Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai has once again described terrorism as a complex phenomenon that requires multiple efforts to contain and should not be left to the armed forces alone.
The Army boss, who stated this while declaring open the first quarter conference/combat arms training (CAT) week and second infantry officers conference held at Ihejirika Auditorium, Jaji military cantonment, said the Nigerian Armed Forces had done its best and would continue to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
According to him, the Nigerian Army, with the efforts of the infantry corps and support from other corps, has been able to deal decisively with Boko Haram insurgents in the North Eastern part of the country.
“Today,” he said “we have the full initiative and in collaboration with other sisters agencies, we are pushing hard to ensure that we finally sanitised the northern Borno and our borders axis with Niger, Chard and Cameroon.
“We know they have plans but we are also planning to counter them and we will deployed maximum intelligence to capture those that are still remain in the interland.
“Terrorism is a complex warfare which need the involvement of every individual in the country which if we are able to do, will contain the criminals.
“It should not be left for the security personnel or governments at all levels, or the traditional rulers, it is a joint responsibility and we are all stakeholders.
“These criminals are not coming from the blues. They live among us in the society. They go to the markets and buy food stuffs just like the rest of us.
“Some of them go to naming, marriage ceremonies and so on. It is our responsibility to make everybody aware, that we all have a role to play in bringing the activities of these criminal elements to an end’, he reiterated.
Earlier, Commander, Infantry Corps, Major General Stevenson Olusegun Olabanji, said despite the security challenges the country is faced with, the NA under TY Buratai has received a boost in terms of infrastructural and human development in all its formations across the country which has made it possible to deal decisively with Boko Harram terrorists and other insurgents.
Talking about the theme of the conference, “Leveraging land power for current and future warfare; the unity of the combat arms”, the commander described the conference as very important in operation calendar of the corps, saying, the reunion would afford the senior officers the opportunity to interact, brainstorm and come up with additional practical steps to address the emerging security threats to the Nigerian territorial integrity.
The infantry corps, also known as “foot soldiers”, is the largest and strongest formation in the Nigerian Army.