Friday 30 December 2011

Boko Haram: Jonathan summons Service Chiefs


President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday summoned the Service Chiefs and other heads of the country’s security agencies to an emergency meeting at the State House in Abuja.
Emerging from the meeting which lasted for over four hours, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Oluseyi Petinrin, told State House correspondents that key decisions were taken.
He said the meeting was called by the President following his concern about the current security challenges facing the country,
“The meeting has to do with the security situation and Mr President has taken very decisive decisions and I am sure you will hear about it,’’ the Chief of Defence Staff said.
Speaking also, the Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, said the security chiefs were summoned by the President and the meeting reviewed the current security challenges and the way forward.
Ringim said the security agencies, just like every other Nigerian, were worried about the spate of terrorist attacks in the country.
“Well, we are all worried. Terrorism is not an easy matter at all.
“Terrorism is everywhere all over the world, particularly here in this country, and as you are aware, it is a very new phenomenon here.
“We have not had this kind of thing before and we are just having it now, so we are all scrambling to find our feet and face it squarely, that is what we are doing. We are prepared more than ever before and I want to assure you on this.
“If we had not done what we did in Yobe, if we had not done what we did in Kaduna, indeed if the Nigerian Police Force had not done what we did in Kano, and the recovery of the primed up suicide bombing vehicles, the story would have been a different one.
Ringim who disclosed that the police had made “hundreds of arrests” also solicited the co-operation of members of the public to get to the leaders and sponsors of the terrorist group.(NAN)