Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Troops of the Nigeria military’s Operation Lafiya Dole have held a special prayer session over the unending Boko Haram insurgency in the country’s northeast.
Chief Imam, 7 Division Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, Borno State, Col MUSA Usman, in a sermon during the prayer meeting, explained that the prayers do not diminish the army’s confidence in the capacity of troops to win the war against insurgency in the country.
He said the prayers were offered to complement the military operations and as part of solutions to the ongoing war against terror and the northeastern Islamist insurgency. He said the spiritual measures and not an alternative to the counter-terrorism war.
“The need to explore non kinetic approach to addressing the insurgency necessitated the call for the prayer,” the army cleric explained. He said dialogue, prayers and safe landing for the repentant Boko Haram would complement the counter-insurgency war by the troops, adding that here was no where in the wold where wars are won by force alone.
He urged Muslim troops to uphold the tenets and teachings of the Islamic religion. The sermon, he noted, was centred on the purity of the souls of the troops, urging them to maintain honesty and patrotism in their services to the nation.
Verses of the Q’uran were recited by some Islamic clerics from military formations in the state and the surrounding communties. Prayers were also held for the country and all troops on the frontline.