The National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, says the new approaches the military and other security agencies adopted recently in tackling security challenges are yielding positive results.
This is just as the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) commissioned a cyber operation cell, other modern operational equipment as well as physical projects that will make gathering of intelligence easier for personnel than before.
Monguno spoke in Abuja on Monday during the opening of the Defence Advisers and Attachés Annual Conference, organised by the DIA with the theme, “Sustaining Nigeria’s Defence and Security: Role of the Defence Attaché System”.
The NSA, who said the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies had been striving to significantly address the security threats across the country, identified some of the threats to include insurgency in the North East, and secessionist agitation in the South East and South West.
He added that the threats also include illegal oil bunkering in the South-South, and banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling in the North West and North Central zones, adding that the military and security agencies had been recording a high degree of success in all operations.
“Similar degrees of success have also been recorded in other zones of the country, especially in addressing crude oil theft and secessionist activities, amongst others,” he said, noting that there is a need to strengthen regional cooperation to further ensure the success of ongoing military operations.
He added, “The transnational nature of the current threats has made regional cooperation a matter of utmost necessity. Additionally, we have continued to strengthen collaboration with our international partners in terms of capacity building, and strategic intelligence sharing. These strategic partnerships are mainly driven by the defence Attaché system.”
Speaking earlier, the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), Maj.-Gen. Samuel Adebayo, said the annual conference afforded the agency the opportunity to appraise the activities of its defence sections all over the world.
Adebayo said the conference was also to identify new lessons, discuss modalities for common challenges, as well as to strategize for the future, especially as the election year approached, adding that the conference came at a time when the nation was facing unusual security challenges characterised by volatile, uncertain and complex environment.
“As we all know, terrorist groups leverage foreign affiliations to sustain their franchise, the need for international cooperation in countering the terror groups cannot be overemphasised. The defense attachés and advisers have done well to elicit this cooperation from their countries of accreditation and to deny the same support to adversaries.
“Importantly, the activities of secessionist groups which threaten the corporate existence of our nation require collaborative action to surmount. The need for continuous reappraisal of strategies and operational tactics and methods of intelligence gathering and sharing in order to efficiently deal with our security challenges is very paramount at this time,” he said.
