Nigerian Army far stretched beyond any other time in our history, says Army Chief
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya has stated that the Nigerian Army has never been overstretched as it is now any time in the history of the country. The plethora of security challenges assailing the country, according to him, implies that troops of the Nigerian Army are largely committed to operations in one theatre or the other with little respite to recuperate.
General Yahaya disclosed this on Thursday at the National Assembly Abuja when briefing Senate Committee on Army an overview of the Nigerian Army Ongoing efforts in the Geo-Political Zones, for the overall interest of enhancing the national security.
“Nigerian Army is far stretched beyond any other time in our history. The plethora of security challenges imply that our troops are largely committed to operations in one theatre or the other with little respite to recuperate.
“It is therefore increasingly becoming clear that a systematic and fast tracked surge in the manpower strength of the Nigerian Army is imperative for the Army to be able to maintain presence and adequately support the police as required. Similarly, the employment of other force”.
He stressed that, in spite of the modest achievements through army interventions, the security situation across the country remains fluid as Nigerian Army continues to confront transmuting threat scenarios, many of which beg for far reaching efforts at tools, other than the military, to sufficiently address them.
General Yahaya said it is important to emphasise that an enduring solution to a number of current challenges requires a wholistic assessment of their root causes and emplacing multidimensional interventions to address them.
The COAS at the National Assembly briefed the Committee on the Nigerian Army’s efforts at confronting the various security challenges, highlighted some challenges and then gave hint on the way forward.
General Yahaya said remarkable strides have been recorded in the North East Theatre since the beginning of the year. The offensive operations being carried out across the Theatre and in conjunction with the Multinational Joint Task Force have stabilized the situation in the Region.
“Our troops have cleared and are dominating most of the terrorists’ hideouts in the Timbuktu Triangle, Sambisa Forest as well as other locations in Northern Borno. There have also been a lot of recoveries in terms of arms and ammunitions as well as various equipment from the terrorists.
“The operations were complemented by a well-crafted non-kinetic line of efforts and other enabling activities which ensured the sustained surrender of Boko Haran/ISWAP terrorists. Thus, over 51,000 of the criminals and their families have so far surrendered.
He added that a number of theatre-wide mission specific trainings for the troops as well as targeted welfare initiatives including the replacement of routine welfare fights to boost troops’ morale were also emplaced, All these efforts have contributed to the successes being recorded in the North East Theatre. Thus, it is hoped that by the end of the ongoing operations, greater normalcy would have retuned to the North East leading to the return of more internally displaced persons and restoration of civil authority across the area.
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There were concerted efforts and interventions in Zamfara and Katsina States which were earlier identified as hotbeds for the criminals as armed banditry manifesting in the forms of terrorism, cattle rustling and abduction for ransom are the main security issues in the North West Region.
General Yahaya confirmed that, these trans-boundary movements of the terrorists have unfortunately led to the surge in incidents recorded in Kaduna and Niger states including the recent attacks on the Abuja — Kaduna Train Service on 28 Mar 22, Bimin Gwari LGA as well as those on isolated villages particularly in Kachia and Zangon Kataf LGAs.
Expectedly, efforts are ongoing with other agencies, to expand our operations to clear the terrorists from their hideouts and rescue the abductees. There are also ongoing efforts at improving synergy and collaboration with other Services and security agencies for wholistic and enduring interventions against the criminals.
He said in North Central there is the operationalization of a new army unit at Bida as interventions especially in Plateau and Benue States, a deft combination of kinetic and non-kinetic efforts driven by Operations SAFE HAVEN and WHIRL STROKE have curtailed the farmers/herders crises in Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa States though one off incidents are still recorded. On the other hand, Niger State witnessed a surge in banditry activities particularly in the months of January and February 2022 largely due to the southward movement of the criminals to evade operations in Zamfara and Katsina States
Furthermore, the COAS said contingency plans in South West are undergoing the much needed reviews to support the Police, as the electioneering period kicks in with the gubernatorial elections for Ekiti and Osun and States scheduled for 18 Jun 22 and 26 Jul 22 respectively.
In South-East, intelligence driven operations have led to the arrest and neutralization of a substantial number of the criminals and domination of their hideouts and camps and deliberate operations have continued to decimate their ranks leading to substantial recoveries and improvements in the security situation.
“In spite of the gains made, the criminals have shown some resilience with IPOB/ESN preying on piecemeal deployment of security agencies albeit with very limited success. The criminals have also continued to invest in the development and deployment of IEDs with a number of such IEDs having been recovered since the beginning of the year”, COAS said.
The South-South Geo-political Zone has remained largely calm albeit with limited incidents of kidnapping, cultism and militancy being the main security threats. Significantly, oil theft in the region continues to constitute enablers as well as further development of the capacity of primary security agencies such as the Nigerian Police, is imperative.
General Yahaya lamented that there are challenges in securing adequate buy-in of all the stakeholders to come to the understanding that security is a whole of nation effort.
According to him this has for instance, limited the flow of information necessary to promptly identify threats and deal decisively with them.
He opined that there is therefore the need for sustained advocacy by the respective national institutions such as this distinguished committee and the National Assembly, in order to awaken the various stakeholders to their responsibilities.
Additional Reports by SPYE TV
