Personnel didn’t use excessive force on protesters -Police IG says

I want to respond to that by saying that the police and the military, indeed no other security agency involved in the management of this protest has deployed excessive use of force. Instead, what we had was attack on security agents during the protest.

From our record, there was no shooting incident by the police. The police or the military did not use any live ammunition in the management of this protest. Instead, we have had cases where our officers were injured critically and are still in critical condition in the hospital as we speak. So I would dismiss that as fake news. It is not true. It’s a very wrong allegation.

We didn’t use excessive force at all. We didn’t even deploy all of our strength in this protest, even when it turned violent. We have water cannons we didn’t deploy.

We have rubber bullets we didn’t use. All that we have used in this protest, in the manual repossessed, is tear gas smoke and nothing more. 

Then the second question on whether attention of security agents would have shifted from other focuses to the protest.

I would say no. We are not overstretched. We had standby units that we didn’t deploy in managing this protest.

Even while the protest was going on, a number of criminals were arrested. Hoodlums who came out to commit armed robbery were arrested. The only thing we didn’t have was kidnapping.

But any other offence that was committed, we paid due attention to those criminal activities. Then the third question was on the report, on the social media, that one of our Armoured Personnel Carriers, the APC, was hijacked by protesters in Kaduna. That also is not true.

I saw the video going around. But the situation in Kaduna was that we didn’t even deploy APC for the protest. The APC you saw in that video was deployed to the gate of the government house in Kaduna.

Protesters went to the gate and as the APC was driving out, those protesters clapped the APC. So many of them climbed the APC. And what the driver of the APC did was to make a U-turn and go back to the front of the government house gate. So it wasn’t a case of hijack of APC.

The issue of the stadium. The national stadium. We didn’t take over the stadium. We provided security at the stadium.

That was not a takeover of the stadium. We assured those who engaged us, who approached us, and told us about their intention to stage a peaceful protest. We asked them to go to a particular location.

And that if they go there, we will provide security. We assured them. We have said several times that we recognise the rights of citizens to peaceful protest.

And that for as long as the protesters remain peaceful, the police will be there with them. So we deployed adequately to the stadium to provide adequate protection for the protesters. So we didn’t take over the stadium.

While answering the question on the allegation of use of excessive I didn’t address the case that was reported of a young man I saw the video and I ordered immediate investigation, I guess that’s why the person who asked, I saw the trending video and I immediately ordered investigation into that.

The eyewitness said that they saw a group of people, a team dressed in black and black police uniform. And I said that, that will not be from us. Because throughout the protest, our dress, which I’m wearing now, and not just the camo, it’s a camo with the red band worn on the left arm.

So if you see any other person that is dressed in the regular black and black police uniform that cannot be police, that is not from the Nigerian police. I don’t know where they came from. They may be, they may be anything, but they are not police.

That’s what the findings of the investigation that I ordered. I want to also use this opportunity to commend Nigerians in this protest and who indeed spoke against it and agree with us that the protest is ill-timed, out of sheer patriotism and belief in the genuine effort to put the country on the path of economic recovery and growth. I also want to thank those who peacefully took part in the protest and withdrew from it when the protest turned violent.

I also recognise the patriotism of those who heeded the call of Mr. President to embrace dialogue and immediately withdrew from the protest. I thank all Nigerians for the support that we have received while managing this protest. We still have pockets of demonstration by a few people in a few states in the northwest and the northeast.

As at this morning, the situation is calm, but we are not taking it for granted. Our officers are still on ground to ensure that they will maintain the peace. I thank all Nigerians and I want to assure you that the Nigerian police is here to serve you and to protect you.

The NFIU is doing so much. Our directorate for proceeds of crimes and recovery management is doing so much. Our economic intelligence directorate, all our operations, in fact, all our structures are extracting intelligence that will disrupt the networks of either the expert agents or the subversive agents.

But definitely the small children you are seeing are the pawns on the chessboard. The real persons behind them, we are on track of such persons. Some of them are already in our net that we may not disclose aspects of their operations now, but definitely we will.

