President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, presided over an enlarged meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) attended by no fewer than nine Northern State governors, over the raging insecurity across the country.
The meeting, which was held behind closed-doors in the Executive Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja, commenced at about 3 pm and lasted till 5.45 pm.
Although details of the ‘crucial’ meeting were not made public, sources, however, told newsmen that the meeting was convened by the President with a view to proffering solutions to security matters affecting some States, especially the Northern States.
A presidential source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also stressed that the meeting was in connection with the security situation in the States whose governors were in attendance.
Minister of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi, (rtd), led the security team, including the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd); the Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor, to the meeting.
Other security chiefs that attended the meeting included the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Awwal Gambo, and the Chief of Air Staff, Air-Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao.
Also in attendance were the Inspector-General of Police, (IGP) Alkali Usman Baba; the Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.
The Northern States’ governors at the meeting were Simon Lalong, of Plateau; Nasir el-Rufa’i – Kaduna; Abdullahi Ganduje – Kano; Aminu Tambuwal – Sokoto; Sani Bello – Niger; Abubakar Badaru – Jigawa; Babagana Zulum – Borno; Atiku Bagudu – Kebbi, and Bello Matawalle, of Zamfara.
It was gathered that the governor of Katsina State, Bello Masari, and that of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, who were also expected, were unavoidably absent.
