The Nigeria Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor has called on politicians contesting for political offices to shun every means of violence in the forthcoming general elections.
He made the call after a Bi-weekly briefing addressing Journalists in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
General Irabor said that “the country belongs to all and as such everyone would have a country to be proud of adding that Nigeria remains a nation that must live in peace, desire to live in peace, and Nigerians deserve to live in peace”.
He noted that if there is no country, there will be no appointed position to expire for.
According to him, because some individuals don’t usually desire peaceful elections, the armed forces would give the necessary support to the civil authority to ensure peaceful elections.
He said that “politicians and their supporters should desist from causing trouble during the 2023 l elections”.
According to him, anyone who is looking forward to being elected must do it within the ambit of the provisions of the law for the military and other security agencies will not in any way stand aside and see those who perpetrate evil and violence because they are looking for political office or appointive offices.
He noted that they will not allow criminals and thugs that will want them to be used during the elections.
According to him, insecurity is not only for the military and other security agencies to tackle, we are stakeholders in making sure that there is peace in the country.
CDS urged the media and the public to continue to support the military and other security agencies by giving them the necessary information that will help them to restore lasting peace in the country.
He noted that they have effective equipment for the troops in theatres of operations which are the major focus of the government.
According to him, the acquisition of fighting equipment was largely dependent on what was available in the market that had been assessed and adjudged to be effective, especially in dealing with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) attacks.
He said that “there must be a bad egg within the troops adding that discipline is the anchor of their resistance as a good number of offenders have been arrested in different operations”.
The briefing had all spokesmen in the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Army, Air Force and Navy including Director Defence Media Operations and Director Defence Information.
Dominica Nwabufo
