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Tag: Service Chiefs

  • Buhari assesses security situation, speaks on choice of Baba as acting IGP

    Buhari assesses security situation, speaks on choice of Baba as acting IGP

    President Muhammadu Buhari has again challenged the new service chiefs and the acting Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, to work diligently towards meeting the expectations of Nigerians

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the president gave the charge while assessing the performances of the new service chiefs as well as the tasks before them and that of the acting I-G.

    The president, who fielded questions from State House correspondents on his arrival from London after successful medical check-up, said:

    ”Oh yes, they (service chiefs) have been in the system all the way, they know what is wrong, they know what is right and I think they are doing their best.

    ”I hope their best will be good enough for Nigeria.”

    President Buhari, who announced the appointment of the acting I-G, Usman Baba, while in London, via the Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi, said due process was strictly followed in the selection of the new I-G.

    He said: ”Well, we went through the system, there was a committee by the Minister of Police Affairs, they gave me some names and he happened to be the one chosen.

    ”He knows his job, he has been in it for a long time, he went through all the trainings, he has the necessary experience.

    ”So, we have a high expectation from him.”

    TNG reports that the presidential aircraft conveying the president and some presidential aides landed at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja at about 4.45 p.m, on Thursday.

    Those at the airport to welcome the president included the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammed Bello, and the National Security Adviser to the President, retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno.

    Others were the service chiefs, acting Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, the Director-General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufa’i, the Director General of the Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi and other presidential aides.

    TNG reports that the president, after a brief welcoming ceremony at the airport, boarded a presidential helicopter that conveyed him to the Presidential Villa.

    President Buhari had on March 30 departed Abuja for London, United Kingdom, for routine medical check-up.

  • New Service Chiefs applying newer strategies to secure Nigeria – Senate President

    New Service Chiefs applying newer strategies to secure Nigeria – Senate President

    President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan has said the appointment of the new Service Chiefs have seen newer strategies applied to secure the country.

    Lawan made the disclosure while speaking to journalists in his home town Gashua on Saturday.

    He stated that this means the Service Chiefs need more resources to be able to perform optimally.

    He also disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari would later this month submit a supplementary budget to the National Assembly to request for more funds to tackle insecurity across parts of the country.

    According to him, the National Assembly would stop at nothing to ensure that normalcy and security is restored to states faced by challenges such as kidnapping, insurgency, banditry and militancy.

    He said: “About the issue of security, I think the National Assembly has done quite a lot in that area working with the Executive arm of government and, recently, on Monday or so, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and I met with Mr. President, and the center of our discussion was the security of the country.

    “How do we engage the security of this country? It has been a nagging issue, but it is not an issue that cannot be solved.

    “With the appointment of the new Service Chiefs, we have seen newer strategies and Mr. President and the National Assembly will be working to provide more resources in the supplementary budget which the presidency will submit sometime maybe this month to the National Assembly.”

    He added: “We (National Assembly) are prepared to give every possible resource to our security agencies to fight and restore normalcy to every part of the country, whether it is insurgency, banditry, militancy or kidnapping.

    “We believe that we need to have security before life can be better, because you can’t do anything or attract direct foreign investments, even farming becomes impossible in some states because of the level of insecurity.

    “So, security is key. It is essential and a necessity that we have to restore normalcy in this area and, Mr. President gave the security chiefs six weeks to restore security in our rural areas, particularly because the rainy season will come pretty soon – maybe in the next two months and without security in the rural areas, there’ll be no farming.

    “And when there’s no farming, our food security will be threatened and our security situation will be further complicated.”

    The Senate President who underscored the importance of unity in national development, said those clamoring for the break-up of the country were in the vast minority.

    According to him, those behind the minority agitations were disgruntled elites bent on satisfying their self-serving interest to the detriment of majority of Nigerians.

    He added that the unity of Nigeria would continue to be the cardinal focus of the National Assembly by ensuring equity, justice and fairness for every part of the country.

    “Nigeria will continue to be one. What we need to emphasize always is equity, justice and fairness to all, for all.

    “I think this is one way to go, probably the only way to go to ensure that everybody feels belonged.

    “This administration has done quite a lot in that area, if you look at the spread of federal government projects across the country, you will agree with me that the federal government has not favored any part of the country.

    “I think the government is doing quite a lot to ensure that there’s that equitable distribution of projects across the country.

