An Australian-based Nigerian engineer, Olaoluwa Dawodu, has applauded President Bola Tinubu for what he described as a bold and necessary overhaul of the nation’s security leadership.

Dawodu, a Chartered Engineer from Isan-Ekiti who specialises in Mechanical Design, Maintenance, Reliability, and Projects, said the President’s decision to reshuffle the top hierarchy of the Armed Forces was “a step in the right direction towards strengthening Nigeria’s security architecture.”

In a statement reacting to the development, Dawodu commended Tinubu for what he called “the much-needed changes,” urging the President to set measurable performance targets and timelines for the newly appointed Service Chiefs.

He also advised the President to relieve any officer who fails to meet the set benchmarks, adding that accountability and results should be the guiding principles of the administration’s security policy.

While congratulating the new Service Chiefs, the engineer charged them to “justify the confidence reposed in them by enhancing professionalism, vigilance, unity, and comradeship within the Armed Forces as they serve the nation with honour.”

Dawodu, who is widely known for his philanthropic contributions, said Nigerians expect tangible results in the fight against insecurity, noting that the reforms would only make an impact if they translate to improved safety across the country.

President Tinubu recently approved major changes in the security sector, sacking General Christopher Musa as Chief of Defence Staff and replacing him with Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, the immediate past Chief of Army Staff.

Also affected in the shake-up were the Chiefs of Army, Navy, and Air Force. General Waidi Shaibu was appointed Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral Idi Abbas became Chief of Naval Staff, while Air Vice Marshal S.K. Aneke replaced Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff.

The President, however, retained Major General E.A.P. Undiendeye as Chief of Defence Intelligence.

The appointments, announced in a statement by presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare, came weeks after the reported arrest of 16 senior soldiers over an alleged coup plot, although the Presidency did not link the changes to the incident.

The post Australian-based Nigerian Engineer Hails Tinubu’s Bold Security Shake-up first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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The Abuja Police Command has arrested a Nigerian Navy officer, Abdul Rasheed Muhammad, in connection with the murder of Aminu Ibrahim, the son of former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral I. I. Ibrahim (retd). The arrest was announced by the Federal Capital Territory Commissioner of Police, Bennett Igweh, during a press briefing on Wednesday.

According to Commissioner Igweh, Muhammad confessed to the crime, which occurred two weeks ago in the Maitama area of Abuja.

He revealed that Aminu Ibrahim was robbed and killed, and his Prado Jeep was stolen. However, the vehicle has since been recovered by the police.

“About two weeks ago, Aminu Ibrahim, the son of Vice Admiral I. I. Ibrahim (retd), a former Chief of Naval Staff, was robbed and killed in the Maitama area of Abuja, and his Prado SUV was taken. I want to inform you that Abdul Rasheed Muhammad, a serving Nigerian Navy personnel, committed the murder. He has confessed to the crime, and we have recovered the Prado Jeep,” Igweh stated.

Speaking to journalists, Muhammad, a seaman in the Nigerian Navy, disclosed that he was deployed as a security officer to the residence of the former Chief of Naval Staff. He recounted the events leading to the crime, stating that on the night of the incident, Aminu requested his security escort as he went out around 11:30 PM.

“I work at the house. He wanted to go out at night, around 11:30. He said he needed security. So, I followed him with my gun. Along the way, he stopped to check his ATM, as if he was going to buy something. I thought maybe I was going to escort him to a market or somewhere. Then, when I came out through the other door, I shot him, took the car, and left. I’m a guard and a seaman in the Navy. He did not do anything to me; I killed him to steal his car,” Muhammad confessed.

In a related development, the Abuja Police Command also paraded 94 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), who were arrested following the death of two police officers on Sunday. The details of their arrest were not immediately disclosed.

The police have reiterated their commitment to ensuring justice for the victims and maintaining peace and security in the Federal Capital Territory.

The post Navy Officer Arrested for Killing Ex-Naval Chief’s Son in Abuja first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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KAS has been working with Nigerian partners to facilitate democratic dialogue and capacity building for different arms of government at national, regional and state levels. Sensitive to the insecurity in Northwest Nigeria, KAS assembled about 100 personnel from security agencies’ (Department of state security, Army, The Police, Immigration, Customs, Federal Road Safety Commission, and Correction Service) departments of operations, conflict resolution and intelligence in Kano between 11-14 August 2021 to train and empower them on how to be sensitive to social context and collaborate to enhance security.

In her welcome address, resident representative of KAS, Dr Vladimir Kreck represented by Senior Programme Manager, Security Sector Reform (KAS), Julcit Stolpe explained that KAS reviewed statutes of the various security agencies in Nigeria and found that “interagency rivalry was mainly being caused by the overlapping or conflicting mandates of these agencies.

