The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Army

  • Army to begin combat vehicles production 2025 – Buratai

    The Nigerian Army should commence the production of home-made combat vehicles in seven years time, if all goes according to plan, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, said yesterday.

    Speaking at the 77 Regular Recruits Intake Passing-Out Parade at the Nigerian Army Depot in Zaria, Kaduna State, the COAS said that already the depot has produced five patrol vehicles named ‘TYB’, the acronym for the army chief’s name -Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

    He said: “Let me at this juncture commend the Commandant, Depot, Nigerian Army and his team for the uncommon research and development feat which led to the production of five patrol vehicles, named TYB Robile in my honour.

    “By this breakthrough, the Nigerian Army is poised to become self-reliant in class `B’ combat vehicles by the year 2025.

    “Furthermore, the ultra-modern industry military range which I will commission today is one of the cottage technological training aids designed to improve recruits marksmanship skills and economise use of old classes of army ammunition for training.”

    He urged the authorities of the depot to maximise the use of the project to enhance the quality of young soldiers trained by the army.

    The COAS said that the collaborative training with the British Advisory Team (BAT) had further introduced the recruits to contemporary training method.

    His words: “It is highly gratifying to note that this highly revered institution established in 1924 has remained focused in the discharge of its primary responsibilities of transforming able-bodied young Nigerians from civil orientation to well-trained soldiers. This is to meet the manpower requirements of the Nigerian Army.

    “Depot Nigerian Army has over the years remained pivotal in sustaining the growth and development of the Nigerian Army toward fulfilling its constitutional mandate of defending the territorial integrity of our great country, Nigeria,” he said.

    According to him, the passing-out parade is desirably coming at a time when Nigeria is confronted with series of security challenges.

    Buratai also said that it was gratifying that the Depot had continued to evolve training activities to actualise the vision of the Chief of Army Staff of having a professionally responsible Army for its constitutional roles.

     

  • Boko Haram sect members ‘neutralized’, wound six soldiers in repel attack- Army

    The Nigerian Army said yesterday that six soldiers sustained injury while repelling Boko Haram insurgents in an ambush at Arege area of Borno State on Friday.

    Brigadier-General Texas Chukwu, Army Director, Public Relations, said in a statement in Maiduguri that scores of the insurgents were neutralised while others escaped with various degrees of injury during the encounter.

    He said that one vehicle was recovered from the terrorists, while three gun trucks were destroyed by the troops of Sector 3, deployed in operation LAFIYA DOLE.

    “Unfortunately, six soldiers sustained various degrees of injury and are currently receiving medical attention at the military facility.

    “The public is once again reminded to report any suspicious movements or activities in their areas to the law enforcement agents for prompt action,” he said.

     

     

  • Army now runs parallel policing structure

    IT is shocking that the Nigerian Army has not deemed it fit to respond at the highest level to allegations of constitutional subversion levelled against it by a detained Punch reporter in Jos two Saturdays ago. The Army spokesmen seem set to gloss over that allegation, if the country will let them. The 49-year-old Punch reporter, Friday Olokor, was arrested in company with some 36 other residents somewhere in Jos by some 30 armed and masked soldiers purporting to investigate the disappearance or presumed death of a retired army major-general, Mohammed Alkali. The retired officer had gone missing on September 3, 2018, and his car was later found submerged in a pond.

    The cloudy circumstances surrounding the general’s disappearance is of course deeply regrettable, and should be urgently unravelled. But this is no task by any stretch of the imagination for the army to undertake. Worse still is the fact that the retired general is no longer in service, nor did his apparently forced disappearance take place in a military establishment. Despite the general lack of certainty, however, a crime was probably committed. If so, that presumed crime becomes the sole responsibility of the police under Nigerian laws. The army can assist the police with information, and can even empathise with the family, but it has no constitutional backing whatsoever to embark on any form of investigations, let alone detaining civilians in inhumane conditions. Does the army also intend to proceed to extract information from the detainees using military methods? And could such investigations and methods stand up in a court of law if the case ends in prosecution? Or does the army hope to also go ahead and prosecute the suspects?

    Mr Olokor and some others were eventually released the next day. But what happened on October 6, 2018, and the fact of the detention of the 37 civilians in, of all places, the Headquarters of the 3 Division of the Nigerian Army in Jos is an embarrassment to the army and the country that funds it. The army and its commanders have shown very clearly that they intend to keep operating above the law, and have no regard for the constitution. Indeed they appear to have contempt for the constitution. It is now all but certain, given past and serial malfeasances, that the country has virtually lost control of its army. The raid and arrest of 37 civilians by soldiers, in a country governed by law, could not have been unauthorised given the scale of the operation. More, the 37 civilians were detained for more than a day in an uncompleted building at the divisional headquarters, and were seen by some senior officers who intervened on behalf of some of the detainees.

