NOA urges protection of critical infrastructure to support war against insurgency

THE National Orientation Agency (NOA) has called for increased vigilance and alertness on the part of the citizenry to safeguard critical national infrastructure and common facilities following the recent successes recorded by the Nigerian Armed Forces in the fight against insurgency.

In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, Director-General of NOA, Mr. Mike Omeri, said: “There is need at this time more than ever to protect critical national infrastructure and common facilities, including sources and channels of food and water supplies. All hands must be on deck to support our military and complement their heroic efforts by remaining vigilant and availing security agencies of useful information about suspicious characters, items and movements in our immediate environments.”

Omeri, who specifically called on strategic public agencies, including federal and state water boards as well as management of Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps across the country to take extra pre-cautionary measures to protect the environment and the citizenry by ensuring that farmlands, farm produces, water bodies and public water sources are not compromised, further said: “The fight against insurgency has reached its peak with victory in sight for Nigeria. Boko Haram, as of today, has suffered drastic reduction in capacity to manufacture Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) due to the inaccessibility of production materials. We must therefore put in check their desperation to continue inflicting pains on the citizenry by maintaining high level of alertness individually and collectively.”

It would be recalled that the terror group had in the past threatened to compromise the integrity of water bodies, food and public water sources in the country.

The deployment of similar tactics by other terror groups in the world in recent days had also raised indications that the local terror group may attempt to make good on its earlier threat.

The NOA director-general however assured the public that government and the security forces remain resolute to protect the lives and property of citizens from all forms of attacks, advising the public to avoid panic.