President Goodluck Jonathan, on Friday vowed that the country will not let go any part of its territory to any one or group.
This is against the backdrop of the alleged capturing of territories in the North-East by the Boko Haram terrorists group and the hoisting of their flags.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony of Course 22 Participants of the National Defence College (NDC) in Abuja, the President said government had taken a deep look into the fledging position and environment of terrorism in Nigeria and its extremely destructive and social economic impact, and consequently, government had initiated a number of programmes and dedicated platforms to alleviate the suffering of the people towards recovery.
Represented by Defence Minister, Lt. General Aliyu Gusau, he said, “We have made some gains against the adversary. We face an unspeakable evil and we must confront it with all our national endowment. And as a government, we will not compromise our sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
“We will not allow the authority of Nigerian state to be challenged. Education is a human right, which has invaluable transformational value and is the bases of our development progress. We shall not give up that right for some faceless, misguided, self-styled terrorists, using it as a means of terror”.
Emphasizing that the government was involving a broad based national security strategy anchored on the holistic well being of the Nigerian people, Mr. Jonathan said, “We will actively promote and hold on to societal goal and security that optimize our collective national strength”.
While calling all Nigerians across partisan, ethnic, religious and cultural device to close rank with government to put a stop to this evil as there is no challenge that can divide the collective will of Nigeria, he said, “May I also use this opportunity to assure all Nigerians that we are committed to bringing back the Chibok girls back alive”.
On intelligence gathering, he said, “The role of the Armed Forces intelligence and security agencies in the expanded security approach are crucial. As a government, we are committed to improving institutional capacity, platform and equipment, human and resources endowment of our security agencies to meet these challenges”.
“Let me use this opportunity to salute the gallantry of men and women of the armed forces, the police, intelligence and the security agencies and emergency services for their loyal and patriotic service to the nation, My heart goes to all the service men that had paid the supreme sacrifice, so that other Nigerians may continue to live in peace and security.
“I wish to convey my personal sympathy to Nigerians, who had in one way or the other suffered human and material loss on account of terrorism, Let me use this opportunity to congratulate the commandant, members of faculty for successfully conducting and concluding the NDC Course 22″.
It could be recalled that Boko Haram terrorists during the week launched attacks on Gwoza and other communities in Borno and later hoisted their flags.
However, special forces of the Nigerian military on Wednesday and Thursday launched a counter attack and successfully flushed the terrorists out of the communities.
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