the president.

Also, the chairman, House Committee on Electoral Matters, Honourable Jerry Manwe, berated the inability of security agencies to pre-empt the incessant bombings, despite the huge budget for security agencies.

“We approved almost one trillion naira for security alone in the 2012 budget. Is this money meant to buy AK-47 alone, or to buy bomb detectors for the Villa, or the National Assembly alone, when our brothers and sisters out there continue to die? Are the president, Azazi and the IG scared? We should tell ourselves the bitter truth now.”

In a related development, Speaker, Honour-able Aminu Tambuwal, has distanced himself from the rumour doing the rounds on his alleged comments over Sunday’s reprisals that followed the bombing of churches in Zaria and Kaduna.

The speaker was reported to have, in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Mallam Imam Imam, condemned the reprisals without condemning the bombings in the first place.

The speaker, during the session, however, said “in all my comments over these acts, I have continuously condemned the acts as inhuman and not to be supported by anyone. The statement was very clear.”

No plan to declare state of emergency —Azazi
Meanwhile, General Azazi has said there is no plan to declare a state of emergency in any part of the country, owing to worsening security situation.

Azazi, who spoke with newsmen after a security meeting with Vice-President Sambo, at the State House, Abuja, was reacting to question on plan to declare a state of emergency in Kaduna.

On the escalation of violence in Kaduna, Azazi said “it esclated but the security forces have moved in. So, that place is stabilised. You find that the governor and religious leaders are also talking.”

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