The president also claimed that some foreign elements are responsible for the security challenges ravaging Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that the “number of violent unprovoked attacks on citizens” has now increased in the country, while lamenting that such is unacceptable.
The president also claimed that some foreign elements are responsible for the security challenges ravaging Nigeria.
Buhari added that some of the terrorists ravaging the country were imported by foreign elements and his government had adopted bilateral and multilateral arrangements to tackle the problem.
The President, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, stated this on Friday at the graduation of Course 30 of the National Defence College (NDC) in Abuja.
“I want to assure all Nigerians that the government is doing all it can to eliminate or apprehend the criminals or bandits, wherever they are,” he said.
President Buhari said Nigeria and indeed the African region had been facing difficult times with terrorism, adding that the military and other security agencies had been given directives to decisively deal with them.
According to him, “The government is also deeply concerned about the activities of bandits and criminals who have reared their ugly heads in some parts of the country.
“This is because the number of violent unprovoked attacks on citizens appears to be on the increase. This is unacceptable. Accordingly, we have given strong directive to the military and other security agencies to deal decisively with terrorists, bandits and other enemies of the country.”
He commended the nation’s apex defence institution for its continuous effort towards raising disciplined, professional and strategic leaders for the armed forces, security agencies as well as Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
He said the college had since its establishment 30 years ago, continued to fulfil its mandate and had grown to be at par with similar colleges across the world.
He charged the participants to deploy the knowledge they had acquired in making useful suggestions toward addressing the challenges in their areas of responsibility.
The president assured that the government would remain committed to providing needed resources for the security agencies to carry out their assigned tasks.
The Commandant of NDC, Rear Adm. Murtala Bashir, said the college had 102 participants drawn from the military, paramilitary, security and intelligence agencies as well as selected MDAs and participants from 16 allied countries.