Boko Haram Threat: Nigerian Army Issues Security Alert on Abuja Hotels

The Nigerian Army has issued security alert on hotels in the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja).

The army also said it has put new security measures in place to protect hotels and other national infrastructures and assets which are usually targets of terrorists in the Abuja.

The security cordon is on the heels of an intelligence report which reportedly revealed a fresh plan by Boko-Haram to launch another attack on the nation’s capital.

Chief Of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai made this known when he received Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Valentine Ozigbo, in his office, yesterday.

Buratai said the new security arrangement came about given high profile visitors, including foreign Heads of State and other very important personalities who usually lodge at the hotel.

He said hotels like Transcorp and other five stars hotels, as well as other national assets, are usually easy targets of terrorist because of crowds who troop to such places on a daily basis.

Buratai said the army is working in conjunction with other security agencies in the FCT  round the clock to ensure Boko Haram does not have easy access into the nation’s capital,.

He added that aside deploying soldiers to keep security at such places, the army also has plain clothes intelligence officers deployed there to ensure safety and security and commended the Transcorp delegation for the visit and assured them of continuous protection of the army at all times.

In his response, Ozigbo said he was at the army headquarters to brief Buratai on steps taken by the management to secure the hotel.

He commended the army for responding promptly to issues concerning Transcorp and called for collaboration between the two organisations.  

Meanwhile, the Public Complaint Commission (PCC), has appealed to the army to have a rethink over the recent dismissal of 524 soldiers from the service.

Chief Commissioner of PCC, Chief Emmanuel Ogbole, who made the appeal during a courtesy visit to Buratai said given the age bracket of the dismissed soldiers, their dismissal could mean bad omen for the country.

Ogbole, who said the dismissed soldiers had staged a peaceful protest to the CCB, office in Abuja, asking the CCB, to plead with the army authorities to reinstate them back into the service, urged Buratai, to use his good office to revisit their cases with a view to resolve it, and if necessary reinstate them “in the best interest of the Nigerian army and the country”.

He said given the involvement of the army in fighting the counterinsurgency war and other security challenges, the country cannot afford to allow another kind of terror.

Buratai, in his response, while noting that the soldiers were dismissed from service having committed one offense or the other, said “we are going to revisit their case and look at each case at his own merit with a view to resolve them in the best interest of the army and the nation.

The army chief who described the number as huge, said their dismissal has greatly affected operations of the army saying “524, is almost a battalion. We felt the impact of their dismissal but I can assure you we will look into it, which we have already started”,

Culled from: SUN Newspaper