Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Farouk Yahaya said the army is ready to combat and eradicate all trace of insurgency in the North-East.
Yahaya made the comment on Saturday, while on an operation visit to frontline troops of Sector 2, Joint Taskforce of the Nigeria Army ‘Operation Hadin Kai’ in Damaturu, Yobe State.
While addressing reporters in Damaturu, Yobe state the army chief said ending the insurgency has always been a top priority as the end will also enable the army to move on to other things.
“We want to conclude this operation in the North-East,” Major-General Yahaya said, “so that we can do other things; and that is the drive now.”
While inspecting the Quarter Guard in the army chief’s honour, the Chief of Army Staff was received by the Commander of the Sector 2, Brigadier-General Adamu Nura, and other senior officers of the command.
Addressing the gathering, the Chief of Army Staff states the main reason for visiting the troops was to familiarise himself with them and the challenges they faced, he also assures them that those challenges are being tackled.
The army has been fighting terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and now ISWAP in North-East Nigeria for a long period of time now.
Major-General Yahaya pledged to work with other military branches, host communities, and sister agencies to restore peace in the region.
“We have been recording some modest success in all areas and we intend to sustain that drive,” he said.
Major-General Yahaya was last at the command on the entourage of the immediate past late Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Ibrahim Attahiru on March 14.
Inviting every hand on deck, the army chief had Earlier on Friday visited the palace of Borno state traditional leader, the Shehu of Bornu, HRH Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi to seek the collaboration of the monarch and other traditional institutions, as part of strategies to end the insurgency.
Major-General Yahaya at the meeting disclosed that such collaborations have yield great success in the past.
In his response, The Shehu of Bornu assured the army chief of his institution’s readiness to always support the military in the area of intel gathering, the Shehu also said the COAS should continue building on past successes by keeping remote roads for farmers’ ease and safe passage.
The monarch, however, warned military authorities against revealing the source of their information like some officers have done in the past.
It is unethical and unprofessional conduct by some commanders of the counter-insurgency war, as such moves had put so many in danger, hence the mistrust for the military, the traditional ruler cautioned.
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