Directorate to tackle insecurity in Niger Delta under way, says Ribadu

Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA), says his office will set up a security directorate in the Niger Delta region. 

Ribadu spoke on Wednesday at the Niger Delta stakeholders summit in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

The four-day summit is organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Represented by Grace Osaretin, Ribadu’s special adviser on energy security and Niger Delta affairs, the NSA said a team is working closely with the governors of the region and the presidency on the directorate.

Ribadu said the new office will ensure that stakeholders take a critical look at the peculiar security challenges of the region in a focused and professional way.

According to the NSA, the plan to set up the new department is inspired by his idea of positioning the Niger Delta as a more active and determined national security priority under President Bola Tinubu.

Ribadu said Tinubu’s broader and long-term national security vision includes “moving internal security from the current strong posture of kinetic to non-kinetic operations”.

To achieve this, the NSA said his office “will emphasise security from human and socio-economic development point of view to deepen democratic culture in the Niger Delta”.

“We will have very robust engagement to support the president articulate a compressive presidential policy on Niger Delta security,” he added.

“We should expect that when that fully materializes, the president will most likely personally present policy guidance that will define his security management posture for the sustainable development of the Niger Delta, under the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda.”

Stakeholders to be involved in the development of the new plan include community leaders, traditional rulers, women, youth, students, government security agencies, federal government agencies relevant to the region, business owners, civil society, and the media.