Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, has challenged Nigerians to take more than a passing interest on issues of security, even as he called for a whole of society approach to end the menace.
He spoke during an interactive session with the Senate Committee on Army, chaired by Senator Ali Ndume.
He said an enduring solution to the security challenges is a holistic assessment of root causes. He, however, noted difficulties in securing adequate buy- in of all stakeholders. According to him, this has restricted flow of information towards promptly identifying threats and dealing decisively with them.
He said: “There is, therefore, the need for sustained advocacy by respective national institutions such as the Senate Committee on Army and the National Assembly to further awaken various stakeholders to their responsibilities.”
The COAS indicated that the current security situation across the nation remains fluid and requires collective approach.
He said: “To this end, the Nigerian Army considers it expedient that enhanced effort be targeted at identifying and addressing root causes of the various security challenges across the country.
“It is equally important for the government to sustain efforts at improving manpower challenges and equipment shortfalls in the Nigerian Army, while also improving the capacity of primary responders in internal security.
“There is also the need to enhance ongoing measures to identify and track sources of funding of insurgents, bandits and other criminal elements, with a view to stifling the flow of funds.”
On oil theft in the South, he noted that the problem continues to constitute severe economic losses to the nation and provides criminals with funds for their illegal enterprises.
He said: “Accordingly, the Army has stepped up offensive operations targeting oil thieves with significant results.
“The efforts have been complemented in some states of the region through improved buy in of local authorities. This has expectedly led to direct attacks on troops, intended to dissuade them from further anti-illegal bunkering operations.
He added: “The Nigerian Army will continue to further deepen synergy with other security agencies to enhance flow of intelligence on major oil thieves, with a view to countering their actives.”
Earlier, Ndume said the committee invited the army to the interactive session because of rising insecurity, “so that we will know what we would do to support you to overcome the numerous challenges the Nigerian Army is facing.”
Source: Guardian.ng