Customs boss highlights roles in palliative distribution 

I wouldn’t start a protest here that I’m not a governor.  On the issue of palliative, times in the past, Nigerian Customs Service has been involved in the management of palliative when we were directed to do so. Earlier in this year, when we had the issue of the food inflation and hunger, we were directed to have to conduct direct allocation of palliatives to Nigerians.

And we went to the drawing board. We knew that it was going to involve a lot of logistics. Given the number of people that we anticipated that was going to turn out for that kind of event, you would all remember that we recorded just by the best of our efforts, we recorded some fatalities in a place like Lagos, and this necessitated us to change our strategies that we used and deployed using organised structures as our distribution channels in some other places.

For this particular exercise, the National Green Reserve that I talked about, a committee was set up to actually handle the distribution, and the channels they used were state governors. These were allocated and it went straight to the governors, and the feedback I got was that most of them used the structures of their state emergency agencies to distribute these palliatives. There is also another ongoing one through the intervention which was directed by Mr. President to administer 50,000 metric tons of rice, which was brought into the country, and is already being distributed using the same structure of these various state governors.

Now, during one of the security meetings held with the President, some of these issues were raised, and one of the decisions taken was that the President was going to further engage the state governors so that they would play their roles effectively in handling this crisis. The ball would be in the courts of the various state governors so that they could also prove that they are stakeholders in maintaining national peace and security and addressing the present crisis that we have at hand. If at any point in time, we are directed again to proceed and do direct allocation of goods in our custody, of course, as a responsive agency of government, we will be willing to do so.

We are responsible organisation- DSS 

Let me clearly state that the DSS is a responsible domestic intelligence agency, and by that, the service is accountable and transparent and is rule-governed. In our security and intelligence governance procedures, we have no reason whatsoever to arrest any person and not declare it. If you follow our tradition of operations, whether invitation or arrest or apprehension, we have always declared that to the public.

Yesterday, in the morning, when we were having a press engagement, this question arose, and I said I had not had briefs on any of those arrests. Perhaps if we left the meeting and any information came forward to me, I will definitely reach out to the public, and I did. Afterwards, I issued a statement on our Twitter handle, and I said that the DSS can confirm that Ademoye Michael, alias Michael Lennon, was not in the custody of the DSS, and I want to repeat it.

He is not with us. And the fact is this. That anyone is a mufti does not suggest that the person is a DSS personnel.

That anyone is in suit does not make a person a DSS officer. Most times, people misconstrue the outward dressing of any person as DSS. Many allegations have arisen as to the conduct of persons who were a mufti during this period.

They are not our staff, and I can categorically state that our operations are clearly ruled by standard operating procedures. Our officers are accountable in the issuance of arms, the issuance of order, and indeed, the operational procedures are spread out. So, if we arrest any person who declares that to the public, I will agree that the person has been arrested.

So, I want to re-emphasize again on behalf of the DSS that the person in question, Michael Ademoye Lennon, is not in our custody, and he was not arrested by us. To say that on issues of rights and exercise of rights, no right is absolute. The right that gives you freedom to do one also gives you freedom not to do that.

And in the exercise of rights, people must also exercise responsibility and respect. There is freedom to do, and there is freedom not to do. If there is a conflict, people should, responsible citizens, should by every means respect the laws of the land.

Good citizens are known by their respect for the laws that govern their country. We know about peace of a citizen, respect for the symbols of the state, respect the national anthem and the pledge, payment of your taxes and all of that. Government will provide you security and ensure your welfare is maintained.

And I think part of providing security is what we are doing, and we’ll continue to do this. I challenge, or I call on Nigerians, everyone, if you see something, say something. The DSS has offices across the 36 states and the FCT, and the 774 local governments.

Please walk into our office, give us any information, and we’ll use it without diverging the source of the information. We protect our sources. There are many good citizens who come forward to give us information.

