NIGERIA’S newly appointed service chiefs have promised to end the insecurity bedeviling the country.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Christopher Musa made the pledge on behalf of the new heads of the country’s security agencies during a visit to the Ministry of Defence on Monday, June 26.
“To the civilians, the Armed Forces are for you and we will do whatever it takes to ensure Nigeria thrives. We are committed to what we have been tasked to do. While doing this, we are going to respect human rights.
“We can assure you that we are going to be very professional in our approach.
“We assure you all that we are here and we are committed to ensuring that we achieve the mandate of the President. We want Nigeria to be peaceful.
“We grew up when Nigeria was peaceful and we know what it looks like and we want to ensure that our children will be proud of the country during our time,” Musa said.
Musa was appointed as CDS on Monday, June 19, along with other service chiefs, after Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu ordered the immediate retirement of their predecessors.
The other service chiefs include Chief of Army Staff Taoreed Lagbaja, Chief of Naval Staff Emmanuel Ogalla, and Chief of Air Staff Hassan Abubakar.
The appointment of the new service chiefs was met with applause by Nigerians who see it as another chance to tackle the security challenges that have plagued the country for over a decade.
In 2022, many Nigerians called for the immediate sack of the former service chiefs due to incessant killings and abductions in the country.
The Nigerian Senate also adopted a resolution calling for the sack of the former service chiefs due to the worsening security situation in the country.
However, Buhari’s Special Adviser of Media and Publicity Femi Adesina responded to the lawmakers saying such a decision was a prerogative of the President, who “will do what is in the best interest of the country at all times”.
Buhari, however ignored calls for their sack, and they continued in office, including the former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba, who remained in office months after he passed the age of retirement.
IGP orders police convoys to obey traffic rules
Tinubu replaced Baba with Acting IGP Kayode Egbetokun, who on Monday, June 26, charged all police officials to uphold all Nigeria’s laws, including traffic rules.
“Let me end this speech by reminding you that those who keep the peace must be the epitome of peace. Those whose duty it is to enforce the laws of the land must themselves respect and obey the laws of the land. Without obeying the laws, the Police lack the moral high ground to interrogate and bring lawbreakers to book.
“Consequently, in line with my vision of building a rule of law compliant Police Force, it is my directive that henceforth all police convoys on routine, non-emergency movements must obey traffic lights and other traffic rules, I pledge to lead by example in this regard. As you will be returning to your various bases, I wish you a safe journey and please be assured of my best wishes always,” Egbetokun said.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.