By Suleiman UMaru
Barely one week after the north east based Islamic States of West African Province, ISWAP, a 2015, breakaway faction of the Islamic Fundamental Group, BokoHaram, used explosives to demolish the wall of the Kuje Custodial centre located in the outskirts of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, to penetrate the premises and Launch attack and released detained members, President Muhammadu Buhari, appears to have read the riot act to the Security Chiefs. Group across the country.
Amongst the Security Chiefs at the closed door meeting , were Lucky Irabor, an Army General and Chief of Defense Staff, CDS, Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya, Chief of Army Staff, CoAS, Air Marshall Olayinka Isiaka Amao, Chief of Air Staff, CAS, and Vice Admiral Zubairu Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff, CNS.
Others were Rauf Aregbesola, a former governor of Osun State and minister of Interior, Mohammed Dingyadi, Police Affairs, Bashir Magashi, a retired Army General and minister of Defense, and Abubakar Malami, minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation.
There are indications that Babagana Mungo, a reired Army General and National Security Adviser, NSA, Usman Akali Baba, Inspector General of Police, IGP, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, Director General, Department of State Services, Ahmad Rufai Abubakar National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Director General, including Haliru Nababa, Comptroller General, Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, were not at the meeting.
The Katsina state born Nigerian President may not have invited the Intelligence agencies Chief for the all-important closed door security meeting because of his anger that the Intelligence agencies Chiefs have failed him over their inability to prevent the Kuje prison attack.
Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the Nigerian President may have alluded to this in his Statement when he quoted the President as saying ‘’ I am disappointed with the country’s Intelligence system’’. His anger was: How can the ISWAP terrorists organize, have weapons and attack a security installation and get away with it with little or no resistance from the guards on duty’’.
It was not surprising why he had asked asked Shuaibu Belgore, Permanent Secretary, ministry of Interior and Nababa, the Comptroller General, NIS, ‘’ how many of its officers and other security personnel were on duty at the time of the a ISWAP fighters attack of the Kuje Custodial centre. He was said to have further asked the duo furnish him with information the number of the security personnel that were armed and the guards at the Watch tower at the time of the attack, fueling speculations making the rounds that Heads will roll.
The Nigerian President may have further shown his disdain against the Intelligence agencies when he asked that when the ISWAP terrorists penetrate country’s security system what did the guard on the watchtower to prevent it. This may have informed why he had asked if the Close Circuit Television, CCTV, installed at the Custodial centre was not working. He believes that if the CCTV, was working perfectly well, it would be able to record the footage of people entering and leaving the prison premises for security operatives ‘’to trace and track them’’ .
Aregbesola, the minister of Interior had said that there was no security lapses at the Kuje Custodial centre, at the time of the attack as the Federal government over the last seven years had ‘’fortified the security in all the correctional centres in the country before the recent attack on the Kuje Custodian centre.
The minister had said that the government had taken the bold initiative ‘’to beef up security at the Custodial centres across the country at a time when the country witnessed incessant jail breaks in different parts of the country including the facility in Owerri, Capital of Imo state and the Abolongo Area of the ancient town of Ibadan, capital of Oyo state’’.
According to him, after the Abolongo prison attack in Oct. 2021, in Oyo state,’’ it became apparent that a new wave of attack for which the system was not prepared for had emerged’’ forcing the government to take urgent steps to address it to avoid a repeat in any other Custodial centres, across the country
Given an insider information of the Nigerian Custodial centres across the country, he had said that the system was primed ‘’to prevent and foil internal disturbance and riots, not external attacks/invasion since the facilities were built around police and military installations, meaning that there may be a mole in the system who was giving out information to the Criminal elements o on how and when to attack a prison facility.
Aware that the police and the military personnel have failed to prevent such external attacks on the Custodian centres , may have encouraged the former Osun state governor to have directed the Comptroller General of NCoS, ‘’ to urgently work with other security agencies to further fortify all Custodian centres across the country. An insider confirmed that that well-armed soldiers, police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense, NCDC, officers , have been drafted to Custodial centres nationwide
Recall that at the closed door National Security Council, NSC, meeting with the Security agencies Chiefs including some members of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, at the Presidential Villa, at the FCT, over the security breaches being experienced in the country in the recent time which was seen as a bad advertisement to the country in the comity of nations, the Nigerian President was said to have read the act the security Chiefs to sit up to forestall a repeat of the Kuje Custodian centre incident.
As a prelude to recapturing the 69 BokoHaram members who may have taken advantage of the ISWAP attack on the Kuje Medium Security Prison on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, to escape, the government on Friday, July 8, 2022, published their identitities and declared them wanted including one Bassey Kingsley, from Oron, a coastal Area in Akwa Ibom state. Another Niger Delta suspected Boko Haram member who was said to have escaped from the NCoS custody but was declared wanted was one Onymire Asagba .
Indeed, worried that the ISWAP fighters could slip of their hands from the north east state of Borno, to attack Kuje Custodian centre in Abuja, may have informed why the ground troops of Operation Desert Storm, with the support of the Airforce fighter Jets recorded success over ISWAP and BokoHaram fighters during an aggressive clearance operation around Dikwa –Gamboru highway in the state.
The operation Desert Sanity troops were said to have killed many of the Insurgents and their top Commanders. Several weapons and a munitions were said to have also been recovered from them, forcing dozens of them to flee to neighboring Chad, Niger and the Central African country of Cameroon. Operation Hadin Kai, theatre troops were said to have also made thing difficult for the Borno based ISWAP and BokoHaram Insurgents, killing them in their large numbers as well as losing their arms and ammunition to the Nigeria troops.