The DSS and security agencies, we shouldn’t adopt the practice for the citizens. We shouldn’t adopt the practice of we versus them. Security management is a collective endeavor.

No one hand can tie a person, neither will one hand clap. It takes the unity of all of us to solve the problem of our nation. If you are a citizen and you are a good one for that matter, please give information when, if, and as appropriate.

Chief of Naval staff says war against oil theft in Niger Delta is progressing 

I’d like to inform you that as part of our role in terms of provision of aid to civil authority and provision of aid to civil power is our enforcement duties, enforcing maritime laws within Nigeria’s maritime domain. And we see this role as key, particularly in this period where oil production is critical to our economic survival.

In fact, we see protection of Nigeria’s national oil assets as a very critical area that we must focus our attention. And therefore, we’ve redefined our position and our strategies to encompass what we call a unity of action concept. This involves surveillance, capability, and then law enforcement.

These three aspects put together takes up to where we are, which is the results that we are beginning to see and we are also improving upon. For instance, we’ve increased our surveillance capability by using our maritime domain awareness capability, which is a technology-based system that enables us to have 24-hour visibility of what is happening outward at sea. Although these systems have some limitations, particularly the fact that it cannot effectively cover the backwaters.

And when I say the backwaters, I mean the creeks, the riverine areas that are covered by trees and the other things. We are making an effort to use other forms of surveillance and that’s why we have rejected that maritime domain awareness capability to incorporate the use of drones, the use of our air assets, our helicopters to conduct surveillance and above all the use of, because human intelligence is key, is even the most important, much more important than technology. And in this respect, we are particularly working with the communities, working with other stakeholders, working with the oil industry, working with all the operators in the field to give us adequate information when these breaches occur.

Of course, you know that we are also not acting alone because the maritime domain is an area where no particular agency can do it alone. In fact, the government agency cannot even do it alone. So we are working together with the army, the air force, the police, the customs and all other security agencies in this regard, particularly even the civil defence.

And we all get towards making sure that we check these criminals who are causing these problems in the creeks, particularly in terms of oil pipelines. And I can tell you, if you have local information from within the Niger Delta, for instance in Port Harcourt, you know that the situation has changed tremendously. Reports we get from the field show that it is very, very difficult now for some of the people who use these products to get them in the market.

At one time, most of the products AGO in the market were already legally refined petroleum products. But now, it’s very difficult to get that. And I see some people shaking their head because you know it’s true.

If you go to the fields, you go to Port Harcourt to Warri and look for maybe you want a cheap AGO, you find it difficult to get. These are the results of some of these our operations, working together under the auspices of the Joint Task Force Operation Delta SIP and also our own operation, which we call the Operation Delta Sanity. We have rejected that operation, particularly in the area of maritime domain awareness.

Then in the area of export capability, over the years of our strategic plan, we have put fleet renewal as key to our ability to be able to checkmate these critical areas. And our acquisitions now are not geared mostly towards big ships like frigates, but to offshore patrol vessels and fast attack craft and boats, which will enable us to be able to penetrate these areas and fight against these criminals. Every day, our ships are at sea, our boats are at sea.

As I’m speaking to you now, over 12 Nigerian Navy ships are at sea patrolling the maritime domain. And we are having tremendous results in terms of arrests. Within the last six months, over 60 vessels have been arrested.

Some of them are in various stages of investigation and prosecution. Within the last year, there is no data that we do not deactivate several illegal refining sites. But the bad thing about this is that the facilities they use in establishing these illegal refining sites are so cheap that once we destroy them, tomorrow they come back to set it up again.

But our men are in the field. In the course of our duties, so many of our men have paid the supreme sacrifice that they get consumed by fire during the process of the activation of these illegal refineries. But it is a task which we see as something we cannot just look the other way.

So we are determined that we will do all that we have to do to achieve what is resolved. And we are doing that. Then in terms of law enforcement, of course, those of us who are in the field, we know that in 2017, we had these harmonized terms and conditions, a harmonized standard of procedure for arrests, detention, and prosecution of offences within the maritime environment.

