The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd), has assured Nigerians that the Armed Forces will provide adequate security before, during and after the forthcoming general elections, pledging to protect voters from intimidation.
Musa gave the assurance at the State House after a closed-door meeting with President Bola Tinubu, where security chiefs briefed the President on the country’s security situation ahead of the elections scheduled for January.
Speaking to State House correspondents, the minister said Tinubu had directed security agencies to maintain professionalism and ensure a safe environment for Nigerians to exercise their voting rights.
According to him, the President emphasised the need for free, fair and credible elections, urging security agencies to take all necessary measures to protect citizens.
“Today’s meeting was to brief Mr President on the security situation within the country. You know the election is coming in January and it’s important that we keep him abreast of what is ongoing. You can see all heads of security agencies are here,” Musa said.
He added that the President had made it clear that security agencies must guarantee a peaceful electoral process.
“We want to assure Nigerians that we are committed, we are determined to provide safety and security for all Nigerians. Everyone should come out and vote for whoever they want,” he said.
Musa also stressed that security personnel would remain neutral and provide equal protection to all political parties and their supporters.
“The security forces are going to be neutral, we are going to ensure that we give everybody opportunity. So they have nothing to worry about, nothing to be afraid of and nobody is going to intimidate them for whatever reasons. We are all professionals and we are fully committed,” he added.
Musa Denies Recruiting Underage Soldiers
The defence minister also dismissed allegations that the Armed Forces were recruiting underage persons to fight terrorism, insisting that the military operates professionally and does not deploy underage personnel.
Musa said recent discussions about the use of children in armed conflicts concerned allegations against terrorist groups rather than the Nigerian military.
“We are very professional Armed Forces, there is nobody that is underage that’s being brought here,” he said.
He noted that the military could not control the activities of terrorist groups but maintained that efforts were ongoing to confront them and prevent them from operating freely.
Musa further disclosed that Tinubu had directed security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue people abducted by kidnappers and eliminate terrorist and bandit camps across the country.
“The directive from the President is that all of us must go all out to fish out all those that have been abducted by kidnappers, wherever they are. There shouldn’t be any camp of any terrorists or bandits anywhere in Nigeria,” he said.
