Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai: Chief of Army Staff

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai, on Monday, alerted 70 commanding officers of the Army to remain vigilant as Boko Haram insurgents withdraw to safe havens in other parts of country.

“The insurgents are now in disarray, attacking soft and defenceless targets, and withdrawing to safer havens in other parts of the country,” he said at the opening of a five-day workshop for the officers in Kaduna.

The Army Chief, who was represented by the Commander, Nigerian Army Training and Doctrine Command, Maj Gen, Rasheed Yusuf, assured that the military would decimate remaining terrorists.

“I therefore charge you to be vigilant and security conscious within your areas of responsibility, so that the remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents are fished out.

“I want to assure you that the Nigeria Army, under my command, will continue to remain focused and reinvigorated to fulfill its mission.

“To this end, the Nigeria Army will do all that are humanly feasible to provide all logistics and operational requirements necessary to contain the security challenges faced by the country in the course of carrying out our constitutional role.”

Buratai noted that the Boko Haram insurgency, militancy, pipeline vandalism, cattle rustling, kidnapping, ethno-religious crisis, armed robbery and other crimes have remained portent security challenges in the country.

He however appreciated the support of the Federal Government to the military, which had helped to reposition the service and ensure successes in its operations.

“By now, you must be aware of the laudable initiative and commitment of Mr President, C-in-C in the provision of hardware and other logistics requirements which have aided the successes recorded in the counter insurgency operations in the country

“Mr President is also desirous of enhancing our training and welfare packages.

“I therefore urge you to rededicate yourselves and motivate your troops towards being professionally responsive in the discharge of our constitutional roles.

“We must continue to strive for excellence so as to improve our operational effectiveness and productivity which will invariably stimulate citizens support and appreciation.

“Let me at this junction salute our colleagues involved in various operation within and outside Nigeria, some of whom have paid the supreme sacrifice.

“We shall continue to stand with and support the families of our fallen colleagues appropriately all the time.” the army chief said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the workshop is “Building on the Successes of the Military Operations by Units Commanders.”

The maiden Commanding Officers Workshop was held in Maiduguri in March.(NAN)