We Need Synergy To Rescue Nigeria From Insecurity ― Gbajabiamila Tasks Service Chiefs

ABUJA - The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila on Tuesday underscored the need for synergy between the Service Chiefs, and other heads of security agencies in order to rescue Nigeria from the menace of insecurity.

The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila gave the charge while addressing the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Major General Lucky Irabor, other Service Chiefs, the Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi, the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi and other stakeholders.

While giving an update on the outcome of the over 4 hours closed-door meeting, Hon. Gbajabiamila said: “Gentlemen, we had an extensive deliberation. There are a lot of issues we discussed here.

“Unfortunately as defence matters, they are not things for public consumption.

“But I can assure you that there was a lot of collaboration. All ideas came together in terms of how our security agencies can work together and speak together in one voice as opposed to different voices, talking about the all-important issue of whether or not there are elements within the military itself that we need to deal with issues of moles like some have stated.

“We talked about training and retraining, issues of capacity and allowances.

“We talked about several things, a lot of them like I said touched on security and I am not at liberty at this point.

“But for us to have been in there for 4 to 5 hours, you must know that we made some good headway and extensive decisions were made,” the Speaker noted.

When asked whether he was happy with the outcome of the meeting, the Speaker who was visibly angry with the prevailing situation, said: “Nobody is happy. I am not happy going in but I am happy coming out.”

He said the House had a series of meetings with the Service Chiefs on several occasions regarding the rising insecurity adding that recent happenings call for more effective synergy and efforts to tame the rise in attacks and kidnappings in the country.

The Speaker disclosed that the attacks on Kaduna International Airport and the Abuja-Kaduna railways by terrorists, which claimed lives and resulted in the abduction of others were a cause for concern.

He, therefore, informed the service chiefs and others at the meeting that, the meeting was convened to rub minds and share ideas in order to find a way that will address the growing insecurity.

He said: “I think what we are trying to resolve here is, have we done enough? It is important we put our heads together within our purview to see how to rescue this country”.

In his remarks, the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi lamented that the issue regarding the proposed security equipment for the Nigerian Railway has been politicized.

Speaking, the Chief of Defence Staff, Maj.Gen.Lucky Irabor affirmed that the meeting was apt, especially as regards the concerns raised over the recent attacks.

He informed the lawmakers that, the Nigerian military is ready to work at any moment to address the security concerns of Nigerians to the best of their abilities.