    Amongst other illegal operations or measures remorselessly carried out by the army, Nigerians are still battling to make sense of the massacre of some 347 Shiite members in Zaria in 2015. The army justifies that massacre on the grounds of self-defence and, together with the Kaduna State government, also justifies the mass burial of the victims. From all indications, the constant state abettal of horrific extra-judicial measures by the military, particularly by the army, encouraged the kind of constitutional subversion enacted in Jos on October 6, 2018. The government has been reluctant to call the army to order, and the army has seized upon sundry excuses to flout the law, including flouting something as menial as traffic laws. What is happening to the army?

    Asking the army brass to sanction senior officers who take the law into their hands is futile. They do not have a comprehensive and reliable culture of bringing their erring officers to book when the case involves civilians. They sometimes caution and punish their men, but not on a consistent and coherent basis. Asking the federal government to bring the officers to book is like tilting at windmills. They do not seem to know where to draw the line between military rules and regulations and the constitution. Moreover, they do not have both the appetite and the inclination to do anything about the abhorrent practice, seeing that some of them in government also have military background. Nor do they have the capacity to understand the damage the unlawful actions of soldiers are doing to the image of the country.

    Those whose rights were flagrantly violated on October 6, 2018 should be encouraged to litigate the abuses and torture they were subjected to. The degrading treatment they endured at the military barracks in Jos should be recounted to the public in a court of law so that Nigerians would know the kind of army they have. The commandant of 1 Division of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna defended the massacre of Shiite members committed by his men in December 2015. He did not flinch from doing so despite knowing that women and children were among the victims, and that these were citizens of Nigeria, not enemy combatants. There is no reason to hope that the commandant of 3 Division of the Nigerian Army will turn in his men for discipline. It is not in their culture, because they operate from a different, unconstitutional and antidemocratic mindset.

     

  • Search for Missing General: Army promises to respect human rights

    The Nigerian Army has pledged to respect human rights in the search of missing retired Maj.-Gen. Idris Alkali in Jos.

    Alkali, the immediate past Chief of Administration, Army Headquarters, Abuja, was declared missing on Sept. 3.

    He was said to have gone missing on his way to Bauchi after leaving Abuja in the morning.

    Consequently, the Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, set up an operation to search for the missing officer.

    The army said that after a thorough search and investigation, they stumbled on some intelligence that made it necessary to search a mining pond at Dura-du, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau.

    The operation being jointly conducted by Operation Safe Haven and 3 Division Nigeria Army, Rukuba, recovered four vehicles from the pond, including the one Alkali was driving before his disappearance.

    The situation led to fears, anxiety and apprehension that army would carry out a military action in the area as it continues its search for the general or his remains.

    According to reports, members of the community fled their homes for fear of being attacked by security operatives.

    But the army in a statement by Col. Kayode Ogunsanya, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, assured it would conduct its operations with international best practices and respect for fundamental human rights.

    “The troops involved in the search and rescue operation only apprehended those who have information about the missing retired senior officer based on credible intelligence.

    “Consequently, the good and peace loving people of Jos South, especially Dura-Du District, are enjoined not to desert their homes and business premises and urged them to go about their legitimate businesses,’’ he said.

    Ogunsanya said that doing so would prevent hoodlums from breaking into the abandoned homes and business premises.

    He also called on anyone with credible information about the whereabouts of the missing retired senior officer to please contact “this Headquarters on GSM No. 09074028881’’.

    He added that a handsome reward awaits a credible informant and the source of information shall be protected.

    The army spokesperson further called on everyone within the area of responsibility to remain vigilant and report any suspected breach of peace to security agencies.

     

  • Troops neutralize five insurgents, recover four AK 47

    The Army has neutralized five terrorists and recovered four AK 47 rifles at Gara village in Borno North.

    A statement issued by Brig.-Gen Texas Chukwu, the army spokesman on Saturday in Abuja, said other items recovered from the insurgents were five magazines, 55 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition and eight rounds of 5.56mm NATO ammunition.

    Also recovered from them, Chukwu said were eleven handsets assorted drugs, cooking utensils, some quantity of provisions and six horses.

    NAN

  • Army bursts illegal oil depot in Rivers

    The operatives of 6 Division, Nigerian Army,  Port Harcourt,  has uncovered an illegal oil depot,  in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    The landmark discovery was made October 2, 2018, 16 40,000 litre capacity trucks parked in the premises awaiting loading were impounded as one of the operators was apprehended and taken in by the team of Soldiers that uncovered the illegal deal.

    The illegal loading bay was operated at  the facility used by the defunct Union Dicon Salt  located in Macoba, close to the Naval Dockyard,  in Port Harcourt metropolis.

