Security Council Lauds Current Strategy on Insecurity 

* Asks NATFORCE to disband forthwith

* Says Kaduna train assailants to be dealt with shortly 

Deji Elumoye in Abuja 

The National Security Council (NSC) at a meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari has passed a vote of confidence on the current strategy adopted by security forces to tackle insecurity, which has brought relative peace to the country.

Briefing newsmen Thursday at the end of the meeting held at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, in the company of his Police Affairs counterpart, Mohammed Dingyadi, said the council noted with satisfaction the performance of the security agencies and the gains they have recorded in recent times.

According to him, the NSC also commended the police for their good performance in states where elections were conducted recently.

Aregbesola said the council is concerned about the remaining victims of kidnapping in the country, particularly those abducted in the Abuja-Kaduna train attack, noting that no effort will be spared to rescue them alive.

He assured Nigerians that the assailants will not go scotfree as they will be dealt with in due course.

The minister said the council warned the National Task Force on the Prohibition of Illegal Importation/Smuggling of Arms, Ammunition,  Light Weapons, Chemical and Pipeline Vandalism (NATFORCE) to disband itself or force government to act.

Despite protests from security experts, the Senate had, in June, passed into law the bill establishing the National Commission for the Coordination and Control of the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons, which has as one of its component, the NATFORCE.

The House of Representatives is expected to pass its version upon its resumption from annual vacation next week.

Also speaking, the Minister of Police Affairs, Dingiyadi, said the arrest and detention of the main negotiator with the terrorists, Tukur Mamu, does not mean contact will be lost with the abductors, revealing that there are others who are go-between between them and stakeholders.

Details later…