Buhari holds first security council meeting with new service chiefs

President Muhammadu Buhari is currently presiding over the first national security council meeting being attended by the new service chiefs.

Buhari is meeting with the security heads alongside other top government officials at the presidential villa in Abuja.

The meeting is taking place about a month after the new service chiefs assumed office on January 26.

The security chiefs, Lucky Irabor, chief of defence staff; Ibrahim Attahiru, chief of army staff; Awwal Gambo, chief of naval staff; and Isiaka Amao, chief of air staff, arrived at the villa about 10 am.

Those present at the meeting are Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF); Ibrahim Gambari; chief of staff to the president, and Babagana Monguno, national security adviser.

Also, present are heads of other security agencies including the Nigerian Police Force, Department of State Services (DSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and some ministers.

The meeting is being held hours after 279 schoolgirls abducted from their school in Zamfara state were released.

The abduction on February 26 was the latest in a series of attacks by bandits across schools in the northern part of the country.

It is also part of a bigger security problem affecting most parts of the country, particularly in the north where bandits and Boko Haram insurgents have continued to terrorise residents.