I’m excited by efforts to tame banditry, kidnapping -Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has commended security agencies on recent feats achieved in taming issues of banditry and kidnapping in the country.

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said the president made the commendation during the National Security Council meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

The president, who presided over the meeting, however, charged the security agencies to consolidate on the gains so far achieved on or before December.

The president had earlier given a marching order to the security chiefs to go after and wipe out all forms of terrorism in the country, especially banditry and kidnapping.

Aregbesola, along with the Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammed Dingyadi, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting,

Aregbesola said that the president was particularly pleased with the Nigeria Police Force for maintaining high professionalism during the conduct of gubernatorial elections in Ekiti, Osun and Anambra states.

He also revealed that the meeting deliberated on the activities of the National Taskforce on the Prohibition of Illegal Importation/Smuggling of Arms, Ammunition, Light Weapons, Chemical Weapons and Pipeline Vandalism (NATFORCE).

He said the meeting faulted the activities of NATFORCE, accusing it of impersonating security personnel in other similar agencies.

“The Council has just concluded today’s meeting. It received briefings from all security chiefs and the Council is very satisfied with the performances of all our security chiefs; the military, the police and other security agencies.

”We are happy with their performances and the gains recorded so far.

“We are moving to the phase of consolidation of all those gains, such that by December, as ordered by the Chairman of the Council, the President.

”The president has said to all Nigerians before now, that we’ll put, essentially, most of the challenges of banditry particularly, insurgency, kidnapping for ransom, criminalities of that nature, far behind us.

“We are equally pleased with the performance of the Nigeria Police on the elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun, which elections had demonstrated our commitment to democracy and expression of the will of the people at the polls,” he said.

Aregbesola said that of equal concern is the presence of some illegal outfits that impersonate legitimate security agencies.

”Of particular concern is a body called National Task Force on Illegal Importation of Goods, Small Arms and what have you, but the short name for it is NATFORCE.

”The Council declares that body an illegal organization, it should just simply disband itself.

“This is because the Council has ordered all security agencies to enforce the disbandment of that body and other such bodies that operate illegally without any force of law,” he said.