By Harriet Tornguvan
As part of the ongoing effort to tackle the challenge of terrorism, banditory and other security challenges in the North West, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa has declared the harmonisation of all joint task force operations in the zone.
The CDS who made the declaration while briefing newsmen on the ongoing military operations across the country in Abuja on Tuesday, reaffirmed the commitment of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to tackle terrorism, banditry, and other security challenges bedeviling the country.
The CDS revealed that the intention is to ensure that they synergise all their efforts in addressing the security challenges in the North West, adding that they would come under one commander and then the commander would be able to utilise all the equipment and troops together to ensure that the challenges are critically addressed.
He said,”Regarding our visit to Sokoto, we have done an over view of the entire operations and realized that we need to harmonize our operations together.
“We have seen the need to harmonise them into one operation like we did in the North East, where you have operation Hadin Kai.
“The same thing is being done now for the North West operation and we have one unified operation that is going to be called “Operation Fansan Yanma”.
“Now the intention is to ensure that we synergise all our efforts in addressing the security challenges in the North West. It has been their tradition for the bandits to be able to flow between the states within them.
“So now what we are doing is that since we are harmonising the whole operation, we will come under one commander and then the commander will be able to utilise all the equipment and troops together to ensure that we address this critically."
Gen. Musa said the intention of the bandits was to just show that they were present through the acts of criminality, and therefore called for the support of the people to defeat them.
He said that the terrorists were being fed with information on troops’ movement, warning that the terrorists were bunch of deranged individuals that had no allegiance to anybody.
The CDS assured that the military would help to build the capacity of the locals to be able to defend themselves, in the event of an attack for a while before the military could come in.
He assured Nigerians that the military has intensified efforts to ensure that all schools across the country were provided with necessary security.
“Those ones that are isolated, actions have been taken to ensure that it is either they are placed together where security could be provided.This is because we have thousands of schools scattered all over.
“Efforts have been made to make sure that we position them in such a way that troops will be able to respond in case there are any attacks or threats to the lives of the pupils in these schools,’’ he said.
Also speaking, the Chief of Defence Training and Operations, Maj.-Gen. Emeka Onumajuru, said the military has recorded notable achievements and successes in various theatres of operation.
According to him, In the North East, 170,000 locals have been able to return to their homelands in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.
Onumajuru revealed that about 125,517 terrorists and their families had so far surrendered with some repentant fighters successfully moved to Operation Safe Corridor in Gombe State as part of their non-kinetic lines of operations.
He said,"Statistics on major roads that have been reopened, on markets that have been reopened, also shows that the troops have done well and economic activities have increased.
“The farming planting session was also good and we are working towards ensuring that the harvest is also as successful as planting,."
He assured that the military has intensified efforts in the fight against crude oil theft and boost oil production in line with the directive of Mr President.
