President Muhammadu has cautioned Nigerians that travel advice from the United States and the United Kingdom governments should not be a cause for panic, even as he asked the nation’s security establishment and citizens to continue being vigilant and careful with security.
In a statement today, October 28 by a presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, the President called on the citizens to remain calm, saying: “it does not mean an attack in Abuja is imminent. Since the July prison raid, security measures have been reinforced in and around the FCT.
“Heightened monitoring and interception of terrorist communications ensure potential threats are caught further upstream.”
President Buhari said that Nigeria is no exception in having terror threats listed in foreign government’s travel advice to their citizens.
“UK and US travel advisories also state there is a high likelihood of terror attacks in many Western European nations.
“Indeed, the UK and US advice to their respective citizens for travel to one another’s countries contain the same warning. Unfortunately, terror is a reality the world over.”
The President said that attacks are being foiled everyday and that security agents are proactively rooting out threats to keep citizens safe.
“Much of their work unseen and necessarily confidential,” Buhari said, assuring: Nigerians’ safety remains the highest priority of government. Security services are working around the clock to keep harm at bay.
The President gives assurances that the government is on top of the security situation in country.
Buhari said that security threats are real and have been with us for a long, saying that the nation’s military, the police and other security agencies have shown a capability to deal with it, “as is evident from the fact that a majority of our partners, including the United Nations agencies in our midst have not seen the threat as being sufficient to warrant any form of panic or order citizen evacuations.”
The President stressed that while being security conscious, being alert and careful is crucial, it is also important that responsible members of the society do not create situations leading to unnecessary panic.
President Buhari commended the military and other security agencies for the recent turn around in the nation’s security, and directed that additional precautionary measures be put in place immediately.
President Buhari expressed optimism that given the on-going efforts on the part of the military and other security and intelligence agencies with the active support of the civilian population, the nation will emerge victorious against the current challenges facing it.
