From: Molly Kilete, Abuja
Chief Of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has again reiterated the determination of the Nigerian Army to wipe out the Boko Haram terrorists group in the shortest possible time.
Gen. Buratai said so far, the Nigerian armed forces, through its counter-insurgency operations, had reduced the activities of the terrorists group to that of mere suicide bombing by their members who now attack only soft targets.
The army chief, who made this known at the opening of the media workshop organised by the Directorate of Army Public Relations, in Abuja, however, called on all Nigerians to join hands with the military to conquer the Boko Haram terrorists group, saying the war against terrorists was not a military affairs.
Buratai’s words, “It is pertinent to state that the Nigerian army in conjunction with other security agencies in the country has reached a very important stage in the war against terrorism, having contained the operations of the boko haram and reducing them to desperate moderate suicide attacks and attacks on soft targets with a futile attempt to portray themselves as a coherent force”.
“We will continue to engage and degrade them until they are completely wiped out.
We are determined to achieve this within the shortest possible time.
At this point, let me call on citizens of our nation in the collective efforts to bring to an end the menace of various security challenges affecting our dear nation”.
Gen. Buratai, who frowned at the incessant accusation of human rights abuses against the army by various human rights organisations and journalists in the country, appealed to the media on the need to work with the military to wipe out terrorism and other criminal activities in the country.
He continued, “The reportage and editorial dimensions taken by journalists will in no small measures aid the efforts of the military.
“While carrying out your role as the fourth estate of the realm, I employ you to do your part in the collective effort to stamp out evil from our nation”.
The army chief while commending the directorate of army public relations for organising the media workshop with theme “enhancing human rights during internal security operations through effective information management”, charged army PR officers and soldiers to fashion out better means of carrying out media operations to aid army operations.
He expressed the hope that the outcome of the workshop would proffer a permanent solution of improving civil military relations “and litigations against human rights violations particularly as it relates to the theme of the study period.”