    Briefing newsmen shortly  after touring  round the facility to figure out how the shady activity was carried out by the oil thieves, the Army spokesman  Aminu Iliyasu, a Colonel  said that the bursting of the  illegal petroleum loading depot followed a “discreet information.”

    He spoke on behalf of the General Officer Commanding (GOC),  6 Division,  Major-General Jamil Sarham and said that the activities of illegal oil bunkerers have become  too daring  and have negatively affected lives of members of the public, just as it is affecting the economy of the nation.

    He said:  “With these activities going on in this area,  it means that some people would be super-rich  and some another people will remain super-poor”.

    He described the activities as a serious economic sabotage and environmental pollution dangerous to human lives.

    “When the adulterated product is supplied to members of the public,  it endangers the lives of Nigerians.  If we don’t talk,  it would consume everybody.

    “It is a serious economic sabotage and has dangerous health implications   The 16 trucks were  found in the premises. Ten of the trucks were already loaded with products”, he said

    He warned those involved in the economic sabotage to stop,  or leave the States  under 6 Division, vowing to prosecute any person caught indulging in oil theft.

    He added that whatever is the outcome of the investigation, suspects and exhibits  would be handed over to sister security agencies for further investigation.

     

     

     

     

  • Army finds missing General’s car in Jos pond

    AFTER eight days of intense search, the Nigeria Army yesterday found the car of missing retired Maj. Gen. Idris Alkali in a pond located at Dura, Du District in Jos, Plateau State.

    The car, with registration number MUN-670-AA Kwara State, was pulled out of the pond at about 7 p.m, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    The Army was assisted in the search and rescue operation by men of the Fire Service, local divers and experts from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

    Alkali, former Chief of Administration at the Nigeria Army Headquarters, Abuja, had been missing since Sept. 3, with efforts to trace his whereabouts yielding no fruits.

    The Army, acting on intelligence checks, later narrowed the search to the pond, and insisted on evacuating the water from it.

    Speaking with newsmen after the car was pulled out, Maj. Gen. Augustine Agundu, Commander, Special Task Force in charge of security on the Plateau, said that the evacuation of the water started on Sept. 22, after intelligence reports indicated the possible location of the vehicle.

    Agundu explained that Alkali was caught up in a fracas at Dura, when irate youths blocked roads and attacked travellers following an invasion of the community on Sept. 2, during which 13 persons were killed.

    “We started this search on Sept. 22, when we were ordered by the Chief of Army Staff to find the missing officer.

  • Army to drain mining pond in search of missing General

    THE Army has vowed to completely drain a particular mining pond in Du District of Jos Local Government Area of Plateau State, where it said it believed missing Maj.-Gen. Idris Alkali (retd) was pushed into.

    Maj.-Gen Augustine Agundu, the Commander of Operation Safe Haven, stated this yesterday while giving update on the whereabouts of Alkali, a former Chief of Administration of the Army, declared missing since Sept. 3.

    The senior officer retired from service on June 7 after 35 years.

    Agundu, who spoke at the conclusion of the 2nd and 3rd combined Chief of Army Staff Conference in Abuja, explained that intelligence and investigation by the army indicated that the missing general was pushed into the pond.

    He further explained that on Sept. 2 gunmen stormed a village in the district and killed 11 innocent people and wounded several others.

    Agundu said the youth of the district reacted to the killing the following day – Sept. 3, with protest by barricading the road and attacking motorists and other innocent citizens.

    He said it was believed Alkali was a victim of the protest.

    “Our deduction, therefore, is that Maj.-Gen. I. M. Alkali could have run into the protesting youth on Sept. 3 in Du District as recorded by his cell phone.

    “Various eyewitnesses have attested to the fact that they saw a black car that was pushed into a mining pond,” he said.

    The operation safe Haven commander said there were about 20 ponds in the district, but that the army zeroed in on the particular one, where the missing senior officer was believed to have been pushed into.

    Agundu said that the wife of the officer, Mrs. Salamatu Alkali, drew the attention of the Army authorities to a suspected case of the missing senior officer on Sept. 5.

    He said the wife stated that the retired officer left his home in Abuja for Bauchi on Sept. 3.

    “That the senior officer traveled without his driver and orderly but drove himself in a black Toyota Corrolla,” Agundu further quoted the wife as saying.

    He said since the army attention was drawn to the incident, it had been making efforts to locate Alkali.

    The commander urged Nigerians to ignore the campaign by one Idris Ahmed, residing abroad that the army was complicit in Alkali’s disappearance and unconcerned about his missing.

  • Plateau: Buratai charges troops to be aggressive against bandits

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai has charged troops of `Operation Safe Haven’ to be aggressive and decisive in dealing with armed bandits and other criminal elements operating on the Plateau.

    Buratai said a situation whereby innocent citizens were waylaid, abducted and killed indiscriminately should no longer be tolerated.

