By NAN

Three Civil Society organisations, the Citizens of Northeast Region, Citizens Action for Better Nigeria and Arewa Youth Federation, on Thursday lauded current onslaughts against terrorists by the Nigerian military.

They also condemned criticism of the country’s intelligence agencies.

The stances are contained in a statement issued in Abuja and jointly signed by their leaders, Malam Idris Muhammad, Smart Edward and Adamu Matazu.

They wondered why anyone would cast aspersions on the capacity and professionalism of Nigeria’s intelligence architecture.

“We are dismayed that certain unscrupulous elements whose stock in trade is peddling falsehood could question the role of the Department of State Security (DSS) and that of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

“These are top performing agencies that are at par with their sister agencies like the FBI, the CIA and the KGB. To say they are not performing is unreasonable,’’ they stated.

The statement added that the excellent outings of both DSS and DIA in arresting the duo of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Ighoho were remarkable and commendable.

The group said it was regrettable that some Nigerians would underplay these giant strides and seek rather to blackmail officers and men who put their lives on the in the service of the nation.

“The arrest of Kanu of the proscribed Independent Peoples of Biafra and Ighoho of Oduduwa Republic as well as arrests of errant citizens bent on destabilising the country are commendable.

“Nigerians have not forgotten the fact that the South-eastern part of Nigeria was flashpoint of criminal activities.

“The Anambra election almost didn’t hold until the military and DSS stepped in, flushing out the bad eggs and making the southeast safe again.

“This is a job well done and worthy of commendation instead of criticisms,’’ the statement read.

They emphasised that while intelligence gathering is important, what is done with the intelligence gathered is another thing all together.

According to them, if intelligence gathering is enough, America wouldn’t have experienced the tragedy of “Sept. 11’’, the IRA would have stopped bombing British towns and Israel would have been free from attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah.

The group stated, however, that there was no justification for the lapses that occasionally occurred as it is common and usual with human systems.

They called on Nigerians to support the security agencies with credible intelligence as security is everybody’s business.

“Taking the backseat and being an agent to be used by critics is not just unpatriotic, but treasonable.

“We urge the DSS and DIA to discountenance the ranting by enemies of the state whose only desire is to plot evil against the country and her leaders,’’ the statement read. (NAN)