President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday convened an emergency security meeting with top military and intelligence chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, amid rising security concerns across the country.
The closed-door meeting at Aso Rock was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, Olufemi Oluyede; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Anele.
Also in attendance were the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi; Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed; Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu; and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, among other senior officials.
Although details of the deliberations were not made public, the meeting comes against the backdrop of a recent advisory by the United States Department of State warning of a deteriorating security situation in Nigeria.
The advisory authorised the voluntary departure of non-essential embassy staff and their families from Abuja and placed 23 states under a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” warning, citing insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West and North-Central, and violence in oil-producing regions of the South and South-East.
It also temporarily suspended visa services in Abuja, while operations in Lagos remained unaffected.The Federal Government, however, dismissed the warning as routine protocol.
The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, maintained that there is no nationwide breakdown of law and order, noting that most parts of the country remain stable despite isolated security incidents.
The high-level meeting was also expected to review the aftermath of a weekend Nigerian Air Force airstrike in Jilli Market, Borno State, near the Yobe border.
The operation, aimed at targeting Boko Haram, reportedly resulted in civilian casualties.
While the Air Force described the mission as a “precision mop-up” against terrorist positions, it did not confirm reports of civilian deaths.
The Presidency, however, defended the strike, with Senior Special Assistant To the President, Tope Ajayi, stating that the market had become a logistics hub for insurgents, making it a legitimate target.
Nigeria continues to grapple with multifaceted security challenges, including insurgency in the North-East, banditry and kidnappings in the North-West and North-Central, and separatist tensions in the South-East, all of which have continued to test the country’s security architecture.
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