President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday, said the scale of security problems in two troubled regions of Nigeria, saying developments were “very, very disturbing.”
Referring to the latter regions, Buhari said, “What is coming up in the northwest and north central is very, very disturbing indeed.”
He spoke after he and his family observed Eid-El-Kabir prayers at the State House Abuja.
President Buhari said that while much had been achieved, security wise, from the situation he inherited in 2015, more still needed to be done.
He said considering the security situation on ground when he came to office, “Nigerians know that we have done our best.
“However, what is coming out of the North West and the North Central is very disturbing.”
Responding to a specific question on the performance of the Service Chiefs, which he recently said needed to get better, the President said that the military, the police and other security agencies are working hard.
“We are making available resources to them to even do better. From the reports I am getting, they could do much better. But we are keeping them on the alert all the time to do their duties,” he said.
Buhari’s criticism of the security forces came only days after Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai, said he was “proud” that Nigerians “are living in peace, and Nigeria is safer now than… five years ago.”
Also, Buhari, who came to power in 2015, vowed to crush a bloody jihadist revolt in the northeast, which has escalated while violence by criminal gangs has spread in the centre and northwest of the country.
Buhari accuses some appointees of betrayal of trust
On the issue of corruption, President Buhari also assured that all past and present cases would be fully investigated.
“This is why we put the commission (of investigation) in place. There has been abuse of trust by people trusted by the previous administration and this administration,” he said.
He stressed that all of such cases would be uncovered and firmly dealt with by his government.
On the specific case of the Niger Delta, the President decried the wastage of the resources earmarked for the betterment of the lives of the people of that region.
He lamented that corruption had been unhelpful in that regard, especially “if you recall there is the 13 per cent derivation.”
He also warned against the vandalisation of oil pipelines in the oil-producing areas which often results in environmental pollution.
“Those who are blowing pipelines and interfering with the production of petroleum products are hurting their people more than the rest of Nigerians because majority of their people are fishermen, and farmers.
“Now if they pollute the land and the waters, the fish goes into the deeper sea where the people cannot go and they cannot grow anything.
“They are hurting their immediate communities more than any other thing,” the President further noted.
Reps minority caucus insists on sack of Service Chiefs
The Minority Caucus at the House of Representatives has reiterated the call for the sack of service chiefs in the country.
The renewed call came two days after the attack on the convoy of Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno State by Boko Haram insurgents and other dastardly activities by bandits in various parts of the country.
The House Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, in a statement on Friday condemned the attack on Zulum, adding that the incident further highlighted the need to replace the service chiefs in the country.
Elumelu said the continuous attack by the terrorists showed that the service chiefs were incompetent.
He urged the President to honour the resolution by the lawmakers and immediately sack the service chiefs.
He said, “We the opposition lawmakers hereby in the strongest terms restate the call to President Muhammadu Buhari to honour the resolution of the National Assembly and immediately remove the service chiefs and bring in new hands to effectively confront the security challenges confronting our nation.”