President Muhammadu Buhari has urged Nigerians not to panic but remain calm and vigilant as the nation’s security agencies battle to keep the prevailing insecurity in the country at bay.

This was as the Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday described the report that its operatives and some American Soldiers raided Trademore Estate in Lugbe area of the Federal Territory Capital (FCT) and arrested two suspected terrorists as false.

President Buhari, who spoke yesterday against the backdrop of the recent changes in the travel advice from the U.S. and UK governments to their citizens, said there was no reason for panic.

He reassured Nigerians that their safety remains the highest priority of his government.

He said: “Security threats are real and have been with us for a long. While the nation’s military, the police and other security agencies have shown a capability to deal with it, as is evident from the fact that a majority of our partners, including the United Nations agencies in our midst, have not seen the threat as being sufficient to warrant any form of panic or order citizen evacuations. Security services are working around the clock to keep harm at bay.”

The President in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, added: “Nigeria is no exception in having terror threats listed in foreign government’s travel advice to their citizens.

“UK and U.S. travel advisories also state there is a high likelihood of terror attacks in many Western European nations.

“Indeed, the UK and U.S. advice to their respective citizens for travel to one another’s countries contain the same warning. Unfortunately, terror is a reality the world over.”

Continuing, the President said: “It does not mean an attack in Abuja is imminent. Since the July prison raid, security measures have been reinforced in and around the FCT. Heightened monitoring and interception of terrorist communications ensure potential threats are caught further upstream.

“Attacks are being foiled. Security agents are proactively rooting out threats to keep citizens safe – much of their work unseen and necessarily confidential.”

Further reassuring that the government was on top of the security challenge in the country, President Buhari stressed that while being security conscious, alert and careful, it was also important that members of the society do not create situations that could lead to unnecessary panic.

He commended the military and other security agencies for the recent turnaround in the nation’s security, directing that additional precautionary measures be put in place by the authorities and not allowed to slacken now and during the upcoming festive period.

He expressed optimism that the nation would emerge victorious against the security challenges facing it with the ongoing efforts by the military, other security and intelligence agencies, and the active support of the civilian population.

Following reports that it conducted a joint operation with some American soldiers at Trademore Estate, Lugbe, Abuja, during the week, the DSS in a terse response by its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, said: “No joint operation between DSS and any other country’s military took place in Abuja.”

In a related development, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called for the sack of all Nigeria’s service chiefs and the National Security Adviser over the security alert issued by the U.S. and UK governments.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, yesterday, said the service chiefs had shown themselves to be ineffective and incompetent, saying were simply reeling out bogus records of achievement despite the continued offensive launched by insurgents.

The group also faulted the inability of the service chiefs and their agencies to re-arrest fighters of the Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) sects that escaped from the Kuje Correctional Centre during the jailbreak last July.

Onwubiko said: “Following notice of a possible terror attack, the United States Mission and the British High Commission suspended consular services in Abuja and began the evacuation of their citizens from Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory.

“However, the Federal Government through the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, continues to live in self-denial of the existential threats of terrorists in Abuja by saying the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari won’t be stampeded. What a shallow way to address a critical situation!

“To lend credence to the terror alerts by the U.S. and the UK, a joint operation launched by the Department of State Services, the National Intelligence Agency, the police and some American soldiers this week reportedly arrested five ISWAP commanders and 30 fighters in Phase 3, Trademore Estate in Abuja.

“The detained fighters reportedly masqueraded as artisans, cart pushers and security guards in Abuja and they are all from a particular tribe known to have terrorist affiliation!”

Onwubiko further highlighted that heightened tension in the nation’s capital has made the popular Jabi Lake Mall shut its doors to shoppers and visitors.

“Shockingly, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, recently said 101 convicted terrorists and those awaiting trial have been moved from prisons to a deradicalisation camp for reintegration into society. Should the government even have contemplated that? Shouldn’t terrorists be summarily executed after conviction?

“Where are the Boko Haram terrorists that escaped from Kuje prison in July when it was attacked and hundreds of inmates freed? Where are all the thousands of terrorists that escaped from the over 10 jailbreaks in Nigeria in the last two years?” he asked.

Onwubiko added: “HURIWA calls for a comprehensive investigation by the National Assembly on all the claims by the military heads of successes against terrorists because if terrorists can constitute such a huge threat to Abuja and even threaten to take over Abuja imminently, this shows that there is something fishy with the information the military dishes out to Nigerians claiming successes against insurgents.  These stories might be empty propaganda because these claims aren’t backed up with authentic photographic evidence!

“Also, why is the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola still on the seat? Why are the non-performing service chiefs being rewarded with further stay by the government when the terrorists are still able to threaten Nigeria and the world is running away from Abuja? Why is this government made up of deceivers and liars? Pathetic! Abuja must not fall like Kabul in Afghanistan!”