• Calls for inter-agency collaboration amongst government institutions

A foremost coalition of over 180 civil society organizations in Nigeria , Civil Society Groups for Good GGovernance CSGGG, has decried in all entirety allegations of connivance in terrorism financing made against personnels of the Nigerian Correctional Service by the Chief of Defense Staff and mode of information dissemination.

It revealed that such a public declaration of sensitive information, has raised concerns, as this could compromise ongoing security efforts against insurgency.

The President of the group, Comrade Ogakwu Dominic, during a world press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, noted that it is imperative for the CSOs to address some sundry issues bothering on information sharing and collaboration as it concerns matter of national security, because CSOs remain a formidable stakeholder in the nation’s project.

Recall, on Tuesday 21st November, 2023, the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa during a public hearing by the House of Representatives, had alleged that some personnel of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS ) are conniving with inmates in terrorism financing of proscribed members of terrorist organizations.

According to Comr. Ogakwu, courtesy of the highly intelligent nature of this information which plays a major role in the overall management of people’s security architecture, it is worrisome that the reputable Military Chief, threw caution to the wind in making such pronouncement publicly.

He said: “One would naturally expect that as part of demonstrating inter-agency collaboration among government institutions and given the sensitive nature of such information, the CDS should have engaged the NCoS management discreetly to swing into a covert operation in fishing out the culprits rather than been influence by the gallery of the national assembly knowing fully well that divulging very sensitive information to the general public is injurious and equally a setback to the fight against insurgency. This is because coordination, management and utilization of information is very key in waging the war against terrorists and other criminals.

“Ideally, it is expected that there should be a synergy between the military and paramilitary organizations in stemming the tide of insecurity in Nigeria. The non – kinetic approach to the fight against terrorism excludes direct or conventional military strategies and can only thrive on information warfare.

“As a thorough technocrat, we urge General CG Musa to always refer to the National Crisis Management Doctrine (NCMD) for effective, efficient, and coordinated management of national crises to bridge the gap created by extensive deployment of security services. The NCMD is deployed by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to foster collaboration among Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure greater success in tackling national crises. And this can only be achieved if there is a continuous healthy and robust synergy among security agencies.”he said.

The president of the group, emphasized on the need to take security serious as it is a collective business that is anchored on collaboration among the various security agencies, civil society, the media, and the coordinating Office of the National Security Adviser.

” It will therefore be right to assume that this lack of inter-agency collaboration was among the reasons why the collective security forces were not able to repel terrorists when the Kuje Custodian Centre came under attack on July 05, 2022.

“However, it is pertinent at this point to commend the Hon. Minister of Interior, Mr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo who quickly swung into action by launching an investigation against the officials of NCoS in order to fish out the culprits.”

Extolling the Minister’s initiative to free 4000 inmates in various custodial centres cut across the country, Ogakwu however, called on President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to support the initiative of previous administration to carryout massive infrastructural revolution of the nation’s outdated correctional facilities in line with international best practice as exemplified by the 3000 maximum facility in Kano which the Service says it is working tooth and nail to replicate same in other geo-political zones of the country.

He noted that such development, will further reduce the pressure on the manpower of the current officers of the NCoS in order to discharge their functions excellently.

“While we may never imagine casting aspersion on the integrity of the military knowing fully well their selfless sacrifice of ensuring internal security and the sovereignty of our fatherland, we are however obliged to call on them to come to agreement on issues of de-radicalization of repentant terrorist since our researches showed that procedures such as ‘de-radicalization’ is an exclusive right of the NCoS.” Ogakwu added.

Finally, the coalition tasked the national assembly on the need to overhaul, remodel their approach of interfacing on issues bothering around security to avoid publicly divulging valuable information that can assist in the fight against insecurity.