Credible Information Needed To Sustain War Against Terrorism – COAS

By Ayodele Oni

Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Olufemi Oluyede has observed that the Nigerian Army is overrated by the people.

According to him, “Nigeria is a vast country, the army is not as big as many people think, but we try to cover as much ground as we can and I think to that in that regard we are doing quite a lot to cover space and ground when it comes to insecurity.

“But of course there are one or two places where we are not and these people find those gaps and so it’s important to have the message to get the message across and to give us prior knowledge if you have it that this is about to happen so that we can get there faster.

“But we have taken note of some of those challenges particularly in Benue State where  these persons, some of them so-called headers have come in.

“The Army cannot be everywhere at once. Nigeria is a vast country, and we are not as large in number as many people believe. We rely heavily on the support and cooperation of the local population to provide timely and credible information.”

Gen Oluyede who was represented by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Nigerian Army’s 2 Division, Major General Obinna Onubogu, spoke on Saturday in Akure, Ondo state, while declaring open a media chat. The theme of the media chat is military – Media Collaboration: Panacea for Enhanced National Security and Development.

The COAS assured that the Nigerian Army will hunt down and bring to justice, all those behind the recent killings and attacks in Benue, Plateau, and other parts of the North-Central region of the country.

On the violence in Benue and Plateau States, he said:

“The Nigerian Army has remained engaged in Plateau, in Benue, in Kwara — in quite a number of states that are experiencing insecurity.

“In Benue particularly, you will see, in the coming weeks, very elaborate security arrangements to ensure that all that is going on there completely stops.”

He noted that while some of the attacks are attributed to herders, there is growing concern that some perpetrators may not even be Nigerians.

“We are mindful that some of these people may be foreign elements. The behavior we are seeing is utterly despicable, the way they go about their work. It does not reflect any kind of national identity or value system.”

Oluyede emphasized that the military has received clear directives from President Bola Tinubu to act decisively.

“The President has given very clear orders for us to go out there. And so we are out — fully deployed — and tackling the menace head-on.”

He appealed to communities and local stakeholders to support military operations by sharing timely intelligence.

On combating misinformation and sensational reporting,the Army Chief called on media personnel to verify facts before publication and help in building national unity.

“The social media space, especially, is flooded with misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies. That is part of why we are here — to clarify issues and appeal to the press to reach out to us before putting out unverified stories.”

“We are satisfied with the support we’ve received from the media so far, and we hope to deepen that synergy to ensure national security is not undermined by sensational reporting.

“The Army performs about 20 to 30 percent of what’s required. The rest involves civil cooperation, intelligence, and addressing the root causes of these conflicts.

“Whatever it takes, we shall ensure that these activities — particularly in North-Central Nigeria — are brought to a stop. We are on ground, and we will continue until peace is fully restored.”