To solve this problem Kreck said “we have commenced strategic engagement with the relevant institutions and stakeholders to push for reform of these laws to ensure clarity of function. We have also been organising capacity building workshops for members of different committees in the National Assembly and also for State Houses of Assembly to strengthen knowledge and practice of effective legislation and oversight. We have to embed the culture of good civil-military relations, intelligence and information sharing between security agencies and civilian citizens through our seminars at national and geo-political zones of Nigeria.”

Available evidence indicates that poor inter-agency collaboration among Nigeria’s security institutions is one of the major factors militating against effective conflict resolution and security management in Nigeria. The consequences of not working effectively together culminate in increasing fear of insecurity and diminished trust in the capabilities of the security system to protect the lives and properties of civilian populations across Nigeria in general and terror zones in particular.

The 2020 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) places Nigeria as the third country worst hit by the negative outcomes of terrorists’ activities. From Bokoharam in the Northeast, banditry and criminal kidnapping in the Northwest, secessionist agitations in the southeast and southwest, the security system in Nigeria is practically overstretched. In this situation, only the working together of the units that make up Nigeria’s security system will de-escalate conflict and neutralise security threats through complementary operations and credible intelligence sharing among others.

Funded by the German government, KAS has since its founding in Nigeria in 2001 continues to work with Nigerian partners, to facilitate human capacity development of security agencies to deliver on their mandate. To check problems of overlapping mandates, there is need for necessary reforms to be in place so that extant laws which overlap mandates can be amended. It is important that security agencies deliver on their specific mandates to actualise peace and development in Nigeria.

Banditry in the Northwest has exposed how unmanned or poorly manned border zones can compromise national security. The widespread smuggling and use of illicit drugs by criminals has also been implicated as a contributor to growing security and its unfolding dynamism. The use of drugs by bandits, Bokoharam terrorists, kidnappers and armed robbers is no longer a secret. As at 2017, 14.3million Nigerians between 15 and 64 years old hard drugs such as Cannabis, Tramadol, Codeine or Morphine and this affects the nature of criminality and conflict in Nigeria.

That the use of these drugs continues to proliferate implies that the National Drug Law enforcement Agency (NDLEA) cannot do it alone without effectively collaborating with other security agencies. If other security agencies do not work with NDLEA for instance, those who get high on drugs will deploy it to do banditry and kidnapping which will then become problem for the police, army and NSCDC.

Security agencies in Nigeria must close ranks and eliminate rivalry. Security is arrived at when every part of the security system (police, army, NSCDC, NDLEA, Immigration, Customs and others) discharges their roles efficiently and balance their weaknesses with the strength of other security agencies. Inferiority complex and superiority battles between and among security agency only aggravate the insecurity of everyone and deepens national insecurity. The successes recorded in a joint operation must be collectively owned and its failure must be shared as well.

The insecurity of welfare of security personnel can also hamper their commitment to protect lives and properties. They need better welfare both in service and when out of service. Nigeria governments need to ensure that the causes of insecurity which are external to the security system are tackled. These are nose-diving fortunes of the economy, widespread poverty, comatose electricity and unemployment.

If these triggers of insecurity are addressed, security agencies will have little works to do. While the workshop by the Konrad Adenuer Stiftung takes the conversation about the necessity of interagency collaboration to another level by bringing actors to sit in the same venue and share ideas, it is important that heads of security agencies in Nigeria buy into this initiative and work to harmonise interagency differences that hamper security operations.

Dr Tade, a criminologist and security expert writes via dotad2003@yahoo.com

The post Solving Nigeria’s insecurity through interagency collaboration first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Solving Nigeria’s insecurity through interagency collaboration appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Though, details of the attack were still sketchy at the time of filing the report, it was, however learnt that the gunmen opened fire on police officers on duty.

No fewer than three cars were reportedly burnt as a result of petrol bombs they threw into the compound.

According to reports, the gunmen sneaked in through the bush around the area, tried to break in through the wall but the policemen engaged them and they ran away leaving their guns including the GMG they collected from the Navy.

The incident comes two weeks after the headquarters of the Imo police command was razed by unknown gunmen.

The attack comes amid the growing security incidents in Anambra State.

Apart from Anambra, other states in the southeast have been witnessing a spike in criminal attacks and targeted assault against security agencies.

The governor, Willie Obiano, had recently raised an alarm over the rising insecurity, emphasising that the state was under siege by criminals.

Governor Obiano said, “I call on everybody, irrespective of affiliations to come together and support government and security agencies to fight our common enemy. Those who seek to destroy what we have laboured to build must not be tolerated in any manner”

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