By Olusegun Emmanuel, Abuja.
President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered an immediate and thorough investigation into the bomb explosion that rocked the city of Kano in which five persons died and many others injured.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati on his twitter handle, said the President issued the directives at a security meeting with Service Chiefs in Abuja on Monday.
Jonathan, who returned from a regional security parley held last Saturday in Paris hosted by French President Francois Hollande at Elysee Palace, also charged Nigerians to remain united against the Boko Haram insurgents, whom he referred to as “al Qaeda of West Africa.”
The Monday meeting with security chiefs reviewed the security challenges in the country especially as it relates to the ongoing rescue efforts on the over 200 schoolgirls abducted April 14 from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State.
Abati in his twitter handle wrote: “Kano Blast: President Jonathan summoned meeting of security chiefs today (Monday) on arrival in Abuja after Paris Summit.
“President Jonathan today ordered thorough investigations and security chiefs to act quickly.
“President Jonathan calls on Nigerians to remain united against the al Qaeda of West Africa alias Boko Haram and all enemies of the state.”
The security meeting was attended by Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Ademola Amosu; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant- General Kenneth Minimah; Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar and the Director-General of State Security Service, (SSS) Ita Ekpeyong.
Similarly, the meeting in France attended by Jonathan also had Presidents from neighbouring countries, President Boni Yayi of Benin Republic, President Idriss Deby Itno of Chad, President Paul Biya of Cameroon and President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic.
At the end of the summit, Nigeria and the other neighbouring countries “agreed to build analysis and response capabilities that will contribute to enhancing the security of all populations and the rule of law in the areas affected by Boko Haram’s terrorist acts.
They also agreed “to immediately on a bilateral basis implement coordinated patrols with the aim of combating Boko Haram and locating the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno State.
They are also “to establish a system to pool intelligence in order to support this operation, establish mechanisms for information exchange on trafficking of weapons and bolster measures to secure weapons stockpiles while also establishing mechanism for border surveillance.
The communiqué issued after the meeting added that countries are to establish an intelligence pooling unit, create a dedicated team to identify means of implementation and draw up, during a second phase, a regional counter-terrorism strategy in the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.