    “I believe that the unity of this country will continue to be our major focus. From time to time you hear some people talking of maybe establishing their own country or secession.

    “I believe that majority of Nigerians believe that they should stay together – and I mean the ordinary Nigerians. These are people who believe in the unity of this country.

    “But the elites is where the problem is, the elites will tell you, no, we have to secede. I believe that we should be fair to the multitude of Nigerians – those ordinary people of Nigeria. What they require is leadership.

    “We must give them leadership, a fair leadership. If we have any issues, we should be able to discuss the issues. We should not neglect people when they complain, but that is not likely to be the most popular position of the people from any part of the country. So, I believe that unity of this country is non-negotiable”, Lawan said.

  • Buhari orders service chiefs to go after sponsors of bandits

    Buhari orders service chiefs to go after sponsors of bandits

    President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria has ordered the nation’s service chiefs to crack down on the sponsors of bandits and kidnappers in the country.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports President Buhari gave the order on Tuesday in a meeting with the service chiefs after which he will embark on a two-week medical leave in the United Kingdom (UK).

    The service chiefs and other heads of security agencies were present during the meeting, where Buhari ordered that the reign of terror unleashed by bandits and kidnappers must be ended immediately.

    The President ordered the security chiefs to identify and crush heads of bandits, kidnappers and their local collaborators to restore confidence in the society.

    The National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, said the president gave the order when he met the security chiefs at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday.

    Monguno, who briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, quoted the president as warning that his administration would not accept a situation where the security agencies are reactionary rather than being proactive in the fight against insurgents, bandits and other criminal elements.

    “On issues of kidnapping and banditry – these menaces still persist especially in the North West and the North Central zones.

    ”Mr President has stated very clearly that this problem must be brought an end but using the traditional that the armed forces have been trained to deploy.

    ”Mr President has made it very clear to both the intelligence and operational elements that their first assignment will be to identify the leaders of these bandits and kidnappers and take them out in order to restore confidence in those areas.

    ”Mr President has said that he will no longer tolerate a situation where bandits and kidnappers are the ones dictating the pace and setting the tones and he will not also condone a situation in which our own operations are reaction rather than being proactive,’’ he said.

    The NSA also revealed that the president had directed the service chiefs, the intelligence community as well as the constabulary forces to target those agents of disunity across the country.

    He said such people had been creating chaos, disunity and disharmony among peace-loving citizens.

    He said: “I’m also to send out a warning to those people who think they can continue to behave in a manner that undermines national security.

    “Those people engaging in all kinds of underhanded, unscrupulous, mischievous and deceitful practices, people who are working with those that are in government, in particular, critical agencies of government.

    “We have been able to identify certain areas that are weak and these areas have to be strengthened so that these characters who are engaging in acts that you can describe as outright acts of brigandage, people who are behaving in a manner that portends a lot of danger to innocent lives, have to be fished out.

    “This is the directive from the President, I am to send a warning to those people who think they’re in close proximity with those who have the instruments to make the space easy for criminals, those people who think they have some kind of authority, who are engaging in all kinds of Hocus Pocus in all kinds of jiggery pokery or skullduggery.

    “These people will be brought down to their knees.’’

    The meeting was attended by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, Chief of Army Staff, Lieut.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Navy Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amao.

    Others were the National Security Adviser to the President, retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, Director-General of the Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi, Director General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufa’s and the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Adamu.

  • Insecurity: Service Chiefs agree to subordinate themselves, take orders from CDS Irabor

    Insecurity: Service Chiefs agree to subordinate themselves, take orders from CDS Irabor

    Nigeria’s Service Chiefs have agreed to subordinate themselves under the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, in line with universal best practices.

    The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, said that Commanders of all ongoing military operations will henceforth report directly to Irabor, as obtained in military organizations across the world.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the decision of the Service Chiefs may not be unconnected to the frosty relationship that existed between the former Service Chiefs and the estwhile CDS, Gabriel Olonisakin.

    In a statement by the Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, the Service Chiefs, took the decision to strengthen efforts to check the security challenges in the country.

    According to the statement, “the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Oladayo Amao has stated that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and other sister Services have agreed to subordinate themselves to the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) under the abled leadership of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor.

