Our Job Is Almost Completed In North-East – Service Chiefs

Chief of Army Staff Lt. General Kenneth Minimah

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah, said yesterday that for the 2015 elections to hold in the North-East areas recently recovered by the military from insurgents, the structures of government and governance have to be reinstated in the areas.

The army chief also hinted that the country’s military had no information at the moment regarding the whereabouts of the over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State.

GRAPHITTI NEWS based on Leadership newspaper filing reports:

Lt-Gen Minimah stated this after President Goodluck Jonathan had held a closed-door meeting with the service chiefs, heads of security agencies in the country and the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, at the presidential villa, Abuja.

When Jega came out of the meeting, which had started at about 11:45pm, he refused to tell journalists why he was invited to Aso Rock.

When confronted by journalists to speak on the outcome of the meeting, the INEC boss, who was hurrying out of the place at about 2:42pm, simply said, “I believe it went well”.

News reporters gathered, however, that Jega attended the meeting to brief the president and the security chiefs on the level preparedness of the commission for the 2015 elections billed to commence on Saturday, March 28.

The security chiefs were also said to have briefed President Jonathan on how prepared they were to guarantee the safety of life, property and election materials during and after the polls.

The army boss, Minimah, told State House correspondents after the meeting that the council reviewed preparations in the North East zone, particularly in the last three weeks, and renewed its confidence in the Nigerian Armed Forces.

He, however, remarked that for the 2015 elections to hold in areas of the zone recently recovered by military forces, the structures of civilian   governance have to be reinstated in the areas.

The army chief, who was responding to questions on the forthcoming elections, said: “You know Yobe and Adamawa states have been liberated completely, and we look forward to the reinstatement of structures of government and governance.

“I am also sure you know that in Borno State, out of the 27 local governments, we have three local governments remaining – Abadam, Kalabaldi and Gwoza – and we are optimistic that with time we will liberate those local governments.

“INEC is still there; INEC has to reassess the situation and evaluate; because the areas have been liberated, but I can also tell you that not all structures of governance have been reinstated, and they will need to be reinstated so that citizens can go back to their areas; it is then, I think, they can execute their rights as voters.”

Asked how soon it would take to restore the structures of government in the areas, Minimah said, “I don’t know”.

When asked whether the military will conclude operations in the North East before the March 28 date for the polls, the army chief said: “War is war. It is our wish (to conclude the mission) and we pray God gives that to us, but war is war; war sometimes is not fought on some platforms or permutations.”

On the whereabouts of the over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State, Minimah said, “No news for now. In all the liberated areas we have, we have also made enquiries but the truth is when the terrorists are running away, they also run with their families.

“And those we have come in contact have not made any comments suggesting that Chibok girls were there and taken away. But we are optimistic that as it becomes closer, the territory is becoming elusive to them; we will get further details on that.”

Also in attendance at the meeting are Vice President Namadi Sambo; secretary to the government of the federation, Anyim Pius Ayim; chief of staff to the president, General Jones Arogbofa (retd), national security adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki; attorney-general of the federation, Mohammed Adoke; minister of foreign affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali, and his counterparts in police affairs, Jelil Adesiyan, and interior, Abba Moro.

Others include chief of defence staff, Alex Badeh; chief of air staff, Air Vice Marshall Adeola Amosu; chief of naval staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin; inspector-general of police Suleiman Abba, as well as the heads of the Department of State Security (DSS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).