President Buhari Cancels “Casual Leave’’

President Muhammadu Buhari, in an act of respect for victims of Boko Haram attacks across the battlefields in the Northeast zone of the country has cancelled his planned five-day “casual leave’’.

According to the presidency, The president had planned to spend the casual leave at his home country, Daura, Katsina State from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2.

Naija News understands that President Buhari official trip to Benin City, Edo, where he was initially billed to inaugurate the Edo-Azura Power Plant and grace the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference.

NAN reports that already the advanced teams of the president, who left Abuja for Katsina and Benin on Sunday, had been asked to return.

NAN gathered that the cancellation of the trips would also enable the president to continue his ongoing meetings and consultations with relevant security and intelligent community aimed at addressing the nation’s security challenges.

Alhaji Bashir Ahmad, President Buhari’s aide on New Media, made this development known on his tweeter handle.

He said: “President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to declare the COAS Annual Conference on Nov. 28, 2018 at the Conference Hall CGH in Maiduguri, Borno state.

“The conference was earlier scheduled to take place from 26 -28 November 2018 in Benin, Edo state.

NAN also gathered that the shifting of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Annual Conference from Benin City to Maiduguri might not be unconnected with the killing of Nigerian soldiers at Metele, a remote village bordering Nigeria and Chad.

In a tweet in Abuja on Sunday, the President’s aide on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, said all the service chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police, Idris Ibrahim and the Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi were part of the meeting.

“All the Service Chiefs, I-G of Police and DG of DSS were at the State House this morning. As President Buhari said (Saturday) yesterday, in the coming days, he will be engaging the Military and Intelligence Chiefs in extensive discussions on the next steps we shall be taking,’’ Ahmad said in the tweet.

On 18 November, the Al Barnawi faction of Boko Haram attack the 157 Task Force Battalion based at Metele in northern part of Borno state, killing scores of Nigerian troops.