    “According to him, just as it is obtainable in military organizations worldwide, the DHQ is responsible for the command and control of the entire Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) which also means that all ongoing joint operations and Joint Task Forces are directly subordinated to the DHQ, and their commanders report directly to the CDS.

    “This, he said, is the new line the Service Chiefs have all agreed to tow as efforts are on to bring the various security challenges to an end. Air Marshal Amao made this known in Makurdi while on his maiden tour of Tactical Air Command (TAC). According to him, ‘When we say we are members of the AFN, we mean the 3 Services represent a single entity. When we accept the fact that we the members of the AFN constitute a united entity, the need for rivalry will not arise.”

  • Just in: Billions approved by Buhari for purchase of weapons no where to be found – FG

    Just in: Billions approved by Buhari for purchase of weapons no where to be found – FG

    The Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd) has raised an alarm over missing billions of naira approved for purchase of weapons under President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He said when the newly appointed Service Chiefs assumed office, they did not find the weapons that their predecessors ought to have purchased.

    The former service chiefs are: ex-Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin; former Chief of Army Staff; Tukur Buratai, former Chief of Naval Staff; Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas; and former Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar.

    President Buhari appointed them as Ambassadors after their voluntary resignation from service.

    In an interview with BBC Hausa service on Friday, Monguno said the failure of the security personnel to get adequate weapons is a setback to the fight against insecurity.

    “It is not that we are not working to end the security challenge in the country. The president has done his own part and allocated huge amount of money to purchase weapons but they are yet to be here. We don’t know where they are.”
    “I am not saying that the past Service Chiefs have diverted the money, but presently we don’t know where the money is.”

    On whether investigation has commenced on the issue, the NSA said: “I am sure the President will investigate this. As I am talking to you now, even the Nigerian Governors’ Forum has started questioning where the money is. So I assure you that the President is not playing with anything that has to do with the people.

    “I can’t say the money was stolen but we didn’t see anything and even the new Service Chiefs said they didn’t see the weapons. It is possible the weapons are on their way coming. Maybe from America, England and other places but as at now, I didn’t see anything and the Service Chiefs too didn’t see any weapons too.”

    He said President Buhari directed the new Service Chiefs to end insurgency within a short period of time, adding that the president is committed to ending insecurity.

    On whether the federal government will dialogue with bandits, the retired Major General said “You can only dialogue with people that stick to promise and will not deceive people and the government. Those people are not in good position to dialogue with them because they are not worth it. People are insisting we must dialogue while they are not good people that you can dialogue with. They only want to continue killing people and government will not tolerate that.”

    He added that government has to show them that it is strong enough to fight them.

  • BREAKING: Buhari gives new service chiefs deadline to restore peace, order in Nigeria

    BREAKING: Buhari gives new service chiefs deadline to restore peace, order in Nigeria

    President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Service Chiefs to deploy competent officers and men to restore peace and order in troubled areas across the country.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports President Buhari gave the ultimatum on when he decorated the recently appointed service chiefs with their new ranks at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He said the deadline had become imperative in view of the fact that this year’s rainy season was fast approaching.

    ”I urge you to identify your competent officers and men, irrespective of their seniority or paper qualifications and deploy them to make sure we secure the country.

    ”You get few weeks to do that because by the rainy season we expect farmers would develop enough confidence to go back to their farmlands to produce enough food for the nation,” he said.

    He urged the service chiefs not to betray the confidence reposed in them by Nigerians.

    The Chief of Defence Staff, Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, who was decorated with a new rank of General, spoke on behalf of the service chiefs, pledging their loyalty to the president and the nation’s Constitution.

    Irabor was decorated with rank of General while Chief of Army Staff, Maj-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru was decorated with new rank of Lieutenant General.

    Others decorated with new ranks were the Chief of Navy Staff, Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo, who is now Vice-Marshal and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal Isiaka Amao becomes Air Marshal.

  • See photos of service chiefs decoration ceremony

    See photos of service chiefs decoration ceremony

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday decorated the newly-appointed Service Chiefs.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the decoration ceremony held at the State House in Abuja.

    The decoration of the new Service Chiefs followed their confirmation by the National Assembly (NASS).

    Those decorated are Major-Gen Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Major-Gen I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff and Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao, Chief of Air Staff.

