Insecurity: Buhari orders military to synergise to end war, meets new COAS

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, gave marching orders to the nation’s armed forces to synergise and end ongoing war on insecurity across the country.

The President gave the order when he received the new Chief of Army Staff, Major Gen. Farouk Yahaya, who was in the Presidential Villa with Minister of Defence, Major Gen. Bashir Magashi (retd) for formal introduction and presentation.

Magashi speaking with State House Correspondents after the meeting, said the President also offered tips on how to win the protracted war on insecurity in the country.

He said the President informed Yahaya that the nation’s security had been under serious pressure.

“He told him that there’s a lot of pressure on security and being an actor, at one point or the other, has given us a direction in which we can learn from his experiences and apply them to our modern operations and I think we have taken the advice seriously.

“The issue of synergy among security forces was also stressed and I am sure there will be a lot of changes as regards to security operations in this country. The President received us, offered some advice on how we can go about doing this operation and the entire security of the country. We assured him that we will do our best to bring an end to the problem of insecurity in this country. The President is really having confidence in the new set of people that he has appointed. We wish them the best of luck.”

Magashi said Yahaya thanked Mr. President for giving him the opportunity to serve as Chief of Army Staff and promised that he will bring all his experiences to bear in collaboration with  Chief of Air Staff and Chief of Naval Staff.

He said the armed forces have been rendering support to the police, which is constitutionally saddled with the responsibility of keeping civil peace.

He said the main concern of the nation’s security agencies is the terror activities mutating in the North East, especially  the activities of Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP).