Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Tukur Buratai has appealed to Nigerians to have confidence in the ability of the military to end insurgency in the country.
Buratai while reopening the Maiduguri-Damboa road, a major highway in Borno, yesterday, said the military was doing its best to end the violence in the North East and protect lives and property of the people.
He said the road shut for over a year due to incessant Boko Haram attacks, was reopened to boost economic and social life. He promised that more troops would be deployed to ensure safety.
“The reopening today indicate we have achieved our desire to make the area secured,” he said.
The army chief, however, warned that minimal incident might occur on the road but assured security measures have been put in place to safeguard lives.
Theatre commander Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj Gen Olusegun Adeniyi, said the road will be opened everyday and appealed to leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) not to collect any fee from commuters or drivers with the sole aim of giving troops at the check-point money.
“The army headquarters has made provisions for troops on duty, “ he said.
Borno Deputy Governor, Umar Kadafur, who commended the military for reopening the road, said the government was pleased with the warning to the NURTW leadership not to introduce illegal fee to bribe military troops performing their legitimate duties on the highway.