BY Uche Amunike
The Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA was attacked in Kaduna state, Tuesday at about 1:30am by a large number of bandits, kidnapping an officer identified as Major Datong and killing Lieutenant Commander Wulah and Flight Commander Okoronkwo, through gunshots.
Another officer, 2nd Lieutenant Onah was left with gunshot wounds but presently receiving treatment.
In a statement released by the PRO of the Academy, Major Bashir Muhd Jajira, he confirmed that they lost two of their officers to the bandits.
He however added, that the NDA has collaborated with the 1 Division Nigerian Army and other security agencies in Kaduna and has started to go after the assailants.
Shakira assured the general public of the safety of the NDA community and even the cadets in the academy, promising that the unknown gunmen will be caught and the abducted officer rescued.
Northern elders released a statement where they demanded that the National security Adviser, NSA, Major Gen Babagana Monguno should be sacked immediately, saying that they’re tackling security structure like the Defense Academy indicated that no Nigerian is safe in the country.
They blamed the whole Security Chiefs and demanded that a thorough review should be made of the entire security structure of the country.
The National Coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development, CNEPD, Zana Goni, in a statement signed by him, said that it was about time the President sacked Monguno because of the security situation in the country which gets worse every day, maintaining that it is clear that Monguno was not up to the task in handling the nation’s insecurity.
In the statement, he criticized the stakeholders in the region for not speaking up in spite of the unbearable criminal acts by armed herdsmen and insecurity across the country which only gave the region a bad image .
The attack on a military formation like the NDA, the statement said, clearly shows that no citizen regardless of their status, is safe anymore.
It stressed that a military institution like the NDA, which trained future military leaders was so easily invaded by armed bandits without being registered and it was a real slap on the faces of Nigerians.
The Northern elders blamed it on intelligence failure and gaps on the part of our armed forces.
They added that retaining the National Security Adviser, Gen Babagana Monguno will do no good to the present security situation in the country.
They further said that if the president had removed Monguno at the time he replaced Service Chiefs, the constant deteriorating security situation in the country would have been a thing of the past.
They posited that the office and responsibility of Monguno were important in achieving maximum security across Nigeria but it he failed to use the high position of his office productively since his appointment as National Security Adviser.
They concluded that their reason for calling for Monguno’s sack was that he was part of the gross failure that led to the former Security Chiefs being sacked and allowing him to remain as National Security Adviser will rubbish the changes that Buhari intended to achieve in the country’s security structure
