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A two-day National Security Summit is being organised for all the chairmen and secretaries to the local government councils in the country.
The summit expected to boost efforts of the Nigerian military campaign against insurgency, kidnapping, banditry and other threats to national security is expected to hold next month at the instance of Newswatch International Multimedia and Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
A statement by the Managing Director and CEO of Newswatch International Multimedia, David Irabor, said that “the idea behind the National Security Summit is to sensitize the local government chairmen and secretaries to the local government areas in Nigeria, because they are the grassroots representatives of the people in the rural areas.”
The people of the rural areas are “the main target and victims of the bandits, kidnappers and insurgents; therefore all hands must be on deck to to combat the monster bedeviling the nation, because security of lives and property is everyone’s responsibility”, Irabor said.
However, developing strategies and a strong base in intelligence gathering requires collaboration among the security forces, working in synergy “to stem the malaise of the numerous abductions, fight against Boko Haram terrorists, banditry, armed robbery and kidnapping”, he noted.
The two-day National Security Summit is slated for 18th and 19th May, 2021 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja with the theme, “The Terror War: Coordinating Intelligence in Strengthening Sub-Level Security Architecture: The Role of Local Government Chairmen and Secretaries to the Local Governments in Nigeria”.
The sub-theme of the summit is, “Deploying Kinetic Operations in the Country in the Counter-Terrorism and Banditry Nationwide” with the keynote address and different papers expected from top officials from the Presidency, the armed forces and the police.
Justifying the summit’s focus on the local government areas, Irabor pointed out that “worsening insecurity fueled by terrorism, armed robbery, banditry and kidnapping bedeviling the nation continues to expose the citizenry to harm” amid increasing pressure on the capacity of the armed forces to fight insecurity.
Against the backdrop of the upping of the ante against insurgency by armed forces through deployment of kinetic operation, support from the local government authorities at every stage of the operation needs no over-emphasis, he said.
“The national security parley with the local government chairmen and secretaries to the local governments becomes imperative as a critical situation that requires understanding, buy-in, support and collaboration of important stakeholders, and key players like the local government chairmen and secretaries in this strategic situation regarding security in the nation”, Irabor said.
Meanwhile, the keynote address by the special guest from the presidency is entitled “Nigeria’s Security Challenge and the Way Forward” while the head of the Nigerian Army shall deliver a paper on “Promoting Kinetic Operation As a Major Plank in the Counter-terrorism and Counter-insurgency Fight”.
In the same vein, the Head of Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Nigeria Police Force, is expected to deliver a paper, “The Terror War of Kidnapping and Armed Robbery: Issues and Challenges” even as a retired inspector-general of police shall deliver a paper on Intelligence Gathering, Coordinating, Rapid Information Management at the Sub-local Level in the Fight against the Terror War during the National Security Summit.
The initiative, which is aimed at rousing the grassroots populace to the challenge of helping the armed forces in the fight against insurgency and all forms of terrorism, is in collaboration with key stakeholders including the Association of Chairmen of Local Governments in Nigeria (ALGON), the federal ministry of information and the Nigerian Media as well as authorities of the armed forces “as they deploy kinetic operation to check insurgency and banditry nationwide”.
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