By TOM CHIAHEMEN, Abuja
Director of Defence Information, Brigadier-General John A. Agim, has enjoined Nigerians to emulate nationals of other countries of the world in owning and appreciating the efforts of their military forces rather than remain aloof and indifferent to the operations and activities of Nigerian military.
Addressing newsmen at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, Brigadier-General Agim decried the attitude of most Nigerians who create the impression that soldiers in peace-keeping ventures are on their own.
He lamented that the morale of Nigerian soldiers fighting Boko Haram and other insurgents, was being lowered by the body language of Nigerians who fail to recognize and appreciate the fact that the soldiers were fighting on behalf of the State and not their personal battles.
“Let me make it very clear that the Nigerian military has no problem with Boko Haram and other criminal groups in the country. It is a problem between the Nigerian State and those insurgents. The military forces are fighting Boko Haram and others on behalf of the state and it behoves on the citizens of this country to own their military forces and the battles there are fighting.
“It makes us (military personnel) feel unhappy that the citizens for and on whose behalf we are staking our lives and even paying the supreme prices are not proud of us and the efforts were are putting in, “ said the Defence Spokesman.
He condemned the negative narrative which tends to portray the on-going war against insurgents as a military affair, pointing out that it was the responsibility of the Nigerian media to help change this narrative.
Briefing the Defence Correspondents on matters of national security, peace and stability, General Agim recalled that on the 8th of October 2018, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin established abnd operation code-named “Operation 777, which was “intended to re-energise our operations.”
Agim, who announced that various operations across the nation had assumed new vigor, with a lot of successes recorded in the last few weeks, outlined these to include (a) Operation Whirle Punch – an operation established to fight banditry and armed robbery along Abuja-Kaduna road and Birnin Gwari area in Kaduna state; (b) Operation Delta Safe – established to curb oil theft, pipeline vandalism, illegal oil bunkering and militancy activities in the Niger Delta region and; (c) Operation Awatse – designed to confront the challenges of illegal bunkering and pipeline vandalism in the area between the Atlas Cove and Mosimi Depot in Lagos and Ogun states.
Others are (d) Operation Safe Haven – primarily to maintain peace in Plateau state, which was later expanded to cover some parts of Bauchi and Kaduna states; (e) Operation Sharan Daji – which was established to fight against cattle rustling and banditry activities within the North-West states of Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi; (f) Clearance Operations – created to checkmate the activities of kidnappers, armed robbery and other forms of criminalities within the North-Central, especially Kogi state and; (g) Operation Whirle Stroke – established to curtail the escalating spate of herdsmen/farmers conflict as well as armed banditry in parts of Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states.
Explaining that Operation 777 was designed to consolidate on the achievements of the existing operations, General Agim noted that the resilience of troops deployed for combined operations and internal security operations in conjunction with other security agencies had continued to curtail the freedom of action of insurgency, militancy and criminal gangs.
“The spate of herdsmen/farmers crisis and armed banditry in some parts of the country has been greatly reduced. Likewise, cases of illegal bunkering and other forms of criminality in the Niger Delta are being tackled headlong,” he stated.
He disclosed that in the last two weeks that the military embarked on Operation 777, several achievements had been recorded. “Across the various operations, large number of arms, ammunitions and other dangerous weapons were recovered. Many suspects were arrested in the process and many neutralized in armed encounter with troops.”
In Benue state for instance, he said, “Operation 777 has located the camp of one notorious criminal and cult leader by the name Gana. We were able to neutralize more than 15 of his gang members including his wife. Gana managed to escape, but our troops are on his trail. Sequel to this, many of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have started returning home. The Chairman, Logo local government area confirmed that 27,000 out of 34,000 IDPs at Anyiin IDP Camp have returned home.”
He added that during the period under review, “our gallant troops neutralized 35 criminals and a total of 98 suspected bandits/criminals were arrestee and they are undergoing investigation and shall be handed over to the Police for prosecution. The weapon seized include quantity 5 AK 47 Rifles, 20 bow and arrows, 113 quantity of 7.62mn live ammunition, 20 live cartridges and 4 rifle magazines. Within the period also, 419 rustled cattle were recovered, 405 sheep and 101 goats were recovered and handed over to the various states committees established to return the animals to their rightful owners.
“Regrettably, during these operations, the military suffered some casualties. Two soldiers were killed in action while one AK 47 rifle is missing in action,” said General Agim.