The Chief of Defence Staff, General LEO Irabor, has refuted the idea that the military and other security agencies could be conniving with bandits to wreak havoc on the people.
General Irabor described the thought as ‘preposterous’.
He spoke while fielding questions from reporters, on Thursday, after the opening session of the “Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) interaction with retired Senior military officers in the Southwest Zone.” The meeting was held at the Headquarters 2 Division, Adekunle Fajuyi Cantonment, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The CDS said: “It is preposterous to think that the military and other security agencies are conniving with bandits. Do you connive with someone to take your life? That ofcourse is a question that should dismiss that kind of allusion any day. All you need to know is that on a daily basis, because of the technological tools available to everyone of us, that it is not impossible that criminally-minded individuals may take advantage of these tools.”
“That is why we, on a daily basis, are reassessing our professional engagement to ensure that not only should our engagement be intelligent driven, we equally know that these bad elements who live among us needs to be exposed and that is why we believe that this kind of interaction is necessary,” he stated.
The CDS explained that the effort to interact with retired senior military officers was to give room for mutual exchange of information and ideas on how to improve the fight against insecurity in the land as both retired.
He said serving military officers were sold out to the unity, peace and progress of the nation, hence the retired officers would be better placed to sensitise those who live around them concerning issues of insecurity.
General Irabor stated: “This interaction is actually to allow us rub minds together. They will equally speak to us as to what they observe that we need to do and also what we observe that we see them do in their various communities, all in the hope of improving the state of peace across the country. After the Southwest geo-political zone meeting, we will also go to other geo-political zones and I think we can only leverage the wealth of experience that they have to be able to do this and I believe it will be better for everyone of us at the end of the day.”
In his remarks at the event, the Chief of Defence Civil-Military Cooperation, Rear Admiral Fredrick Ogu, said the current insecurity status in the country has reached the stage where all stakeholders have to brainstorm on how to put an end to it.
Ogu said: “With this gathering with the retired senior military officers in the Southwest zone, and with their wealth of experiences in service, they are expected to be able to provide solutions to security issues in their areas, domains and at large, in other parts of the country.”
The General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major General Chibuisi Gold, thanked the CDS for the wisdom in creating the platform to tap from the wealth of experience of the retired senior officers, with a view to finding lasting solution to the current security challenges confronting the country.
General Gold noted: “The precision with which the hoodlums carry out their attacks calls for concern by all loyal and patriotic Nigerians. Innocent souls as well as valuable property, institutions and infrastructure continue to be lost amidst these crisis. As we look forward to a rewarding interaction, I want to remind the retired senior officers of their crucial roles in a time like this, when the armed forces of Nigerian are fully engaged in combating emerging security challenges nationwide.”
He identified the security challenges as: armed robbery, banditry activities, violence by the Boko haram/ISWAP terrorists, pipeline vandalism, arms proliferation, kidnapping, herders-farmers clashes and continuous attacks on security personnel by violent secessionist groups, saying the problems have put the Nigeria Police on the spotlight and necessitated the deployment of the armed forces in almost all the states of the federation.
He said; “No doubt, this growing insecurity have contributed to economic stress and joblessness in the nation. Thus, this forum provides a suitable platform to jointly reappraise our performances, share ideas on contemporary challenges to the nation and the armed forces of Nigeria in particular, and to proffer solutions.”
Gold expressed optimism that the interaction would be a rewarding experience judging from the caliber and experiences of the retired senior officers present.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
