Defence Council okays emergency extension in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa

President Goodluck Jonathan is set to seek the approval of the National Assembly for the extension of the state of emergency in three North East states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

This was the decision of the National Defence Council (NDC) after its meeting held at the Presidential Villa, on Thursday, presided over by the President.

It is expected that the extension of the emergency rule would not lead to the suspension of democratic structures in the states as the governors of the three states and the Houses of Assembly would still function and perform their constitutional roles.

The emergency rule which is

currently running in the three states would expire on Thursday, November 20

At the end of the council meeting which lasted for about two hours, the Service Chiefs declined to speak to journalists on the outcome of the meeting.

However, Bello Adoke (SAN),  Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, told journalists that the meeting was held to review the State of Emergency declared in the three States.

“We just reviewed the state of emergency declared in three states and the government will be requesting the National Assembly to grant the extension to the emergency rule” he said.

When asked how soon the request would be made to the National Assembly,  in view of the fact that the current emergency rule ends on Thursday, the AGF said the request would be made immediately to the National Assembly.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are presently not in session.

If the request is grated, it would be the third time Jonathan would be extending state of emergency in the three states which have been under attack by the Boko Haram sect, a situation which has led to loss of lives and destruction of valuable properties.

Jonathan had on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 first declared State of Emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, which has been extended twice, first in November 2013 and  then in May, this year.

While declaring the State of Emergency in a broadcast to the nation in May 2013, Jonathan said the action was an attempt to check the increasingly violent attacks by the insurgents, saying the level of violence called for extraordinary measures.

In attendance at yesterday’s meeting were all the Service Chiefs including Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant- General Kenneth  Minimah; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu.

Also at the meeting were the Minister of Defence, Aliyu Gusau, Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba and National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki .

Businessday