Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola has declared that all the federal facilities in the country are red zones at the moment and that anyone who attempts an attack on any of them henceforth may not live to tell the story.
Aregbesola made this declaration while calling for cooperation among the security agencies to forestall future attacks on public infrastructure and other national assets.
He made this known in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr Sola Fasure which was made available to Afroca Daily News, New York on Saturday.
According to Fasure, Aregbesola pointed out this when he led the management of the ministry on an inspection visit to Kuje prison, which was recently attacked by gunmen suspected to be terrorists.
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He said, ‘There was a platoon of the Nigerian Army with sophisticated weapons, the Nigeria Police Force, officers of the NSCDC, and armed officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service on ground during the time of the attack.
‘We have a world-class facility here by any standard. I’m disappointed with the level of defence.
‘We have enough men to protect this facility but unfortunately, they could not hold their position effectively for defence and that was the reason for the breach.’
He went on to add that, ‘Now my position is so clear, I’ve declared since April 2021 that all our facilities are red zones and that whoever attempts an attack may not live to tell the story. I still maintain this.
‘Kuje is the most fortified in the country if fortification for security is the determinant of whether it’s medium or maximum.
‘We have a platoon of security officers deployed here.
‘I want to believe those who escaped can only run but cannot hide.
‘That is the assurance I want to give to Nigerians, Kuje was as on Tuesday, heavily fortified.’
Many Nigerians have however continued to call for the Minister’s sack.
