Kaduna: No plan to declare state of emergency – Azazi

The National Security Adviser, General Owoeye Azazi, has said there is no plan to declare a state of emergency in any part of the country owing to worsening security situation.

Azazi, who spoke with newsmen after a security meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo at the State House, Abuja, was reacting to a question on a plan to declare a state of emergency.
At the meeting, held at the the Vice President’s Wing of the State House, were Azazi, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force and the Inspector General of Police.
Azazi said the meeting with Sambo was as a result of the absence of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who is in Brazil for a United Nations conference.
On the escalation of violence in Kaduna State, Azazi said: “Not right now.
“It escalated but the security forces have moved in.
“So the place is stabilised.
“You find that the governor and religious leaders are also talking.
“What we are talking about is how do we extend this discussion beyond just the state so that it can go down.
“Church leaders can talk to the leaders in the mosques to see how they can tell the adherents to please be mindful, that we need to address the security situation in the country peacefully.”
On the speculation about the declaration of a state of zazi said: “Who is supposed to declare?
“I don’t know about that.”
Asked if the dialogue among religious leaders was not coming too late, the NSA said: “Talking can never be late.
“Whatever is the situation, you have to end up talking.
“We want leaders to be proactive.
“We want church leaders to be proactive.
“We want youth leaders to be proactive to make sure that what you call reprisal doesn’t make sense to anybody.
“What we need to do is to be mindful that look somebody is killing somebody in Zaria and you are retaliating somewhere in Zonkwa, that is criminality.
“Things happen but as a nation, as a people, we must address the situation not necessarily by killing each other.”
Azazi added: “If you study countries where you have had this kind of terrorism, we wish that the situation could come under control and security services are working.
“We try to understand, and like the media in several countries, you find that the media knows the society, they are part of the solution.
“So, all of us must come together to provide information to the security services so that we can prevent them.
“In many cases, you find security services are able to prevent these bombs from going off.
“But because we are a big society and the society is somehow liberal, you can’t always prevent them.
“You don’t find the number of policemen that you think should be available.
“In certain parts of the country today, and I will give an example like Kano, they are more proactive.
“So, you find that you are able to arrest the situation before it gets to this level.
“But the notwithstanding, even a small country like Israel where you have terrorism in spite of all the walls once in a while, they still succeed in detonating bombs.
“So, we will like to arrest the situation as soon as possible but we need everybody’s help to discover where these are coming from.”