*As Jonathan orders manhunt for sponsors

By Daniel Idonor & Paul Odenyi

ABUJA – The Presidency, said, yesterday, that the spate of bombings in the country by the militant Muslim group, Boko Haram, was to provoke the Christian community and drag them into a religious war.

Meanwhile, Vanguard gathered that President Goodluck Jonathan, at a meeting with Service Chiefs and other members of the National Security Committee, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja,  mandated them (service chiefs) to go after Boko Haram.

He asked them to fish out the sponsors of the Boko Haram group. Vanguard learnt that the President also ordered a thorough overhaul of the operational strategies of the security agencies in dealing with the Boko Haram violence.

On the aim of Boko Haram to cause religious war in the country, the Federal Government noted that it was working hard to stave off inter- religious tension in the country in the wake of the Christmas day bombing of some religious worship centres around the country.

Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, who addressed newsmen in Abuja, said the series of consultations between President Jonathan and religious leaders in the country were meant to reassure them that there was no conflict between the two major religious groups in the country.

He said: “As a way out of the security situation in Nigeria, the President has been doing his best. You are aware that he has been consulting with religious leaders, including the Sultan, who is the spiritual head of the Muslims and the Christian Association of Nigeria.  Some mischief makers are trying to catch in on the situation to create a scenario where people will feel as though there is conflict between Islam and Christianity.

“But this is just terrorist tactics to set up society against one another and luckily enough, Nigerians have already known this tactics and will not buy it.

The Madalla bomb blast unfortunate

“The Madalla bomb blast was unfortunate, it was sad and every concerned citizens really felt bad. This country belongs to all of us. Mr President through the votes of all of us is the president today and anybody who through this dastardly act wants to distract the attention of the President is only fighting the whole nation. And the terrorists in our midst, we pray for God to reveal them.

Dr Gulak also faulted the statement by opposition groups, particularly the Action Congress of Nigeria, saying it appeared the party had got a running mouth disease.

According to him: “The statement by the opposition and especially the ACN in particular is unfortunate. Some of them have the running mouth disease and if people such as Lai Mohammed with their experience and what they have professed to have and what they claimed to be, nationalists keep on making derogatory statement about the government and about the nation then it is unfortunate that this disease of theirs ‘the running mouth’ is incurable and Nigerians should see them as such.

“The transformation agenda of Mr. President is the best thing that would happen to the country and some people feel they can distract the government and deny Nigerians of this positive change, God will not allow them.

“For the security challenges we are facing, Mr. President and security operatives are working round the clock to see to it that these challenges are tackled and we hope and pray that with the new strategy the security operatives are adopting, these things will be things of the past.

“I call on all Nigerians to exhibit the needed patience and give the government the needed support to benefit from the transformation agenda.”

The political adviser commended the security agencies for their efforts, saying their work had showed in the number of arrests and prosecution of people associated with violent crimes around the country.

He said, however, that the judiciary  should rise up to the occasion by expediting action on cases of that nature to serve as deterrent to others who might still be in business of planning terrorism in the country.

“But I believe that the security agencies are doing their best, and what are the results?  Arrests have been made of these perpetrators and they are being prosecuted in court.

Rescuing the injured at Madalla, Suleja on Christmas Day.

“All our pleading is that our judicial system should get a system that will fast-tract these prosecution because it is clear when people come and bomb innocent citizens by the time the security moves in arrest the people, Amnesty International will come hard on the government that they are violating human rights; that is why the system is so slow.

Suspects in court

“Suspects have been taken to court, and the court will follow the normal procedure which usually take a long time. I think the system has to change, there has to be a way to transform the system to fast track the prosecution of all the suspects. But I will tell you that the security agents are not sitting on their oars’ he said.

“Don’t forget that Nigeria is a country of over 167 million people; don’t also forget that with our size, our security system is not a match for the population. We only have little above 300,000 policemen for 167 million people. The SSS is just about 33,000 personnel. So when these people threaten to bomb, they don’t specifically say where they will bomb.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, who attended the meeting of security chiefs with the President disclosed that the President had taken crucial decisions that will soon be made public.

Also, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr Hafiz Ringim, said security agencies were closing-in on the foot soldiers of Boko Haram as several members of the group had been arrested, while the Nigeria Police was seeking more evidence to arrest and prosecute their sponsors.

The IG assured Nigerians, especially Christians that would want to attend the Cross Over Service in their various churches, to overlook alleged threats by the sect to bomb various churches on new year’s eve, saying his men were on top of their game to foil such attempts.

A screen grab made on October 21, 2010 in an undisclosed location from a video allegedly showing members of the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram. A purported spokesman for Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a Christmas Day explosion near a church outside the Nigerian capital on December 25, 2011. "We are responsible for all the attacks in the past few days, including today's bombing of the church in Madalla," Abul Qaqa told AFP by phone. "We will continue to launch such attacks throughout the north in the next few days." AFP PHOTO

Pleading with members of the public to cooperate with security agencies and volunteer information that would lead to more arrests, Ringim noted that the efforts made by the police in Yobe, Kano and Kaduna State, prevented the catastrophe that would have taken place if they did not act swiftly.

Ringim, who fielded questions from State House correspondents, after the emergency, meeting which held at the presidential villa, and attended by the National Security Adviser, NSA, Gen. Andrew Azazi, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ola Saad Ibrahim, Chief of Air Staff: Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Umar and Director General State Security Service, SSS, Ita Ekpenyong, Director-General, Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA, Olaniyi Oladeji.

Ringim said President Jonathan expressed concern about the security challenges in the country, adding that it was why the meeting was summoned to review the situation, “where we were, where we are now and where we need to be, that is what we discussed.”

Asked why it was so difficult to tackle the insecurity issue, the IGP said  “We are all worried; terrorism is not an easy matter at all. Terrorism is everywhere all over the world, particularly here in this country.   As you are aware, it is a very new phenomenon here.

“We have not had this kind of thing before and we are just having it now, so we are all scrambling to find our feet an face it squarely, that is what we are doing.

”Security agencies and, most importantly, Nigerian Police, has made a lot of gains which have not come to the fore. I want to seize this opportunity and tell everyone of us to remain resolved and resolute to join in the fight against this cankerworm that will not leave anyone of us if we do not put our acts together.

“I mean the Nigerian Police Force, security agencies and you journalists and all members of the public. This is something that should galvanise us in our quest to remain together and also to bring down the scourge.”

Police ready for Cross-over night — IG

On the preparedness of the Police for December 31, the cross over night, the IGP said “I assure you we are doing our possible best. We are prepared more than ever before and I want to assure you that if we had not done what we did in Yobe,  if we had not done what we did in Kaduna, indeed, if the Nigerian Police Force had not done what we did in Kano, the recovery of the primed up suicide bombing vehicles, the story would have been a different one.

“I assure you members of the public that the Nigerian Police Force and, indeed, all other security agencies are now ready more than ever before to face these challenges.”

On arrests so far made, Ringim said:  “The arrest of these terrorists has been going on for a long time. Many, many of them have been arrested and many of them are in detention. They are in the process of being prosecuted.

“The issue is not the number of arrests, the issue is the cooperation that all the security agencies need from each and everyone of us”.