By Muideen Olaniyi & Balarabe Alkassim
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, yesterday described the recent security alert in Nigeria by the United States as “unnecessary, false and irresponsible.”
He spoke to State House reporters after an emergency National Security Council meeting convened by President Muhammadu Buhari.
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The NSA, who said the hype and the sense of insecurity the alert created were unfounded, implored Nigerians and other residents to go about their businesses without any sense of apprehension.
He said the situation had been under control as the intelligence and security agencies had made a lot of arrests.
He said Nigeria was trying to work with its neighbours and foreign partners on security.
The NSA said the US has a constitutional obligation to issue the travel advisory to her citizens, stressing that “our own citizens are not in peril.”
“”We’ve been sharing intelligence with not just the US, but with other partners and we’ve been acting on the intelligence, we’ve been working. Has anything happened so far? No, nothing has happened, but they went ahead to issue this advisory to their people and of course, the connotations are there, they could have various reasons for doing that. This is the first time it’s happening. Come on, is the first time it’s happening.
“I do not have that crystal ball to know the workings of their minds, but the truth is that the alert was for their own citizens. Probably the way in which it was released became complicated at the end of the day.
“These are conjectures. There’s nothing specific. There’ll be a lot of interpretations of this alert. It’s an unnecessary distraction.
He described Nigeria’s cooperation with the US as “very comprehensive and cross cutting” as “it’s a partner in the fight against terrorism and a cooperation we value and that we should continue to promote.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said his ministry was working with the Nigerian Intelligence Agency to fully get on top of the situation through engagement with our foreign partners.
He said they would push more for greater coordination and synergy with our foreign partners to ensure that the cooperation with them was “a constructive one and not an alarmist one” in order not to destabilise the country, adding that it would also mitigate any threat that there could be from outside the border.
Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, restated the government’s commitment to engaging foreign partners in the most constructive way.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, confirmed that the military foiled an attack on Wawa Cantonment in Niger State on October 29, saying the alertness of members of the armed forces, the police and other security agencies led to the killing of the attackers, the impoundment of their vehicles laden with IEDs and other items, and the arrest of five of them.
Meanwhile, security agencies yesterday intensified checks on vehicles and visitors to the complex.
The National Assembly Security Management Committee disclosed this yesterday in a memo signed by Director, Administrative, Dr Tahir Sani.
It said the committee resolved to adopt several proactive measures in the short and long terms.
The memo said one of the measures taken was to commence a rigorous “stop and search policy” as the complex might be a vulnerable target for attacks.
The memo reads, “One of such measures is the directive to security Agencies and the Sergeant-at-Arms Department to ensure that effective Monday, October 31, 2022, all vehicles coming into the National Assembly premises are thoroughly searched.
“This entails that the drivers of the vehicles shall by themselves open the booths of their cars and submit their vehicles to comprehensive checks.
“Honourable members and distinguished senators are by this notice advised to use the presidential gate, unless they are willing to submit themselves to this stop-and-search policy.
“While regretting the inconvenience that this policy may cause to our visitors, staff, honourable members and distinguished senators, it is important to state that this measure is due to the exigent demands of our security challenges.”
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