Anthony Atolagbe, a retired army general and former commander of Operation Safe Haven, says the Nigerian military is better positioned to secure elections nationwide following increased deployment of troops, acquisition of military equipment and improved operational response.
Atolagbe said the military’s increased presence across
states has shortened response time, enabling troops to react more quickly to
security threats and conduct rescue operations.
He spoke on Friday during an interview on Channels
Television’s ‘Politics Today’.
The retired general said Nigeria received more than $200
million worth of military support from the United States, while the government
is also pursuing military cooperation with other countries, including Turkey.
“I was part of some of the discussions with some countries
when we reached agreement on issues of foreign military sales. By the time the
US got into Nigeria, I can tell you that the foreign military sales coming to
Nigeria are over $200 million,” he said.
Asked whether increased military spending is producing
results and making communities safer, Atolagbe said the security situation has
improved since the arrival of American support and the establishment of
additional military formations.
“I will tell you that before now, or let me just say before
Americans came in here, we were having some very negative results,” he said.
He added that the establishment of four divisions and the
deployment of military formations across the states has improved the military’s
capacity.
“Now, in fact, in every state of Nigeria, you can verify
that there is either an infantry brigade, an armoured brigade, an artillery
brigade, or any form of brigade,” he said.
“You are already seeing it now because the reaction time has
been shortened. So when you hear something happens in one place, quickly the
military moves in.
“It’s not as if we start doing things like after two, three
days, and we say we need to move people from Sokoto to Niger state to go and do
this, to go and do that.”
He added that the military has recorded gains through rescue
operations and the surrender of insurgents, particularly in the north-east.
The retired general said security assessments have informed
the distribution of military formations to strategic locations, enabling troops
to establish blockades along routes used by terrorists.
He also said the military now has a presence in areas
previously inadequately covered.
‘MORE TROOPS DEPLOYED AHEAD OF ELECTIONS’
On whether the security situation is sufficiently stable to
allow elections across the country, Atolagbe said additional military equipment
and personnel were being deployed to strengthen security operations.
Atolagbe also said the federal government has directed the
army to generate an additional 28,000 troops under a special recruitment
arrangement, separate from its regular recruitment exercise.
He said the first batch of additional recruits has completed
training, with another expected to graduate soon.
“So you see that we have more foot on the ground spreading across the entire operations environment, to the extent that people who want to go, even to go and do elections and the rest of them, can be assured that they are safe,” he said.
Asked specifically whether elections could be conducted
safely in every part of the country, Atolagbe acknowledged that some local
government areas in Borno state remain a concern.
“I cannot speak specifically about one or two local
governments in Borno state, but in the entire horizon of Nigeria, you can
conveniently be assured that what we had in the periods of perhaps Jonathan and
the rest having difficulties, those kinds of situations have already been taken
care of now,” he said.
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