Security agencies have identified and blocked sources of external funding for the #EndBadGovernance protests in the country.
The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun stated this at a joint press briefing hosted by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja on Tuesday.
He affirmed that the police are careful in managing the crisis and never deploy water cannons or rubber bullets.
The police chief said that the shooting of an innocent protester in Kubwa Abuja was not done by the force.
He stated: “Nobody fired gunshots and we didn’t use force. In the midst of the protest, we arrested criminals who stole and committed other offenses.”
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Musa said that the military and security agencies are after those behind the call for undemocratic change of government.
He said the military knew that some protesters calling for regime change were sponsored, adding that the military and other security agencies are trailing them to bring them to book.
The CDS stated: “I want to appreciate Nigerians for their understanding, for their commitment to upholding the law and order.
“We have had issues in the past few days, but you can see that people have seen reason for us not to continue with the destruction, to stop the looting, to stop giving opportunities for others to subvert our nation and to destroy our nation.
“They have also seen reasons to join hands together with the security forces to make Nigeria better.
“We want to assure them we on this side that we are fully committed to Nigeria, we love the country, we are mindful of the fact that we have been equipped and so we are duty bound to protect the country.
“We are only after those that are against the states, not those that are innocent.
“So, I want to make that very clear and we will continue to work together as a team to support Mr president in achieving his mandate of peace and tranquility in our dear country Nigeria.”
The CDS called for the collaboration of all other agencies to ensure that they achieve success and called for calm, mediation, discussion, dialogue towards national unity and cohesion as one great country.
He said the Nigerian military is people-centric in all its activities, adding they are not interested in anybody being killed or injured or being prosecuted, except those that crossed the line.
He said the joint news conference was an opportunity to show that the military and all the security agencies were working as a team in line with the mandate of the president.
On his part, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, said the main operational commitment of the army is to deploy resources to combat the protests that had turned riots to ensure sustainable peace in the country.
Lagbaja said the army under his command is more concerned about bringing the country to a state of sustainable peace and security, adding that attention had not been diverted from its main operational commitment in combating terrorism and banditry.
He said: “I checked the number of patrols that troops conduct, the number of ambushes that are undertaken on daily basis, the number of violent insurgents that have been eliminated, incapacitated and other indices, and it has not dropped by whatever measure.
“Also we have continued to expand the frontier of peace and security in Borno state.
“IDP’s are being returned back to Kukawa and some other places as I speak to you, which are indices of return to peace and stability.
“So, the troops are not relenting in their operational commitment in the field on our contingency plan in the event that the situation degenerates.
“I want to also assure you that our estimates looking into the future suggests that the situation will not degenerate but we need cooperation of every stakeholder in Nigeria to achieve that.”
The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogalla, said the Navy had continued to work with other services and security agencies to ensure safety and security in the maritime domain.
Ogalla reiterated the commitment of the navy to sustain its operations in the Niger Delta to ensure that the nation’s meets its oil production capacity.
He said the operations had led to increase in oil output and boost the revenue generation from oil that would help the nation to meet the needs of the citizens.
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, said the Nigerian Air Force remained committed to ensuring successful operations in all operational engagements of the armed forces.
He said the military was mindful of it commitment to defending the territorial integrity of the nation.
Comptroller-General of Immigration Services (NIS), Kemi Nandap, announced that sponsors of the protest have been placed on its watchlist.
She said the individuals who are in the diaspora would be arrested immediately they step their legs on Nigerian soil.
She spoke shortly after a strategic meeting convened by the Chief of Defence Staff.
The NIS boss stated: “We have diaspora sponsors, they are on our watchlist. They are watchlisted, any attempt they make to come into the country, we’ll be notified and they will be picked up and handed to appropriate authority.”
She added that the Service has deployed more officers to borders both land and airports in response to the protest to ensure effective manning of those entry and exit points.
She revealed that NIS has also stepped up surveillance to prevent foreign intervention in the country.
On his part, the Comptroller-General of Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adeniyi, noted that the service will begin implementation of weaver of taxes on import food items and drugs by next week.
According to him, the suspension of duties and taxes on imported pharmaceuticals will reduce food prices.
Speaking on the measures by the Federal Government to bring down food prices, he said: “The protest was premised on a number of things, one of them being to end hunger. We discovered that a significant amount of food consumed in Nigeria is imported. Importation takes some time. So one of the things the president has done to cushion the effect of the cost of importation is to suspend customs duties and taxes on imported food items for a period of time.
“We believe that when this is implemented, it will help to bring down prices of food items in the markets. Nigerian Customs is committed to the implementation of this particular fiscal policy as enunciated by the government,” he said.
The Customs boss explained that the delay in the implementation of the tax weaver after President Bola Tinubu directive last week was due to delay in the implementation guidelines from the Ministry of Finance.
Adeniyi said: “One of the things that the President has done is to reduce the cost of food to reduce the effects of inflation by suspending customs duties and taxes on imported food items for a period of time. We believe that when this is implemented it will help to reduce prices of food items in the market.
“The Nigeria Customs is committed to the implementation of this particular fiscal policy as enunciated by the government. But we need to be very careful in implementation of this policy, and this is why the guidelines for implementation are being meticulously worked out at the Ministry of Finance.
Adeniyi said: “One of the things that the President has done is to reduce the cost of food to reduce the effects of inflation by suspending customs duties and taxes on imported food items for a period of time. We believe that when this is implemented it will help to reduce prices of food items in the market.
“The Nigeria Customs is committed to the implementation of this particular fiscal policy as enunciated by the government. But we need to be very careful in implementation of this policy, and this is why the guidelines for implementation are being meticulously worked out at the Ministry of Finance.
“We must address the interest of all the stakeholders, because most of these food items are going to enjoy duty waivers and concessions are also being cultivated locally. And so there is the interest to strike.
“There is the issue of striking a balance between the interest, the long term interest of nigerian farmers, nigerian stakeholders who are involved in the production of these items and the short term interest of addressing food inflation.
“So the guidelines are being worked out at the Ministry of Finance and I can assure you that within the next one week these guidelines will be ready and Nigeria customs would begin implementation of these particular fiscal policies.”
The Customs boss therefore urged Nigerians to be a little patient for the policy to take off, assuring that prices of food items would come down.
The spokesman to the Department of State Service (DSS), Dr. Peter Afunanya, also told journalists that some sponsors of the foreign flags protest have been arrested.
He called for patience on the part of Nigerians as their identities will be disclosed soon.
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