President Bola Tinubu, on Friday, cautioned security chiefs against misdirected attacks on innocent civilians and asked them to ensure conclusive victory against the security challenges facing the nation.
He warned that failure is not an option as it could thwart plans to make Nigeria a $1tn economy.
The President also cautioned the military and intelligence community against recurring incidences of mistargeted strikes on innocent civilians, saying such “errors” are “unacceptable.”
“The success you are recording is undeniable. Nigerians are seeing it, but the avoidable errors witnessed recently in Kaduna are unacceptable and cannot be repeated,” Tinubu told security chiefs and heads of intelligence agencies at a Presidential Security Briefing at the State House, Abuja.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed this in a statement he signed on Friday titled, ‘President Tinubu to security chiefs: You are making good progress, but there must be conclusive victory.’
At least 95 persons lost their lives in the mistargeted bombing of Tudun Biri in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State by the Nigerian Army on December 3, 2023.
Responding to the incident, President Tinubu, who was attending the COP28 Climate conference in Dubai, UAE, directed “a thorough and full-fledged investigation” into this and similar mishaps that claimed 386 lives since 2014.
Speaking on Friday, Tinubu warned the military against recurrent strikes on innocent civilians, cautioning such errors will not be tolerated.
He cheered the military helmsmen for the successes so far recorded, saying it is not yet Uhuru until the enemies of the state are vanquished.
“I am pleased that coordination between all agencies has dramatically improved over recent months, but there is no room for celebrations until we can end this until we can bring our troops back to their localities, and until we can free up resources for our critical economic expansion programme,” he noted.
Tinubu said while good progress is being made in eliminating some security threats across multiple theatres, success will ultimately be defined by a conclusion to the multi-dimensional menace.
“We have too many investments that we need to make now in soft and physical infrastructure, in social security, in MSME empowerment, and other growth enablers.
“We are pursuing a $1trn economy in the next few years, and our efforts will be undermined if we do not finally wrap up our progressive onslaught against enemies of progress.
“Be encouraged. The confidence of our people in your capacity is rising, and they are appreciative of the sacrifices of our men and women,” said the President.
