Piqued by the deteriorating security situation in the Niger Delta, President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua, yesterday, convened a high level security meeting to fashion out a new strategy aimed at halting the high incidence of kidnapping and lack of security in the region.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Defence, Yayale Ahamed and all security chiefs – the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Andrew Azazi, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Luka Yusuf, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Paul Dike and the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro.
Also present were the National Security Adviser to the President, the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), the heads of other security agencies and the governors of Rivers and Bayelsa states.
The meeting which was initially scheduled for 10 a.m. was later moved forward to noon because of the difficulty the Rivers State governor, Mr. Rotimi Amechi had in getting a flight from Port Harcourt to Abuja.
A source at the venue of the meeting said it reviewed the situation in the region, particularly Bayelsa State where militants had abducted the father of the deputy governor of the state and released him after nearly a week in captivity, only to kidnap the father of the state�s Accountant-General.
�There is no way any responsible government will just fold its arms and watch these so called militants hold the country or any part of it to ransom. Whichever way it is going to be done, the nonsense must stop,� stated a presidency source.
Although details of the meeting, which was held behind closed doors, were not made public, the gathering was said to have resolved, henceforth, that any person or group involved in kidnapping of innocent citizens or foreigners would be brought to justice.
�No country grows with the kind of lawlessness that is taking place in the Niger Delta every now and then. It will not be allowed to continue, obviously not in the New Year. Whoever decides to take law into his hands will have himself or herself to blame,� a source who attended the meeting warned.
Dec222008