President Muhammadu Buhari has again challenged the nation’s security agencies to rejig their strategies in the ongoing battle against insurgency, banditry and other violent crimes in some parts of the country.

The President gave the order while presiding over the National Security Council meeting held on Tuesday in the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, retired Maj-Gen. Babagana Mongonu, disclosed this when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting.

“Mr President has also directed that we must rejig our strategy, that is both in terms of operation and intelligence; we must rejig our strategy to prevent further catastrophe.

“We must bear in mind that we owe a duty to the people that elected his government, our government.

“And at the end of the day, without securing the nation, all other things cannot be addressed such as revamping the economy and also fighting corruption.”

According to the NSA, his office presented a memo to the Security Council on the danger of drug abuse in the society as well as the need to urgently address the problem.

He said between 2011 and 2019, approximately 17 manufacturing laboratories of dangerous substances were identifed by various security agencies and destroyed while an increase in activities of illegal cultivators of ‘Canabis’ was also recorded.

Monguno said criminals had resulted to the use of illegal substances and dangerous drugs like Tramadol to unleash violence on innocent citizens in the society.

“I presented two memos; the first has to do with drug trafficking as well as drug addiction in Nigeria and the widespread use of these substances and the dangerous impact on our socio-economic situation.

“Basically, what I told council is that this has taken on a worrisome dimension.

“Nigeria’s perception on the drug trafficking index has changed from the status from a transit hub to a production centre.

“Between 2011 and 2019, approximately 17 manufacturing laboratories of dangerous substances were located by the various security agencies and destroyed. That is a large number.

“At the same time, we have had increasing activities of illegal cultivators of Canabis in Nigeria.

“These people basically use extremely large space of arable land to cultivate this illegal substance, employing militia men to protect their farms and also their storage facilities.

“When you look at drugs, our main concern as security operatives is the ultimate destruction to the social fabric and economy of the nation.

“There is hardly any violent crime today in Nigeria that is not propelled by the use of these hard substances.

“And these hard substances have been coming in from all nooks and crannies.”

According to Monguno, the reckless use of these dangerous substances has direct link to the insecurity being experienced across the country.

He, therefore, stressed the need for collective concerted efforts to deal with the menace of dangerous drugs in circulation to safeguard the country from the bottomless pit of self-destruction.

The NSA boss disclosed that he later updated the Council on the security situation in the northwest and the north central, “in terms of looking at the issue of kidnapping, banditry and killing of innocent people.

“The Chief of Defence Staff, Army Chief, Inspector General of Police and heads of the various intelligence agencies also gave synopsis of the current security situation and what their various organisations and agencies are doing about these situations,” Monguno said.