By Princess-Ekwi Ajide, Abuja
The Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi, retired has commended the gallant performance of the Nigerian Military in the onslaught against criminal elements in the six geo-political zones of the country.
General Magashi made the commendation at a Joint World Press Conference in Abuja where his counterparts in the Ministries of Police Affairs, Interior and Information and Culture also rendered accounts of their stewardships in tackling myriads of insecurity in the country.
General Magashi said the troops of Operation Hardin Kai in the North East has gallantly denied ISWAP and the Boko Haram Terrorists freedom of co-ordinated attacks as they continued to suffer huge casualties, depletion and depression.
A statement signed by the Special Assistant to the Minister of Defence on Media and Publicity, Mohammad Abdulkadri, noted the Minister’s briefing covered Military Operations across the six geopolitical zones and showed that the criminal elements have been substantially degraded and defeated in the last four weeks in compliance with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, in the period under review sixty-six terrorists were neutralised, alongside the ISWAP commander, Madu Chaka Bem Bem and twenty others while fifty- five were arrested and fifty-two civilians regained their freedom from captivity.
He also added that the troops of Operation Hadarin Daji in Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina and Zamfara in the North West zone have also given a good account of themselves by clearing the doubts of the bandits and kidnappers.
The Minister also assured President Buhari and Nigerians of the total commitment of the Military to the defence of the nation’s territorial integrity alongside other security forces and outlined similar operational successes recorded in the North Central, South East, South South and South West.
The Minister of Police Affairs Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, on his part, said the Police Force has repositioned, re-equiped and is resolute to effectively change the narratives in all the states of the Federation towards keeping the country safe and secured.
Dingiyadi counted the successes recorded in various parts of the country including Borno state with two hundred and forty – eight weapons recovered, one hundred and eighty one arrested in Delta State and forty suspects arrested in Niger State among several others in the last four weeks.
For the Minister of Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, criminal elements should keep off Correctional Centers across the country or they will not survive to tell the story of any dastard acts.
He advised Nigerians not to obstruct the operation of the Federal Fire Service in responding to the outbreak of fire emergencies and acknowledged the support of the Military and sister agencies in joint operational environment.
The Minister of Interior, assured Nigerians that bail breaks will never be repeated in the country adding that arsonists, vandals and other criminals will pay with their lives.
The convener of the first in the series of World Press Briefings at the National Press Centre, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on his part, said the country may not be there yet, but the Military has succeeded and still succeeding in crushing criminal elements in accordance with the directives of President Buhari to the security forces.
According to the Information and Culture Minister, what could have overwhelmed and consumed other nations of the world is what Nigeria is going through in terms of huge security challenges and yet the country remains standing and resolute to end terrorism, banditry and other forms of Crimes.
He reminded Nigerins that security is everybody’s business and thanked the Media for carrying out their watchdog role in nation building and national defence effectively.
The conference was attended by top government functionaries including the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Defence, Dr Abubakar Ibrahim Kana, and that of the Ministry of Interior, Dr Shuaib Belgore, the Chief of Defence Staff General Leo Irabor, the Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service, Isah Jere Idris, his Federal Fire Service counterpart, Engineer Abdulganiyu Jaji, among others.
