The other day, i was reading a persons analysis of why so much money was spent on security and was sad. today i was reading punch online where the following was written. could the amount stated be justification for the voted budget?

The Federal Government has taken more measures to confront head-on the threat to peace and security in the country by Boko Haram, the militant Islamic sect that has been waging a terror campaign on Nigeria since 2009.

SATURDAY PUNCH learnt on Friday in Abuja that the military high command had commenced the training of personnel of military and other security agencies in readiness for the performance of their security responsibilities in 2012.

Already, soldiers drawn from military formations across the country have been assembled for an intensive training programme at the Command and Staff College, Jaji (near Zaria), Kaduna State.

Investigations showed that the special forces would be deployed in all the 36 states of the federation to boost the internal security arrangement in the country.

It was authoritatively learnt that the soldiers and officers undergoing training would be deployed to undertake highway patrol activities throughout the country.

A military source familiar with the operation told SATURDAY PUNCH that the reason for training the soldiers was not just because of the challenge posed by the Boko Haram Islamic sect, but also other threats to security.

It was learnt that this set of military personnel would have a wider scope of operations than the Joint Task Force as they are expected to fight crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent acts that constitute threat to peace and security.

It was, however, not clear whether the soldiers would work alongside the police since the police have their own highway patrol.

The source said, "The army has selected soldiers from different military formations across the country for a special training at the Command and Staff College, Jaji.

"From what we were told, they are training them for counter-terrorism and highway patrol across the country.

"The officers are drawn from different army formations and they are to be deployed in all the 36 states of the federation for highway patrol duties.

"Nobody knows whether they would be combined with the police highway patrol. I don’t have that information."

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, had said at a security awareness workshop organised by the Nigerian Army on Wednesday in Abuja that one of the strategies being put in place to stem the terror attacks in the country was the establishment of a special squad of well-trained and equipped officers to respond adequately to the sectarian insurrection in the North.

The army chief explained that the new squad was meant to complement the efforts of the men of the JTF involved in internal security operations in the North-East.

He said that the new moves by the army leadership were informed by the need to put the security operatives in a vantage position to respond adequately to the security challenges facing the country.

"The unpredictable and random nature of terrorist acts makes it difficult for security forces to protect all potential victims and targets since they (the insurgents) are faceless and have an unlimited number of potential targets," Ihejirika said.

But the Director of Army Public Relations, Maj.-Gen. Raphael Isah, said the squad members would not necessarily be deployed in the 36 states of the federation for highway patrol.

He admitted however that they were a quick response squad that would carry out patrol duties in some select locations across the country.

Isah said that they would not be deployed in the 36 states of the federation as they would not have any permanent location.

He stated that the duties of the new squad and the men of the Police Highway Patrol team already existing across Nigeria would not conflict.

He said that the special squad would complement the efforts of the police, stressing that security operatives were knowledgeable enough to prevent clashes of functions.

"It is not to deploy them to the 36 states of the federation," Isah said. "They (the squad) are not to be deployed in the 36 states of the federation, it was a part of the review of the conference in Benin.

"They will cover a lot of areas; they are like a quick response team. They are a patrol team, their mission I will not reveal, it is very flexible. They are not in any permanent posting; they are on security patrol.

"Yes, we are flexible enough, we know our boundaries and mission, the JTF men are not doing any road patrol, they are stationed in a place; we are reinforcing the police.

"These are some of the decisions taken in Benin that we need to review our methods of operation and this is one of such methods."

[b]Meanwhile the Federal Government is devoting serious attention to the purchase of equipment that would aid intelligence operations in 2012.

A lot of modern security equipment running into millions of naira that are considered strategic in the bid to strengthen intelligence gathering in the security agencies will be acquired.

Among some of the equipment listed in the budget is the installation of a cell-phone location tracking system (Lawful Location) in Abuja and other cities at the cost of N1.3bn.

The equipment is considered crucial to the tracking of people with nefarious intents on a mission to cause security breaches in the country.

The FG is also acquiring what is known in security parlance as a counter-surveillance jammer for Abuja and other cities.

The cost is N500m.

Also gadgets directly relating to the current security challenges facing Nigeria are the advance explosive detectors at the rate of N2bn; forensic laboratory (N2bn); satellite monitoring system (N1.5bn); tactical information system using vehicles (1bn); anti-bomb blanket and back-starters (N1bn); arms and ammunition (N.5bn); communications and technical equipment and closed circuit television systems at N1.2bn, among others.
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Although Boko Haram had been in existence since 2002, the Islamic organisation stepped up its terror campaign in the early part of this year, successfully bombing the Force Headquarters of the Nigeria Police last June, and the United Nations HQ in Abuja last August.

However, the most hit city has been Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, where the organisation is said to have taken off through Malam Yusuf Mohammed in 2002.

Other cities under attack include Damaturu (Yobe State), Kaduna and Kano.