President Jonathan Agrees To Extend State of Emergency to Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States

 

Following the recent and more deadly attacks by Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East, President Goodluck Jonathan, together with the members of the National Security Council, has agreed to extend the state of emergency rule to Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states by six months. 

 

This decision was taken at a meeting of the National Defence Council (NDC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on yesterday. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke, told reporters that the President would soon forward a request for the extension to the National Assembly for approval. She said, “We just reviewed the issue of the state of emergency and the government would be requesting the National Assembly to extend the emergency rule.”

 

The meeting was attended by 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 present were the Minister of Defence, Aliyu Gusau, Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba and National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd).

 

It the request is approved, with the first extension in November 2013 and the second in May this year, it would be the third time that the state of emergency will extended in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. The Constitution does not state the number of times the President can extend the six months emergency rule.