And that’s why I say that the issue of collaboration, because if I didn’t maybe, and the armed forces as a whole can’t perpetuate these offenders. And that’s why we have a common framework whereby when we make this arrest, whether it is the Navy that makes the arrest, or the army, or the police, or the civil defence, then we make our preliminary investigations and forward to the appropriate prosecution agencies. To ensure that at the end of the day, fetches are brought into these offences and they are convicted to serve as deterrence to others.

We are achieving results. And like I said, it is far much better than where we started. And we hope to redouble our efforts to make it better.

And I promise you that with this collaboration among all of us, our tightened strategy of law enforcement, response capability and surveillance, improving our surveillance, definitely will get better results. 

Civil Defence reveals collaboration with Navy in tackling oil theft

Well, just as the CNS said, we are working very closely with the Navy. We have made several, very unprecedented arrests on the number of vandals, bunkers, whether it is a tanker, badges, this we address. And most of the cases actually are subject to this, because we have the powers of prosecution and secured a lot of convictions, you know, on the vandalisation issue. And I think that with the President’s charge that the president gave the security agencies and championed by CDS on the issue of increasing the capacity of oil production, I think all hands are on deck to make sure that we improve the capacity.

And so by going forward, there is a very robust operational framework that has been designed by CDS, you know, and all of us are keyed in. And I think definitely we are going to see better results going forward.  

Immigration

I just want to let you know that some of these sponsors, some of these people who are actually in Diaspora, we have a number of them who are actually instigating this mayhem that we’re seeing right now.

What we’ve done is we’ve had them on our watch list and they’ve been watch listed. We have them on our radars and we’re making sure that any attempt they make to come into the country we will notify the necessary authority. And we’re working closely, of course, with the NIA and DSS, of course, and the NSA’s office so that all those we have in diaspora that are actually trying to subvert the authority of this nation, we are in our radars.

We have them watch listed and any attempt to come into the country will be notified and we’ll also know what to do. We’ll notify the necessary authority. So in essence, we’re also making sure that everyone who is not supposed to come into the country, any person who is of interest in terms of these activities going on right now, we’ll make sure that as they come in, they are handed over to the necessary authority.

Our efforts in ensuring peace in Nigeria- Chief of Air staff

The Nigerian Air Force, as part of our fleet renewal, took inventory of two C-129 attack helicopters about three months ago, and as part of our effort to ensure that the crude oil production is really ramped up, which has a lot of impact on the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, we deployed these two helicopters to that operation, and within that period, those helicopters are special mission helicopters, which are very suited for the kinds of operations that we do against pipeline vandalism and illegal oil refining. And within that period of three months, these two helicopters, we have taken out over 80 illegal refining sites within that period. We have also destroyed over 75 reservoirs where illegally refined petroleum products are stored.

So if you look from where we are coming around February-March, when crude oil production in the country was about as low as 1.2-1.3 million barrels per day, today we have 1.6-1.7 million barrels per day. So a lot has been done through this joint task force, and the target eventually is to achieve our OPEC quota, which is 2.2 million barrels per day and even above. So I just thought I should put more clarity in terms of the efforts that Nigeria is also putting into that direction.

And finally, I want to also appeal to all Nigerians to continue to be law abiding, continue to be peaceful. We have seen the effect of what has happened in the past few days, and it is very clear that that is not the way to go. Let us give dialogue a chance.

Let us be patient, and let us give a chance for the policies and programs of the current administration to take place, to unfold. We will see that in a very short while, a lot of the grievances and the complaints and challenges that we are complaining about today will be addressed. 

Nigerian Army is peoples army- COAS

First is on the likelihood that we have shifted our attention from our main operational commitment to employing resources to combat these protests that have turned into riots. And I want to assure you members of the media, Nigerians, that the Nigerian army is the people’s army. As the Chief of Army Staff, my eyes are on the dashboard.

So I’m more concerned about bringing our country to a state of sustainable peace and safety.