According to the president, peace must be maintained in Anambra, even if it requires dominating the state ahead of the governorship election scheduled for November 6.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, disclosed this after a security meeting presided by President Buhari at the State House on Thursday.

He explained that the President gave the injunction because the implications of sabotage by non-state actors on the Anambra poll would set a dangerous precedence for future elections in the country.

In a similar vein, Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi, said the security alert level in Anambra needed to be upped in a bid to ensure that people were not disenfranchised in the coming election.

At a media chat following a meeting with the President, the minister noted that escalating security within Anambra was done purposely to wither the operations of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and to engender a calm atmosphere and embolden the people to vote.

Before the briefing by his cabinet members, President Buhari presided over a security meeting with the nation’s service chiefs and heads of intelligence agencies.

The meeting was attended by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; and Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, among others.

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, led the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, and other security chiefs to the meeting.

They are Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao; Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.

Although the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, was absent at the meeting, he was represented by a Deputy Inspector General of Police, Sanusi Lemu.