President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday vowed that the federal government will not allow anyone who kills or maim another will not go unpunished.
He spoke at the 2019 Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) held at the Ikeja Cantonment, Lagos, in commemoration of the service’s 156th anniversary, where he warned that the government would not tolerate radical Islamist terrorists, murderous herders or any act, group that undermines national security.
Buhari who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the federal government was working seriously with other states to contain herders-farmers conflicts, banditry and terrorism saluting the army for its efforts to save the country from disintegration.
The president also said efforts were still on to ensure the safe release of Boko Haram hostages including the remaining Chibok Girls and Leah Sharibu, stressing government’s absolute determination to achieve success in the counter insurgency war and other forms of criminality in the country.
Buhari said: “Nobody will be allowed to maim, kill or commit other crimes and escape. It is our duty to apprehend and punish these criminals and we are doing and will continue to do so.
“Herder and farmer conflicts, random killings, banditry and kidnapping some attributed to Fulani bandits, in different parts of the country are extant challenges that the army has had to intervene in on several occasions. I want to reassure all Nigerians that these issues are being seriously tackled by the Federal Government, working with the states, through a multi-pronged approach.
“You will be hearing a lot more about these solutions in the weeks and months ahead. Law enforcement is of course an important element of the response.
“We have seen an unprecedented ramping up of the deployment of military personnel- multi-agency intervention squads like Operation Whirlstroke; the training and deployment of Special Forces, new Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) and so on- to the flashpoints, in the last eighteen months.
“Several bandits’ hideouts and camps have been destroyed and hundreds of arrests have been made. It is now up to our judicial systems to ensure that justice is meted out not just comprehensively but also in a timely manner.”
He said the second term of the administration would build on the foundation laid over the last four years and correct lapses observed. “One of the priorities of the Next Level is the welfare of serving and retired personnel. You have already seen demonstrations of our commitment in this regard, in recent years. We will not relent.
You, the members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, have continued to put in your best on behalf of our country; several of your colleagues have indeed paid the supreme price in order to keep us safe and secure. We acknowledge and appreciate these sacrifices, and pray for the repose of the souls of the deceased. Our hearts are with their families and loved ones.
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“It is our responsibility as government and as political leaders to ensure that they did not die in vain. We have a duty to continue to make available to you, our Armed Forces, all the moral and materiel support that you require.
“We also must and will continue to demonstrate the political will and determination towards ensuring that our land is rid of insurgency and that criminality is kept to the barest minimum.
“During the first term of the Buhari administration, we worked tirelessly to lay the foundation for a Nigeria that works for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or partisan affiliation. Our priorities were and remain- security, the economy and the fight against corruption.
“The challenges we faced were grave, but we faced the task resolutely. We rolled back the footprints of Boko Haram; where once they controlled 17 local government areas in Northeast Nigeria in early 2015, today they control no Nigerian territory. “Independent observers have reported a drastic decline in the fatalities caused by Boko Haram; and the various factions of the group that exist today are no more than shadows of what existed when we came to office.
“We are surrounded by evidence of the progress we have made in the fight against the insurgency. As you all know, Monguno, where you held the Military Equipment Exhibition and Mini Trade Fair last year, was once a stronghold of Boko Haram. Sambisa Forest, once the spiritual heartland of the insurgents, hosted the 2017 Nigerian Army Small Arms Championship.
“More than a hundred of our Chibok girls, abducted in April 2014, have been rescued and reunited with their families, in addition to the Dapchi girls, and tens of thousands of other Boko Haram hostages and victims freed across the northeast.
“Let me use this opportunity to reassure the affected families and friends that the Buhari administration will not relent in our efforts to see that all the remaining girls, including Leah Sharibu, are freed and reunited with their families,” said the President.
The NADCEL, he said, afforded the army opportunity to showcase its rich history, values and achievements, adding that a reassuring feeling comes with appreciating that the Nigerian Army will always grow in strength and fulfil its primary responsibility of securing the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“This has been true for the last 156 years, and I am confident it will remain true for the next 156 and beyond.
“The Nigerian Army through the years has exemplified the ideals of a united country regardless of ethnicity or religion. You have fought side by side with your brothers and sisters of different faiths and ethnicities and you have seen many fall by your side as they paid the supreme sacrifice in battle.
“Enemy fire does not distinguish one tribe from the other, the blood of so many and the abounding grace of God has kept this nation together. This is why we must never let the self serving ethnic and religious jingoists, whoever they may be, create the circumstances for strife and bloodshed.
“This is also an opportunity to remind all Nigerians of the need to live in peace with one another; the importance of choosing unity and tolerance over the impulse to be sectional, vengeful or violent in any way.
“The challenge for us is to recognise this extremism for what it is. To form alliances across faiths and ethnicities to destroy an evil that confronts us all,” said Buhari.
Themed “professionally responsive soldiering: A panacea for successful military operations,” the grand finale had in attendance Former military ruler Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Lagos Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, Chief of Army Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar as well as other serving and retired security top brass.
In his welcome remark, the COAS Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai the event was deigned to array the service’s personnel and equipment to showcase its combat capability as an army as well as project the agency as a key instrument of national power, unity, integration and development.
Buratai charged his personnel not to relax their efforts in the fight against insurgency until the criminals were completed defeated, noting that the numerous security challenges facing the country had necessitated army’s involvement in numerous operations across Nigeria.
“Additionally, the NA has introduced numerous non-kinetic or soft power approach aimed at winning the hearts and minds of the citizens. Some of these interventions are aimed at providing the much needed security for our people who are engaged in one form of business or the other and to enable our farmers return to their farms.
Highpoints of the occasion were the investiture of the COAS Commendation Awards to officers and soldiers who distinguished themselves in different deadly operations across the country especially the Northeast; awards of recognition to retired officers soldiers and war veterans including 101-year-old Adam Adeku, and the display indigenously built armoured tanks, anti-mines and other military hardwares.
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