By Jide Ajani, Editor, Northern Operations & Luka Binniyat
KADUNA – The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, yesterday, confirmed that today, in Kaduna, retired military top brass and their counterparts from the Police and State Security Service (SSS) from the North and the Middle Belt would brainstorm on the continued violence in Jos, Maiduguri and Bauchi, at a time when Vanguard has been made to understand that some of the invited Generals may not attend the meeting.

Although ACF, the convener of the meeting, affirmed that the meeting is not made to endorse any presidential candidate but purely to find a lasting solution to the blood-letting in these areas of Northern Nigeria, Vanguard learnt that some of those invited may not attend the meeting.

The reason for the possible non-attendance, Vanguard was told, is the suggestion that the meeting was being convened to endorse a presidential candidate from the North against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate who is also the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan.

Speaking to Vanguard yesterday, spokesman for the ACF, Mr. Anthony Sani, said some sections of the press are already imputing politics into the meeting.

“Our retired Generals and all other retired big officers from the Police and other security organisations will be meeting tomorrow (today). It is going to be a close-door meeting, and I can assure you that all that will be discussed there is on security.

“These are experts in this field, and we believe that they can bring a solution to issues of violence in Jos and its environs and also the Boko Haram problem in Maiduguri. We also have serious violence in Bauchi and its surrounding areas.

“These retired high ranking officers are certainly not meeting to endorse any presidential or any candidate at all; that is not their area of competence..

“Some newspapers are saying that the meeting is to endorse a particular presidential candidate. That is a lie. All our findings and solutions would be relayed to government to take action; this is not politics,” he said.