Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
New counterterrorism Theatre Commander Maj Gen Farouq Yahaya has sought for the cooperation of all troops deployed to northeastern states, calling for united action with the civilian populace to end the years-long regional insurgency.
Yahaya, who officially took over the leadership of the Theatre from Maj Gen Olusegun Adeniyi over the weekend, extolled the efforts of his predecessor.
“I solicit the support of all the components in the Theatre. I am talking about Maritime, Air Force and other security agencies to enable us to achieve total peace and sanity in the northeast,” Yahaya said.
He was presented with the Theatre Command flag as a symbol of authority of his leadership as the eighth TC of the counter-Boko Haram operation after signing the handover and take-over documents at a brief ceremony at Maimalari Cantonment of the Nigerian Army, headquarters of Theatre Command, Operation Lafiya Dole.
He later inspected a guard of honour by the troops and thereafter addressed all security personnel deployed to the theatre including air force men, navy, army, police, civil defence corps and department of State Service (DSS).
Gen Olusegun Adeniyi, who was redeployed to the Nigerian Army Resource Centre as Senior Research Fellow, was appointed the seventh commander, Operation Lafiya Dole in August 2019.
Previous commanders included Maj Gen Yu’shau, Maj Gen Lucky Irabor, Maj Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, Maj Gen Dikko, Maj Gen Rogers Nicholas and Maj Gen Benson Akinroluyo.