The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, on Monday met all the heads of intelligence agencies behind closed-doors ahead of general elections billed to commence on Saturday.
Those in attendance apart from other service chiefs include: Inspector-General of Police, Director-General of DSS, Director-General of NIA and the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI).
Briefing newsmen shortly after the meeting, Irabor reassured Nigerians that the armed forces and other security agencies were ready to provide a safe and secure environment for the 2023 general elections.
He said the purpose of the meeting was to review security arrangements for the elections and develop action plans to ensure that the exercise is held under a peaceful atmosphere.
“We have just finished the meeting. The service chiefs, the Inspector General of Police, the DSS, represented by the Director of Operations, the DG, NIA and the CDI.”
“Looking at the security for the elections and as you know, the police is the lead agency for elections security, we have compared notes and assessed the entire situation and we are good to go.
“The assessment is that we are set on all fronts. We got representation from the Independent National Electoral Commission, who of course you have interacted with, and have also told Nigerians and the world that they are ready for this election.
“By and large, we are good to go and I like to use this opportunity to assure Nigerians that on the security front, we are good to go on all fronts,” he said.
Irabor also gave assurance that the security agencies would cover every part of the country to ensure peaceful elections, so that all eligible Nigerians exercise their franchise.
He added that contingency actions had been taken to address areas with peculiar security challenges.
The CDS warned those who intend to cause trouble during the elections to have a rethink, “because they will have a bloody nose”.
