The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has Reviewed National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST) which was launched by President Muhamadu Buhari.
During the launch, President Buhari promised to protect Nigerians and secure the country’s territory from the menace of Boko Haram and other violent extremists.
Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the launch, President Buhari Described activities of Boko Haram as mindless killing of children and innocent citizens.
He assured that his administration believes a robust and counter terrorism strategy is crucial in fight against terrorism and must be constantly reviewed from relevance to contemporary challenges.
According to him, the launch of the reviewed counter-terrorism strategy, underscores the fact that terrorism has numerous ideologies, not static and response must be dynamic and versatile.
Buhari stressed that while many people are being released from captivity, the government is faced with severe challenge of malnutrition.
Ealier, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), said that the revised strategy explains what organisations and individuals can do to help in its implementation in order to reduce the risks of terrorism and ensure that people go about their lives freely and with confidence.
According to Monguno, “NACTEST is organised around five streams aimed to forestall, secure, identify, prepare and implement with key objectives and indicators to effectively ensure monitoring and evaluating successes at each stage”.
He said that ONSA has developed a benchmark framework for the evaluation of the implementation of NACTEST, which has now been reviewed to include salient areas like the Nigeria Countering Violent Extremist Program, which are two very critical pillars in the fight against terrorism and engendering sustainable peace.
“The NACTEST Desks in MDAs have been established to drive the process so that the menace of terrorism must now be addressed from a multi-dimensional and multi-prongred and all of society approach in order to make it all encompassing”, he said.
Also speaking, the Coordinator, Counter Terrorism Centre (CTC), Commodore Yem Musa, said that ONSA in furtherance of the national counter terrorism efforts, developed the “National Terrorism Levels” document to guide MDAs on measures to be taken on receipt of information on a likely terrorists attack.
Musa said that the document, which outlines the alert levels and the actions to be carried out when a terrorism alert level is declared is in 5-levels including: Critical (Red) – Attack is imminent; Severe (Orange) – Attack is highly likely; Substantial (Yellow) – Attack is a strong possibility; Moderate (Blue) – Attack is possible but not likely; and Low (Green) – Attack is unlikely.
“The authority to issue appropriate threat levels lies with the ONSA. The NSA will issue appropriate threat levels based on the threat analysis and risk assessment by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Branch (JTAB) whose work is dependent on inputs from relevant intelligence gathering and security agencies,” he said.
As a complement to the Threat Level System, Musa disclosed that ONSA has also developed a National Handbook on safety and security tips as a basic compilation of simple guides for personal and corporate security.
According to him, the handbook is aimed to enlighten the populace on critical security measures required at all levels of terror threats.
“It is in this regard, that this document has been translated into the three main languages in the first instance, and to others subsequently to give it the much – needed circulation among the citizenry,” he said.
By PRNigeria
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DHQ Press Release
BANGLADESH LAUDS NIGERIAN MILITARY SUCCESS IN THE FIGHT AGAINSTINSURGENCY
The Bangladesh Armed Forces have lauded the success of the Nigerian Military to overcome insurgency and expressed their willingness to adopt the Nigerian Armed Forces winning strategy to combat insurgency and criminalities in their country.
This was contained in the remarks by the team leader of the members of the Bangladesh National Defence College on Geo-strategic study tour of Nigeria that visited the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja. The leader of the delegation, Rear Admiral Anwarul Islam, pointed out that the dramatic way in which the Nigerian Military routed the erstwhile deadly Boko Haram in the last one year was worthy of commendation. He noted that the Nigerian Armed Forces are well known for their contributions to peace support operations worldwide and have contributed tremendously to world and regional peace.
He observed that Bangladesh has a lot to learn from the Nigerian Armed Forces and lauded the CDS for his leadership direction. Admiral Islam applauded the Armed Forces for successfully degrading the Boko Haram Terrorists in the North East and tackling other criminalities in Nigeria. He solicited cordial military bilateral relations with the Nigerian Armed Forces.
While welcoming the delegation to Defence Headquarters (DHQ) the CDS, who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans at DHQ Air Vice Marshal Bashir Saidu, assured the team of the Nigerian Armed
Forces’ readiness to partner with the Bangladesh Armed Forces and to synergize with other willing nations in the global war against terror. The team was later briefed on the operational activities of the Multi-National Joint Tasks Forces and Operations LAFIYA DOLE in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.