SECURING NIGERIA PLUCK BY PLUCK

.  Fredrick Nwabufo writes that interagency cooperation and coordination is pivotal for securing the country

Excellence needs no hype, makeover, or agitprop. Good work manifests itself in palpable reality. The security bent of the Tinubu administration is an exercise of deliberate, coordinated, meticulous and prescient deployment of strategies and actions to secure Nigeria. It is securing Nigeria pluck by pluck — with inexorable courage, purpose, and urgency.

A large part of success in security operations lies in ICC – interagency cooperation and coordination. What more demonstrates this plank than the synergised effort between the Department of State Services and the army in precluding what could have been a devastating blow, with a sludge of casualties in Kano?

On November 3, the symbiotic effort of the Nigerian Army and the DSS led to the successful foiling of an attack on Kano by insurgents. The insurgents had been machinating a marquee attack, that could, perhaps, dampen citizens’ confidence, on the State. A detachment of soldiers and DSS operatives swooped on the sanctuary of the subversives in a dawn blitz in Gezawa Local Government Area of Kano State, arresting the henchmen.

The joint team recovered five AK-47 rifles, five AK-47 rifle magazines, one rocket-propelled gun (RPG), five RPG bombs, six hand grenades, five pairs of desert camouflage uniforms, 10 pairs of magazine pouches and some improvised-explosive device (IED) making materials.

Obviously, the success of this operation is implicit in the cooperation and coordination between the army and the DSS, as well as in the actioning of intelligence. What imperils security anywhere in the world is, partly, interagency rivalry and the absence of coordination — when intelligence is available, but actioning is a challenge owing to some contentions.

On November 2, the allied effort of the army and the police resulted in the rescuing of two corps members. Bandits had kidnapped the corps members who were transiting from Edo State in Yargoje community, Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State. But the purposive and united endeavour of the security agencies led to the safe return of the hostages.

Interagency cooperation and coordination (ICC) is pivotal for securing Nigeria. It is elemental for achieving the priority objective of the administration, which is strengthening national security for peace and security.

Since July 2023, the security forces have chalked up reasonable gains against subversives without a noising of the winnings. There is a fillip in security operations across the country. Since the past week, for instance, there has been intensive air strikes against the troublers of our nation.

In the north-west, the air component of Operation Hadarin Daji on November 1, conducted a slew of successful air strikes in Kankara Local Government Area (LGA) of Katsina State, targeting the hermitage of a terrorist kingpin, who is responsible for a chain of terrorist acts and banditry across Kankara and adjacent LGAs in the state.

The air strikes removed clusters of refuge used as hideaways by the kingpin and his gang, effectively dismantling their base of operation. Only very few survivors escaped the furry of the Nigeria Air force.

In the north-east, precision air strikes by the air component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) on November 3, led to the elimination of several terrorists at their rendezvous, near Degbawa in Goza Local Government Area of Borno State. The terrorists were responsible for the recent attack on some locals in Geidam on October 31, and had planned to meet to review the attack as well as the next line of onslaught on innocent Nigerians and other vulnerable targets.

In the south-east, security agencies have sustained incisive operations, rooting out units of IPOB/ESN terrorists from the area. Peace and normalcy are returning, just as citizens’ confidence is witnessing a reinforcement. For instance, On October 5, troops of Operation UDO KA II conducted raids on the haven of the terrorists around Ihiom-Ihittenansa in Orsu Local Government Area and Okigwe-Umulolo in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State.

The operational base and shrines of the subversives were erased, two suspects arrested, and a cache of arms recovered. This includes ammunition, one PKT machine gun barrel, one locally made rocket-propelled launcher (Ogbunigwe) and IED making materials. In many other operations, imminent attacks had been thwarted, IPOB/ESN terrorists removed and arrested; criminal hermitages destroyed, hostages freed, and arms and ammunition recovered.

Further operations are in progress in the north-central, south-south, and south-west. Across these zones, criminal hideouts have been extirpated, threats neutralised, arms and ammunition recovered, suspects arrested, and kidnap victims rescued.

These sustained efforts, successes, cooperation, and coordination among the security agencies clearly say there is a responsible, and strategic national security leadership. There is purpose, there is direction; there is commitment, there is the will and the way, and there is a sense of urgency.

Securing Nigeria is a principal objective of the Renewed Hope charter. The Tinubu administration has exercised responsibility with significant gains in the sphere of security since assumption of office. Although there is more to be done and will be done, the administration is wholly committed to removing security threats and securing law-abiding Nigerians anywhere in the country.

 Nwabufo is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Engagement