    He gave the charge at a demonstration by the Special Forces newly inducted into the operation at Riyom Local Government Area of the state.

    “The Operation Safe Haven should not remain in deterrent position, but you must also be aggressive and deal with any criminal activities, especially those that are bent on disturbing the peace, killing and maiming people.

    “You are not here to protect any ethnic or religious group; we are dealing with criminals, we are interested in criminal elements and they must be deal with decisively,’’ Buratai said.

    He, however, charged them to be professional, but combat ready at all times, noting that serious challenge still remains in the state in terms of the security.

    The army chief said that the killings were still ongoing in the hinterland and other areas and directed the troops to penetrate those areas and clear the “doubt of the criminal elements.’’

    “You are deployed here not to romance the criminals; you are to deal with them decisively; anybody seen carrying arms must be dealt with decisively.

    “If you give them chance, then we will all regret it. Therefore, we cannot afford to give them chance.

    “You are very much aware of what is happening, people are waylaid on the roads, abducted and kept where it is very difficult to locate them and sometimes, they get them killed. This is unacceptable,’’ he said.

  • Army tightens noose on Boko Haram terrorists, says Buratai

    DESPITE the pocket of attacks by remnant of Boko Haram terrorists in some parts of Borno State, the army is tightening the noose on them, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai said yesterday.

    The COAS urged Nigerians and people of the region not to panic as those attacks do not signal resurgence of insurgency as being insinuated in some quarters.

    He spoke with reporters at Mongunu after he monitored and coordinated onslaught against the insurgents locked in between troops’ locations in the area.

    A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report said that the recent attacks recorded in the area, particularly at Damasak, headquarters of 145 Battalion and Gudumbali community, were mainly targeted at troops and their locations.

    While the insurgents attacked Gudumbali on September 7, they attacked Damasak on September 11, shortly after the army chief left the location, but met their waterloo.

    The attacks were believed to have been carried out by a faction of the terrorist group led by Al-Barnawi, which had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA).

    Unlike the Abubakar Shekau faction, the Al-Barnawi faction targets military and its locations and not soft targets (civilians).

    COAS Buratai explained that the terrorists carried out those attacks as the noose was being tightened on them.

    He noted that this was so as in the last two years, not much attention was paid to Borno North in the fight against insurgency and terrorism until now.

    The army Chief said: “The Nigerian army is now consolidating in northern part of Borno. You will agree with me that for almost two years, we have not paid attention to northern Borno, until about last year – 2017, when we directed our focus to this area.

    “We were most concerned with our efforts in southern and Central Borno, and very little in the North. But, now that we have given attention to northern Borno, especially the Lake Chad basin, we have seen the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists coming up.

    “We have seen their reactions to the way we have been dealing with them. All those attacks were as a result of closing in on them that our troops are doing.

    “We will tighten the noose around their logistics bases. But they are taking advantage of knowledge of the terrain to move in between our troops’ deployment.’’ Lt.-Gen. Buratai said the recent attacks on troops’ locations at Damasak and Gudumbali only serve to strengthen the army in terms of intelligence capability, fire power and ability to withstand challenges.

    He, however, expressed concern about the difficult terrain of the area coupled with the poor condition of roads leading to the communities.

    On the propaganda in some sections of the society, purporting a resurgence of insurgency following the recent attacks, the army chief advised those behind it to desist.

    He said: “When you say resurgence, what does that mean? We have to look at it critically. It is not something you speak about without analysing, without thinking of the consequences on the psyche of Nigerians, on psyche of the traumatised indigenes of this part of the country.’’

    The COAS Buratai accused those behind the propaganda as having ulterior motive.

    He said: “In this type of propaganda they want these people to perpetually remain in IDPs camps and for certain individuals to continue to be suppliers of relief materials and at the end, not even the IDPs do benefit fully from those materials.

    “Those who benefit are somewhere else and we want this to continue in our country. Certain things must be done with limit’.

    “We must get it right, this is our country. Anything that happens here – Northeast, if not contained, be rest assured, it will go round our country.

    “The rumour going on is being propagated to score some cheap interests, whether social, economic, political or whatever.

    “If such propaganda is not contained, it will consume even those who feel they are untouchable,’’ he said.

    On troops’ rotation, Buratai also urged Nigerians not to pressurise the army over the issue.

    He said although the army was addressing the issue, “you just cannot say that soldiers must be rotated anyhow.

    “You cannot use the issue of rotation to pressurise the army. We have our system of relief and we will adhere to it. We have system of leave and passes, casual leave, annual leave, compassionate leave and passes are granted.

    “I think we better get it right. Some people may not understand but I believe those that are reasonable and responsible will understand.’’

    Buratai clarified that rotation “has to do with national security and not politics’’ as the army was apolitical and will remain so.