Boko Haram group
Yemi Akinsuyi in Abuja
The Director of the Department of State Security Service (SSS), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, Mr. John Okojie, has said that the menace of the militant Islamic sect, Boko Haram, has proven intractable because communities shield members of the sect.
Speaking when the new executive of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abuja council, paid him a courtesy visit in his office, the director said the service and other security agencies were doing their best to protect lives and property regarding activities of the sect and other criminal gangs.
Okojie, who explained that the job of the agency was principally to prevent crime, stated that the invisible mode of operation of members of the sect had made it difficult to successfully hold dialogue with them.
According to him, the sect was usually represented by intermediaries who will not disclose the identities of members of the sect, making the situation more complicated unlike what happened with the Niger Delta militants.
He decried the unwillingness of the people to provide useful information to security agencies on the identity of the sect members and their operations notwithstanding the fact that they exist and operate among the people.
Commending the NUJ for its support to the service and other security agencies in the fight against crime, the director expressed readiness to work with the union, pointing out, however, that there might be situations where he would refer journalists to the service spokesperson who is authorised to represent the interest of the service to the media and the public.
Earlier, the secretary of the council, Mr. Emmanuel Ogbeche, who introduced the new executive to the director, had stated that the NUJ was seeking to collaborate with the service in the discharge of its constitutional duty of monitoring the government on behalf of the people.