By Andrew Orolua
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, said on Thursday that the attacks on an Abuja-Kaduna train and the Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State by armed bandits, remained very painful to the military and will hunt down the killers.
Answering questions from journalists in Abuja at the bi-weekly briefing, he dismissed the view in some quarters that the Nigerian military lacked modern equipment needed for effective prosecution of the ongoing war against terrorism, kidnapping and banditry in the country.
He said: “It’s our desire and determination to see that any act that could lead to bloodletting in any part of Nigeria is prevented. Those behind that dastardly acts must be brought to justice, and we are working towards that.”
The Chief of Defence Staff exonerated the Nigerian military from charges of inaction on terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements arrested in the fight against insurgency and insecurity across the country.
General Irabor made the remarks as the Director of Defence Media Operations (DMO), Major-General Bernard Onyeuko announced the arrest of a high-profile Islamic State of West Africa Province Commander, one Abba Yunus (aka Mallam Abba) and his accomplice at Samegu community in Kumbosto Local Government Area of Kano State and the surrender of a total of 57,000 Boko Haram Terrorists and their families between 2nd and 16th June, 2022.
During the briefing, held at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), Abuja, there were concerns that since the beginning of the war on insecurity, no conclusive action had been taken against the thousands of persons arrested and paraded over their alleged involvement in terrorist, banditry, kidnapping and other acts of economic sabotage.
Director, Defence Information (DDI), Major-General OJ Akpor, noted that the issues of Human Rights and the slow pace of Nigeria’s justice system should be considered even when the appropriate authorities charge the suspects to court.
Stretching the argument further, General Irabor said it was wrong to hold the Military responsible for the perceived failure to prosecute and jail those arrested for terrorism, banditry and other criminal acts, with some of them even resurfacing in other crimes.
According to the CDS, “the responsibility is on you (the media) to follow up on what happens with the arrested bandits or terrorists.”
General Irabor noted that if the Armed Forces were to work within the ambit of Human Rights, “there wouldn’t be any Armed Forces,” stressing, we have our internal mechanisms repelling crime.”
Meanwhile, the Chief of Defence Staff has advised persons vying for political offices to abide by the rules of the game and maintain decorum and refrain from formatting trouble in the forthcoming elections.
He said the military will continue to perform its constitutional roles as he warned that any attempt to circumvent the process would be dealt with according to the nation’s laws.
“They must allow peace reign in the country by navigating away from actions and comments that can undermine national security as they engage in political campaigns,” the CDS maintained.
He said, “Nigeria belongs to us, now we are going into a season and every one of us is desiring that we have a peaceful election and electioneering campaigns”.
He further stated that the peace desired within the electioneering period is not solely the responsibility of government.
All Nigerians must join hands with the authorities to see that the forthcoming elections are civil and conflict-free.
Citizens must trust the military and other security agencies for the war on insecurity to be more effective.
“It is for us to have an understanding that we can’t withhold information and expect miracles to happen,” he said.
“I’m a victim as well as any Nigerian that is on the street. We are all victims together. There’s no one who is on the other side. We are in it together. We are on the frontlines. Trust is not something we need to beg for.
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“I will seek and crave the indulgence of all Nigerians to say that there has to be trust. Trust must exist and trust must be given in all respect, so that together we will achieve the state of peace that we so desire.”
He said that there are “a lot of improvements” have been recorded in securing the country in the past one year even with that the desired state of security is yet to be achieved, as parts of the country continue to be subjected to repeated acts of violent crimes, including kidnapping and massacres.
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