JONATHAN TO SECURITY CHIEFS: NO SALLAH BREAK FOR YOU

As Muslims in Nigeria join their counterparts worldwide for the celebration of Eid- el- Kabir, President Goodluck Jonathan has stopped all his security chiefs from travelling during the holiday with a view to preventing any terrorist attack in any part of the country, LEADERSHIP can authoritatively report.
The Boko Haram insurgents have been attacking soft targets like schools, markets, churches and mosques during the Muslim or Christian festival.
The president was said to have directed his service chiefs to keep a tab on the insurgents with a view to ensuring the nation observe a violence-free Sallah holiday.
“President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered all the security chiefs in the country not to travel during the Sallah and to ensure their officers and men are at work in order to prevent any terrorist attack in any part of the country. He has warned them against relaxing their watch over the nation during the Sallah break. With this new development, I can assure you that most of the top security operatives would be on duty while the holiday lasts,” a security source disclosed.
According to the source, the security agencies would have drawn a shift in timetable for their men and officers in order to guarantee security of life and property during the holiday.
He said, “It is not that these officers would not observe the Sallah but they would make a timetable whereby at every point in time, there are their officers and men who would be keeping eagle eye over the country.”
The source said Jonathan appreciated the good work the security agencies are doing which, among other things, have led to the end of suicide bombing and mass attacks on cities such as Kano, Maiduguri and Damaturu. But he asked them to be pro-active in the protection of soft targets like schools, especially in the northeast.
Speaking in the same vein, a military source disclosed that there might not be holiday for the officers and men at the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army who are keeping vigil on Borno, Adamawa and Yobe where the remnants of the insurgents are still having periodical attacks.
“We are keeping watch over every part of the country in collaboration with other security agencies but the bulk of the work will be on the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army located in Maiduguri. We have restricted these insurgents even to the border and that Division is justifying its existence. They are policing every nook and cranny of those three states and I can assure you that they are up to the task.”
LEADERSHIP checks also reveal that there would be Joint Task Force patrols of police, military and civil defence in all the state capitals and big towns while the holiday lasts.
Source: Leadership