Security:Obama dispatches Army Chief to Nigeria

Nigerian Tribune

16 August 2011

Security:Obama dispatches Army Chief to Nigeria

•Security agencies differ on strategies over Boko Haram •As NSA reads riot act

 

THE commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), General Carter F. Ham, dispatched to Nigeria by President Barack Obama to get first-hand information on Nigeria’s defence and security-related challenges, arrived in the country on Monday.

+++

Meanwhile, as the Federal Government tackles the Boko Haram menace, more facts over the challenges facing the security agencies have emerged, as the issue of the best strategy to adopt is reportedly dividing the services.

Nigerian Tribune investigations showed that the agencies suffer from issues ranging from coordination to apportioning of responsibilities and strategies covering hard intelligence work and enforcement of law and order.

The affected security agencies include the State Security Service (SSS); National Intelligence Agency (NIA); Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and The Nigeria Police.

It was learnt that the increasing focus on enforcement rather than intelligence operations and gathering was seen within the security community as being responsible for the inability of the agencies to curb the Boko Haram  menace.

While some believe more emphasis should be put on intelligence gathering, another group reportedly believes that the challenge is now at the level of enforcement, requiring mostly overt rather than covert operations across the northern states.