Heads of all the security agencies in the country on Friday met with President Goodluck Jonathan to review the gruesome murder of over eighty members of the Nigeria Police Force in Nasarawa and the Bama attack in Borno state.
The meeting which was attended by the Chief of Defence staff, Admiral Ola Ibrahim, National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, the Chief of Naval Staff, Dele Ezeoba, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and the Director General of the State Security Service, Ita Ekpenyong, lasted for about two and half hours.
However, Chief of Army staff – Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, was represented by Maj. General Emmanuel Bassey, Chief of Policy and plans in the Army Headquarters.
Though the security chiefs declined to speak with the press, the Inspector General of Police who wore a black arm band to the meeting, described the murder of the police officers as a sad development for the country.
Meanwhile, Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (retd), who attended the meeting briefly before he was excused to allow the president meet with the service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police separately, expressed sadness at the killing of security personnel who are paid to protect Nigerians, however assured that the police would not carry out a reprisal attack on the community.
According to him, “it is sad that those who are protecting lives and property are becoming the targets of various insurgents and criminality be it political or otherwise.
“The security agencies particularly the police will not want to go and revenge, it is not going to help us because they are supposed to protect lives and property; going to revenge will not douse tension and will bring about lack of confidence in the system. So, we will strictly discourage that” he said.
May there soul rest in peace, we all just need to watch the toes we step on while going higher in life.