Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, says the country’s security apparatus averted what could have been the most devastating incident in Nigeria’s history.
General Irabor disclosed this while appearing on a Channels Television’s special programme tagged ‘Democracy Day: Giving Hope To Nigerians’.
He stated that the catastrophe was averted in Kano State the same week gunmen opened fire on worshippers at a Catholic church in Owo – a town in Ondo State.
He noted that the security situation in Nigeria has improved in the last year, adding that the incident in Owo does not take away that fact.
His words: “Perhaps, you may not know that just only the same week of the Owo incident, in Kano, for example, given the intelligence available to security agencies, we were able to botch what would have been the most catastrophic incident within our country.”
Recounting how the disaster was averted, he said: “In that operation, we recovered Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, making materials.
“We recovered a large quantum of arms and ammunition and other materials which, of course, the criminals were intending to use in various parts of the country, including Abuja. That the Owo incident happened does not imply that improvements have not happened.
“Let me state that this is a process, and if you could take a look at the war stage in countries around the world, you will find incidents of violence and criminality in one way or the other.
“The dastardly act committed in Owo was targeted at creating fears in the minds of the people.
“I will not be silenced by the cowardly acts of the terrorists who killed children, women and unharmed worshipers at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, last Sunday.”
