***As IGP Claims His Officers Sacked ‘One Chance’ Criminals From Abuja
Following the closed session that lasted for about 10hours on Tuesday held between the Senate and service chiefs, details have emerged on what the Service Chiefs told the lawmakers.
According to them, key bandit leaders, Ali Kacalla and Yellow Janburos, terrorizing parts of the North have been eliminated
Explaining further they also indicated that wanton violence has very much reduced, just like the casualties.
Leading presentations by the Security Heads at the marathon briefing with the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, the National Security Adviser,Nuhu Ribadu, said that Boko Haram and ISWAP now resort to planting IEDs showing that they were regressing from their comfort zones.
This he has attributed to efforts by troops to weed the criminals out of the country.
Ribadu also revealed that 20 gun running networks were smashed and over 5,000 military grade weapons were seized and destroyed by government agencies.
According to him, the sporadic incidents of kidnapping being reported in most parts of the country showed that the menace has become an economic crime taking the place of armed robbery.
According to him, part of the success from this is the significant increase in oil production and relative peace in the South-East region, due to efforts made through military and non-military steps.
Adding to Ribadu’s position, the Chief of Air Staff also narrated how the Air Force complements the work of troops on ground.
A ranking lawmaker who was part of a briefing held with a select group of reporters on Thursday in Abuja, explained that though the lawmakers went into the meeting with a lot of misgivings and apprehension, the security chiefs allayed their fears and earned the confidence of the lawmakers.
Recall that at the end of the marathon session the Senate leadership expressed confidence in the leadership of the security sector and applauded their effort in addressing the security concerns.
According to the lawmaker, Ribadu, who gave the lead presentation, took the lawmakers through different components of the security challenges explaining how they met the situation and the changes so far.
“He mentioned how they killed two key leaders of bandits Ali Kacalla and Yellow Janburos and how that has helped to halt interstate movement of bandits and logistics especially around Kaduna, Niger and Zamfara States,” the lawmaker said.
He recalled the Inspector General of Police also speaking about routing out criminals in the suburbs of Abuja and how his men have checkmated activities of one-chance criminals in the capital city.
Despite the satisfaction expressed by most lawmakers who soorat the session, others pointed to areas of operational lapses that deserve attention and urged the service chiefs to ensure harmony and cooperation for maximum success.
Earlier on the day of the debriefing, after the arrival of the security chiefs, President of the Senate Godswill Akpabio gave a short welcome remark where he spoke about the importance of the Senate’s summons of the security chiefs and the minister of finance, Mr Wale Edun.
Following the opening remarks, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele moved a motion for the Senate to dissolve into a committee of the whole and in closed session.
At the end of the session, the lawmakers tasked the minister of finance to prioritise release of funds to security establishments.