Nigeria’s president replaces service chiefs amid insecurity

ABUJA, Nigeria – Amid worsening insecurity in Nigeria, the president has replaced all of the country’s service chiefs.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s action on Tuesday comes after several years of calls by the public and federal lawmakers for the removal of the military commanders.

The Senate and the House of Representatives in separate resolutions had demanded the replacement of the service chiefs because of the worsening security in Nigeria’s northeast where a more than 10-year insurgency by the Islamic jihad group Boko Haram has killed thousands of people. The insecurity has been compounded by banditry in the north and kidnappings for ransom across the country.

The president’s spokesman Femi Adesina said in a statement that Buhari accepted the immediate resignation of the service chiefs and their retirement from service. Buhari appointed new heads of Nigeria’s army, navy and air force.