Monguno Absent As Buhari Meets Service Chiefs

Barely 24 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari had given a marching order to the military to embark on an aggressive campaign to rout Boko Haram, the President, yesterday, met behind closed-doors with the service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
After the closed-door meeting with Buhari, the service chiefs also went to the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari, where they also had another meeting.
The meetings came on the heels of the recent attack on Garkida community of Adamawa State where the Boko Haram insurgents killed many people, including a soldier, and even sacked the community.
There have been a plethora of calls for the President to sack the service chiefs and also rejig the nation’s security architecture as a result of the worsening security situation in the country but it appears the President is not in a hurry to effect any change.
Reacting to the attack on the Garkida community, last Sunday night, the President had said that his administration has significantly weakened Boko Haram’s military capability to invade and hold Nigerian territory unchallenged.
The President, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, condemned the attack on the community, and assured that no part of Nigeria would be abandoned to their fate.
He also said that “in the coming weeks, Nigerians would witness an aggressive campaign to rout Boko Haram once and for all.
“These attacks on soft targets by the terrorists are obvious signs of frustration because my administration has significantly weakened Boko Haram’s military capability to invade and hold Nigerian territory unchallenged.
“Our gallant forces deserve our appreciation for repelling the attackers but they must go beyond this point. They have our full support to go after the terrorists and have them pay a huge price. I want to assure the country that terrorists will continue to face the combined power of our military until they give up their mistaken ways.
“These occasional and episodic attacks on poor civilians by the terrorists are mere propaganda efforts to portray them as strong in order to fool the public into believing that they haven’t been militarily weakened by our gallant troops.”
Buhari said that since the coming of his administration, Boko Haram’s ability to invade and occupy Nigerian territories, let alone be able to hoist their flags, had been frustrated.
Present at yesterday’s meeting were Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Abayomi Olonisakin, Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar and Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas and the IGP Mohammed Adamu.
But as President Muhammadu Buhari met with the service chiefs, yesterday, behind closed-doors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd), was conspicuously absent.
Monguno’s absence at the meeting could not be explained by Presidency sources, but it may not be unconnected with his recent rift with the President’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari over the latter’s alleged interference on issues of national security, which are within the purview of the Office of the NSA.
It would be recalled that Buhari and the service chiefs hold routine security meetings weekly but that of today is tagged ‘special consultation’.
The service chiefs passed through the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Abba Kyari, on their way out.
Buratai was the last sighted leaving about 3.55 pm.
Pressure had been mounted on Buhari lately to fire the service chiefs amid escalating security challenges in the country.
The National Assembly too had called for the sacking of the security chiefs.
However, the President had yet to heed the calls, saying his regime would not take any hasty actions against the officers, who manned the country’s security operations since 2015.