    See photos below:

     

  • BREAKING: Senate confirms Buhari’s new service chiefs

    BREAKING: Senate confirms Buhari’s new service chiefs

    The Nigerian Senate has confirmed the appointments of all four new service chiefs nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari in January.

    The nomination of Maj. General Lucky Eluonye Onyenucheya Irabor is confirmed as Chief of Defence Staff

    The nomination of Maj. General Ibrahim Attahiru is confirmed as Chief of Army Staff.

    The nomination of Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo is confirmed as Chief of Naval Staff

    The nomination of Air Vice Marshal Isiaka O. Amao is confirmed as Chief of Air Staff.

    The confirmation followed a motion moved by Senator Aliyu Wamakko for Senate to receive and consider the report of the Committee on Defence.

    The motion was seconded by Senator Betty Apiafi.

  • JUST IN: Reps confirm appointment of Service Chiefs

    JUST IN: Reps confirm appointment of Service Chiefs

    The House of Representatives has confirmed the appointment of the newly appointed Service Chiefs.

    The report of the Committee on Defence was presented by the Chairman, Babajimi Benson, during plenary on Tuesday and considered by the committee of the whole, before it was adopted by the House.

    According to the committee chairman, the nominees were thoroughly screened.

    The service chiefs are also being screened by the Senate Committee on Defense.

    The process had commenced last Wednesday when the new appointees were called upon to share their portfolios as well as their vision if they are confirmed to take on the new roles.

    Their confirmation by the House of Reps today comes shortly after the Senate nominated the immediate past service chiefs as non-career ambassadors, despite criticisms in some quarters.

    President Muhammadu Buhari appointed them on January 26, following the resignation of the former officers.

    Major-General Leo Irabor replaced General Abayomi Olonisakin as Chief of Defence Staff; Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao replaced Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff; Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo replaced Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas as Chief of Naval Staff; while General Ibrahim Attahiru replaced Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai as Chief of Army Staff.

  • BREAKING: Controversy as Senate confirms ex-Service Chiefs as ambassadors

    BREAKING: Controversy as Senate confirms ex-Service Chiefs as ambassadors

    The Nigerian Senate has confirmed the immediate past service chiefs of the country as non-career ambassadors.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the confirmation followed a report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs presented by Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa.

    The former service chiefs confirmed as non-career ambassadors are General Abayomi G. Olonisakin (Rtd) – Ekiti State, Lt. General Tukur Y. Buratai (Rtd) – Borno State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete E. Ibas (Rtd) – Cross River State, Air Marshal Sadique B. Abubakar (Rtd) – Bauchi State and Air Vice Marshal Muhammad S. Usman (Rtd) – Kano State.

    They were confirmed during plenary on Tuesday.

    “On that call, the nominations cannot be nullified because we said they should be changed” – Senate President Lawan.

    However, the confirmation of the former service chiefs as non-career ambassadors did not come without controversy as some Senators argued against their confirmation.

    Especially, some of the Senators argued that the nomination of the former service chiefs as non-career ambassadors by President Muhammadu Buhari should be nullified.

    Recall that Buhari had on the 5th of February sent the names of the former service chiefs to the Senate for confirmation as non-career ambassadors.

    Nigerians condemned the nomination, arguing that it was a ploy to shield the former service chiefs from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged abuses committed by the Nigerian military under their watch.

    A petition against the former service chiefs, it was learnt, was dismissed by the Senator Bulkachuwa-led Committee on Foreign Affairs to pave way for the smooth confirmation of the former service chiefs as non-career ambassadors.

    Stating why the nomination of the former service chiefs cannot be nullified, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said: “I checked our resolutions and in some of our resolutions, we said the President should change, replace and remove them as Service Chiefs. They have been removed which I think it’s a plus for this Senate.

    “Now if they are nominated for something that is different, I think our resolutions asking for their removal as Service Chiefs does not cross over to their nomination. On that call, the nominations cannot be nullified because we said they should be changed”.

    Following the controversy on the floor of the Senate, the upper legislative chamber resolved into the Committee of the Whole to consider the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

    After reverting to plenary, the Senate confirmed the former service chiefs as non-career ambassadors.

    “These nominees that we have just confirmed are nominees that have served this country to the best of their ability. Our appeal to the Executive is to make sure they use their experiences as military men to the best.

    “We wish them a very successful career in their capacity as Non-Career Ambassadors,” Senate President Lawan said thereafter.