In order to address incidences of insecurity across the country, President Bola Tinubu on Monday met the service chiefs behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa.
Those at the meeting were the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Olufemi Oluyede; the Chief of Army, Lt. Gen Waidi Shaibu; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Anele; the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi; the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed, and the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu.
Also present was the National Security Adviser to the President, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, alongside other top security officials.
Though there was no official briefing of the press after the meeting, it may not be unconnected to the recent activities of the Boko Haram and the I SWAP fighters in the North-eastern parts of the country, particularly, Borno state.
Recall that the insurgents had recently struck in Benisheikh in Borno state leading to the death of an Army General, Oseni Braimah and other soldiers.
The consequent air strike in Jilli market where suspected insurgents on the run were the targeted by the Air Force had equally turned controversial with the suspicion that civilians were neutralized.
While the Nigerian Army and the Borno state governor, Babagana Zulum described the Jilli market as a terrorist location, others argue that the spot was for trade by civilians.
The Presidency defended the operation by saying that the Jilli market had already been compromised and declared a hideout for the insurgents after being turned into a logistics and trading hub by Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters.
The meeting may also have discussed the diplomatic implications of the latest travel advisory issued by the United States Department of State authorising the voluntary departure of non-emergency government personnel and their families from its embassy in Abuja.
The government in reacting to the advisory described it as routine precaution based on US internal protocols, insisting it did not reflect the broader security reality across the country as there was no breakdown of law and order.
