Defeating insurgency, banditry sacrosanct — CoAS

 

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Farooq Yahaya, on Tuesday, declared that the defeat of insurgency, bandits and other acts of criminality was sacrosanct.

The COAS stated this during the opening ceremony of the workshop on Future Improvised Explosive Device Challenges and Threat Mitigation held at the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering, Makurdi.

Represented by the Force Commander, Operation Whirl Stroke, Major General Sunday Igbinomwanhia, the army boss said that in a sustained effort to shore up troops’ morale and fighting spirit, the Nigerian Army had embarked on a massive acquisition drive.

“Some of the equipment acquired include Vallon handheld detectors, MRAPs, TCVs, Husky vehicles, APCs as well as UAVs, adding that efforts were ongoing to purchase some Husky vehicle mounted mine detection systems amongst several other pieces of equipment.

“The defeat of insurgency, banditry, and other acts of criminality remains my top priority. It is with this commitment in mind that the procurement of equipment and realistic training of personnel were embarked upon.

“Similarly, the research and development drive for indigenous production of some of our requirements is ongoing. The local production of the Ode rechargeable blasting device and the remote control jammers are commendable but more can be done.

“To this end, the Nigerian Army will continue to sustain its stride of supporting local production of our defence needs to augment our procurement”, General Yahaya said.

The CoAS, however, noted that the workshop with the theme “Capacity Development in CIED for Robust Support to NA Operations” was necessary in order to understand the future of Improvised Explosive Devices, its challenges, how the enemy operates, and knowing how to mitigate the IED threats.

” I am therefore glad that the objectives of this workshop are in line with my desire to defeat an insurgency by ensuring that our troops have freedom of action through effective CIED operation,” he said.

General Yahaya said that effective CIED operations had contributed towards the successes recorded against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups as well as various unscrupulous elements across the nation.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Commander Corps of Engineers, Major General Philip Eromosele noted that the use of IEDs by insurgents as force multipliers has become a trend with unpleasant effects on the outcomes of NA operations and the morale of troops.

To achieve victory in the ongoing CTCOIN and other operations despite the threat posed by the use of these IEDs, General Eromosele said that the workshop would feature a series of events that include presentations, discussion sessions, and demonstrations on the use of the recently acquired sophisticated and highly sensitive equipment such as; CIED MRAPs and Husky vehicles.