Nigerian Army to build capacity for locals to defend themselves against terrorists and bandits

The Nigerian Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Tuesday vowed to build the capacity of local people to defend themselves against terrorist and bandit attacks in the North-West as part of efforts to curb the criminal activities of criminal gangs in the area.

The DHQ also announced a plan to review the joint military operations in the northwest. The aim is to merge all operations into one central command. This is part of the grand plan to deny terrorists and bandits freedom of movement and to ensure the peace needed for the socio-economic prosperity of the zone.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, announced the plans in Abuja during a joint press conference with chiefs of the armed forces, the Inspector General of Police and other heads of security agencies.

The Defence Chief assured Nigerians, particularly those in the North-West that the day the notorious bandit leader Bello Turji Kachalla terrorises the entire area is numbered as troops will soon wipe him off the face of the earth.

Musa also revealed that the joint operation, which is based on Operation Hadin Kai in the North-East and is scheduled to launch soon, will be codenamed ‘Operation Fansar Yamma’ and will be headquartered in Sokoto.

The CDS, who just returned from a tour of the North West, which started in Sokoto State, accompanied by the Minister of Defence, as directed by President Bola Tinubu, accused the Zamfara community of providing support and intelligence to bandits and terrorists, while troops deployed to protect them from attacks were doing so.

Musa explained that it was the community that provided intelligence to terrorists, namely two military mine-resistant ambush-protected

(MRAP) armored vehicles were stuck in a swampy area around the community. The terrorists went to the location and burned the military equipment.

Musa warned the community against opposing the troops, saying: “If you train a monster, you will be its next victim when it grows.”

During the joint press conference, the Chief of Defence Staff answered questions and provided insight into the capacity building of the local population in the Northwest to cope with the growing security threats.

According to him: “To maintain sufficient security, we need to innovate and develop a strategy that works. The military and the security services cannot be everywhere, but we would try to be there as much as possible. If we build the capacity of the local population to be able to defend themselves before the military comes in, that will help. That is what we have adopted in the Northeast with the Civilians Joint Task Force and the hunters and it has worked. We are working with the state government to achieve this, we are not working in isolation. We know the relevance of the community and the state government, so we are working as a team to ensure that we implement this strategy.”

On the unification of military operations in the North-West to achieve the desired outcome, Musa again explained: “After our visit to Sokoto, we did a review of the entire operation and realised that there is a need to harmonise our operations. We have operations Hadarin Daji and Whirl Stroke, within the North-West region. And we have seen that there is a need to harmonise those operations into one, like we have operation Hadin Kai in the North-East. It is going to be called operation “Fansar Yamma”, it means securing the west. The idea is to ensure that we combine all our efforts to tackle the security threats in the North-West. We are going to have one commander overseeing all the troops in the states to ensure that the effort to fragment the activities of the adversaries is achieved.”

Earlier in his address to the press conference, the Chief of Defence Training and Operations at the Defence Headquarters, Major General Emeka Onumajuru, said the operational successes of the troops in the North-East had resulted in many displaced persons returning to their ancestral homes.

He also noted that Operation Udoka troops had compromised the military capabilities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), thereby undermining federal and state authorities in the South-East.

He said: “In the North-East, particularly the Borno area. There have been good results, about 170,000 locals have been able to return to their homelands in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. Also our opponents, about 125,000 terrorists and their families have surrendered to the troops so far.”

Linus Aleke