By Paul Adaji (ABUJA) –
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, has advanced reasons for the blamed the inability of the armed Forces to defeat bandits, Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorist in the country.
According to General Irabor, the major reason for this situation is that the the Nigerian government did not train its soldiers to fight asymmetric warfare.
The explanation comes amid worsening insecurity in Nigeria, with armed bandits abducting hundreds of school children and students in the northern part of the country, just as Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists continues to attack communities, killing dozens of people.
General Irabor made the statement at a dinner held in honour of officers of the Senior Course 43 of Command and Staff College Jaji, Kaduna, North-West Nigeria.
He however assured that the armed forces were developing new capabilities essential in tackling the security challenges across the country.
A report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), quoted the CDS as saying: “Our involvement in containing asymmetric security threats in the past few years has highlighted the need to acquire new operational capability of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to deal with emergent threats.
“As you are aware, asymmetric warfare encourages the use of non-traditional military tactics, for which our previous training and operational doctrines were not well suited.
“Accordingly, we are developing new capabilities in intelligence and surveillance, which are critical for staying ahead of terrorists and insurgents, and other criminal elements in the society.”
He explained that the use of Special Forces Units had proved to be critical in asymmetric warfare because of several unique capabilities it could bring into combat.
The CDS further noted that the armed forces would continue to review their training curriculum to accommodate new platforms, maintaining that their involvement in managing internal crises required a complex interplay of factors that military and security practitioners needed to focus on.
He pointed out that a major determinant in winning an asymmetric war was for troops to understand the dynamics that defined the crises to make decisions effectively.
The participants of Senior Course 43 underwent 11 months of training at the college.