THE Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Azubuike Ihejirika, had
to abort his planned trip to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Thursday,
where he was to declare open the eighth bi-ennial training conference
of the Nigerian Army Finance Corps, following threats by the Boko
Haram sect and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
(MEND) to bomb and cause mayhem in Abuja tomorrow.
The army chief, who was already at the airport with his aides waiting
for the aircraft, was suddenly summoned to the Aso Rock Villa alongside
other service chiefs by President Goodluck Jonathan to deliberate on
how to ward off the threats.
Also, Nigerian Tribune gathered that governors of states targeted
by the terrorists were invited by the president to Abuja for an
emergency meeting on security measures to be put in place.
However, in a last-minute arrangement, the Chief of Administration,
Major-General Bala Usara, was sent to Ibadan, on Thursday, to represent
Lieutenant-General Ihejirika.
Following the threats, Nigerian Tribune sources gathered that
security agencies have increased the alert status to ‘red’, to ensure
the planned bombings by both Boko Haram and MEND do not see the light of
day.
Consequently, it was gathered that The Nigerian Air Force and the
Nigeria Police would deploy helicopters to commence the air patrol of
the city of Abuja while night patrols by the army, navy, air force and
mobile police personnel in the FCT is now round the clock.
Already, all security agencies, including para-military ones have
been directed to commence the evacuation of all broken down or abandoned
vehicles from all roads in Abuja, while more cordons are being erected
on possibly vulnerable spots that might be utilised by hoodlums.In his speech read by Major-General Usara, Lieutenant-General Ihejirika
noted that the increasing wave of socio-political and ethno-religious
crises threatening the nation’s security lately had assumed a high
dangerous dimension, which had resulted in the nation witnessing a spate
of bombings and attacks on strategic areas of importance to the
country, saying, “this has left serious demands on the Nigerian Army
resources.”
Source
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