‘We’re in a state of emergency’ — Buhari tells new service chiefs

President Muhammadu Buhari has told the new service chiefs that the country is in a state of emergency, urging them to be patriotic and serve well.

Buhari appointed new service chiefs following the resignation of the former ones on Tuesday.

When he met with the new service chiefs at the presidential villa in Abuja on Wednesday, he urged them to be concerned about the morale of the officers in the fight against insecurity.

“We’re in a state of emergency. Be patriotic, serve the country well, as your loyalty is to the country,” Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, quoted Buhari to have said.

“There’s nothing I can tell you about the service, because you are in it. I was also in it, and I will pray for you. I also assure you that whatever I can do as Commander-in-Chief will be done, so that the people will appreciate your efforts.”

With the rising state of insecurity across the country, Buhari told the new service chiefs to remember the” undertakings” made by his administration in 2015.

“You know the stage we were in 2015, you know the stage we are now, and the undertakings we made. We promised to secure the country, revive the economy, and fight corruption. None has been easy, but we have certainly made progress,” Buhari said.

While addressing state house correspondents at the end of the meeting, Lucky Irabor, chief of defence staff, said the president had informed them about the expectations of Nigerians on the issue of security, saying they will work collectively to achieve them.

“The message from the president is that we, knowing the current security environment, must do everything possible to add value to the security disposition and the expectations are high and that we are quite mindful of that expectations. So, we collectively will work to achieve that,” he said.