CHIEF of Army Staff Lt General Tukur Buratai reviewing the performance of the army has warned people of the northeast and the rest of the country not to willingly celebrate Boko Haram insurgents.
General Buratai also regretted that Boko Haram has been his greatest challenge ever since he assumed duty because of the endless battles in the northeast war theatre.
While responding to questions from reporters, during a news conference over the Army week celebration, Buratai during a news conference in Maiduguri, warned that whoever celebrates Boko Haram should be ready to live with it.
Buratai regretted that in spite of the Army’s efforts to cut down the terrorists, he is not happy that the social media keeps giving a lot of publicity to the insurgent group which he believes celebrates evil when their image is boasted.
The Army Chief called on Nigerians to support the cause of the entire military in ending the wickedness of the insurgents whom he said have been relatively degraded in the northeast.
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“I want to call on my fellow countrymen to desist from acts that could affect the peace. We need to maintain peace at all times. We have been keeping up to faith to the contemporary times in terms of management of crisis and I want to assure that you will soon see the results of our collective toil.
“We decided to hold the Army week celebration here to consolidate on the fight against the Boko Haram in this region. It would help us to x-ray our progress made so far and push for more. That is why I said that we have degraded the Boko Haram in spite of the fact that many people still believe that we are still in the bondage and not moving freely as we are doing in this territory.
“Gentlemen agreed that there are some challenges here and there we believe that one of our major mandates is to ensure that the IDPs get back to their homes and we are sticking to that.” said the Army Chief.
Buratai assured that the military under the aegis of the “special forces” have been able to go after the rampaging Fulani bandits and have made arrests after containing the situation in Plateau adding that it is not true that they are just sitting down doing nothing about the endless murders on the Plateau.
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According to him “in as much as some of these problems have internal colourations, we are also aware that there are other external forces which affect the polity. This is why I am calling on Nigerians to support the Military and security agencies to ensure they get to the root of the matter”.
On operation “last hold” Buratai said his troops had consolidated the liberation work with the multinational forces…making the job easier for our ground forces. We had to concentrate in Borno north because it had the largest land mass in the entire state and the highest concentration of internally displaced people IDPs in the state. The implications are heavy as it is providing a safe haven for terrorists if we fail to respond to our duties.
“Again, the ‘last hold’ is a humanitarian operation aimed at returning the IDPs back home. We have a standing policy of taking care of the kids of fallen heroes up to the University level. Housing and other privileges for them inclusive.
“The last hold is also about dominating the key interests within the Lake Chad area and ensuring that all the threats are eliminated. It’s a combined effort and movement through the support of all the countries in that region
“Operation last hold may go but Lafia dole will remain and continue to comb the remnants of the terrorists in the theatre of war.” He posited.
Highlights of the Nigerian Army day 2018 which starts from the 4th to 7th of July include a jumat service in the mamalari cantonment mosque, church service on Sunday, sanitation at Gudumbali on Saturday, military equipment exhibition, mini trade fair and a grand finale all at Monguno Borno State.
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