Nigeria’s
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, June 23, 2016 named police
officers, Abdulkarim Dauda and Kayode Sikiru Akande as the chief
security officer to the president and the officer in charge of
presidential movement respectively.
Both officers were also promoted from the position of assistant commissioner of police to deputy commissioner of police.
The development is coming on the heels of reports that top military officers in President Buhari’s government are planning to overthrow the President.
Sources privy to the development told Signal,
an online newspaper, that while the appointment of a new chief security
officer for the president may have long been overdue, President
Buhari’s concern about the threat of a possible military coup has forced
him to rejig his personal security apparatus at the presidential villa.
“The
issue of a new chief security officer for the president has lingered
for some time now. But, I can tell you that Thursday’s announcement is a
swift and panic reaction to the news of a possible military coup which
the president is not taking lightly,” the source, who spoke on condition
of anonymity said.
“You
know he is a retired military general. Anything that relates to his
personal security, he doesn’t joke with it. He actually gets paranoid
with it.”
In July
2015, President Buhari fired his chief security officer, Abdulrahman
Mani, an operative of Nigeria’s secret police who had been assigned to
protect him since 2011. Mani was alleged to have been involved in “shady
deals” in fixing appointments and was allegedly “undermining” the
president.
The Coup Rumours
A
social media based militant group, The Joint Niger Delta Liberation
Force, NDLF had claimed on Wednesday that some top army officers
were planning to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari and had approached
Niger Delta militants for support in their plot.
JNDLF is the group that threatened to release 6 missiles` targeting Aso Rock and key government building in Abuja. The threat put the whole country on the edge and ended up being a hoax. Apart from issuing statements on social media, with fancy titles, this militant group is known for nothing else.
The militant group in a statement by the
commander, general duties, Joint Revolutionary Council, JRC, of JNDLF,
General Akotebe Darikoro and others, said: “We are constrained to let
the cat out of the bag today that President Muhammadu Buhari should be
wary about the security of this country as some military men are making
move to remove him from power by instigating civil unrest in the
country.”
“Some top military men through their
civil agents approached us to cause and continue the vandalization of
the oil and gas pipelines in the Niger delta region to use as an excuse
to take over the government from democracy to military rule in the
country,” the group asserted.
Military Declares Loyalty To Buhari Government
The Nigerian Army responded, swiftly, with a statement denying the reports.
A statement by Colonel Sani Usman, Nigerian Army spokesperson dismissed the reports and reaffirmed the Army’s commitment to democracy.
“The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to another campaign of calumny and distraction
by faceless criminal gang of economic saboteurs that hide under the
aegis of Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) alleging that some
officers of the Nigerian Army approached them for support to overthrow
our duly elected present democratic government,” the statement said.
“This is baseless and most unfortunate
allegation that existed in the warped minds of the originators of such
weighty allegation. The Nigerian Army wish to state that this is not
true and hereby distanced itself from this weighty allegation.
“We also see this speculation as a
dangerous distraction to our effort in fighting insurgency and other
criminal elements in the country.
“The Nigerian Army would like to send a
strong and an unequivocal warning to those speculating a coup by the
Nigerian Army against the government to desist forthwith. We would like
state in clear terms that that we are a product of democracy and a
focused professional institution and would have nothing to do with such
abomination and heinous crime,” Colonel Usman.
The Nigerian Army promised to track down those responsible for spreading “dangerous rumours”.
Similarly, the Nigerian Military, Thursday, issued a statement from Defence Headquarters pledging full loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari’s civilian government.
“The Chief of Defence Staff, General
Gabriel Olonisakin wishes to assure our highly respected political
leaders and the entire Nigerians that the military will continue to be
apolitical and will do everything possible to defend and deepen our
democratic governance which is the best, acceptable and legitimate form
of government the world over,” the statement signed by Brigadier General
Rabe Abubakar said.
“The Defence Headquarters restates its
total subordination to civil authority and upholding the supremacy of
the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and will continue to
defend all democratic structures and will never yield to blackmail and
distractions from fifth columnist.
“Therefore this unfounded story should be discountenance in its entirety,” the statement said.
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