THE President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has directed security agencies to ensure the rescue of passengers kidnapped on the Abuja-Kaduna train which was attacked three weeks ago.
The National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), disclosed this to State House correspondents after the first 2022 meeting of the National Security Council presided over by the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Monguno said the President had directed all security agencies to work in concert to ensure the rescue of the passengers.
He said, “Mr President has directed all the operational and intelligence elements to rescue these innocent people immediately and unhurt. This is the basis, which other issues were discussed.
“The President is using that as a reference point to let the security agencies know that they have an obligation to get every innocent soul that is in captivity, out of captivity. He is not particular just about the Kaduna incident, but about all other incidents.
“Now, the way and the manner in which they will be rescued are beyond me. It is not something I am willing to disclose because that, in itself, can become a springboard for compromising whatever efforts we will be putting.”
On why the security agents have failed to invade terrorist hideouts in Kaduna since the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has announced knowledge of their whereabouts, the NSA noted that such comments only enable the terrorists to change base; making rescue efforts difficult.
“Governor Nasir El-Rufai spoke about the security agencies, saying we know who they are, where they are. Again, that is the danger. When you start talking too much, you give away a lot. Now, even if they say we know where they are, that in itself is already a problem.
“Once you say it, whether it is true or false, the person who has your people in captivity will move to another location. It is just as simple as that. So, sometimes it is best to just keep silent, mum is the word,” Monguno added.
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, said the deployment of personnel to areas such as the Abuja-Kaduna Road was more complicated than it looks.
Baba explained that the Force often rely on personnel from other states to complement the policemen and women currently stationed in Kaduna.
He said, “Deployment is being determined by a lot of issues or yardsticks. Just like two states may have different number of local governments, so also there can be different numbers of formations in that state or in that formation. We have formations, commands, zonal commands and so forth.
“So, deployment should not be based on either size or number of persons or threat assessment tool of that place. It is all about how you police a particular place based on the number of people you have, based on your also ability to gather that manpower.”
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