November 30, 2012
THE military has commenced the mass
eviction of civilians from barracks across the country, Chief of Army
Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, said on Thursday.
The eviction of non-soldiers from
barracks is coming on the heels of two successful attacks by suspected
terrorists in the first two days of this week.
Two car bombers had on Sunday struck at
the St. Andrew Military Protestant Church inside the prestigious Armed
Forces Command and Staff College, in Jaji, near Kaduna. The college
houses the officers and men of the Infantry Centre and School as well
as the Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Centre .
Also on Monday, gunmen, numbering 40,
launched an attack on the office of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in
Abuja, where suspects were being held. Two policemen and one of the
gunmen were killed in the incident.
Ihejirika said at the closing of the
Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference in Asaba, Delta State, that he had
already issued a directive to commanders in charge of military
formations to take immediate action in ridding the military formations
of illegal occupants.
The COAS also warned that the leadership of the Army would ensure that reported lapses were treated decisively.
He said, “That one (purging the
barracks of illegal occupants) is obvious. I have already informed the
commanders and they know. The commanders would not wait for the Chief of
Army Staff before taking action. Rather, from next week, I want to see
action in respect of illegal squatters and similar things.”
The Commander in charge of Army
Engineering, Maj. Gen. Olaniyi, who took the last presentation at the
conference, had called attention to the fact that barracks being
rehabilitated were accommodating a large number of civilians in places
like the Ikeja Cantonment and Asaba.
Olaniyi, who said that the Ojo
Cantonment had become haven for criminals, warned that unless decisive
steps were taken, even foreigners would be more than soldiers in some
rehabilitated barracks.
He had said that the number of civilians living in the cantonment was even more than that of soldiers.
Ihejirika insisted that the bombing at
the Armed Forces Command and Staff College was avoidable, stressing that
absence a perimeter fence did not offer any commander an excuse to
allow such an incident to happen.
He said that about 80 of the barracks in
the country had not been fenced and urged the commanders to put in
their best in the area of intelligence gathering and security
maintenance.
Meanwhile, Ihejirika has promised Nigerians “a more comprehensive action by the military and all the security agencies” in 2013.
He said that the military would be
decisive in 2013, stressing that it was part of the decision of the
conference that unit commanders must pay more attention to effective
liaison, supervision and monitoring of personnel under them.
The COAS said, “Nigerians should expect
more comprehensive action by the military and all the security
agencies. Part of the decisions arrived at is that unit commanders
should liaise more and they should supervise and monitor their personnel
more closely than they had done in the past. So 2013 would be
decisive.”
He said that the Nigerian Army had been
collaborating with other security agencies, including the Nigerian
Police, the Nigerian Intelligence Agency and foreign bodies to enhance
intelligence gathering and dissemination.
He said the conference also agreed on the need for “national intelligence fusion” to enhance intelligence gathering.
He said, “The conference also emphasised
the need for national intelligence fusion. What it means is that all
the various measures are going to be fast tracked to ensure that
intelligence is further enhanced.
“And you should know that it is a
running battle because the people you are fighting are people within the
country. So they know what measures you are even taking. They know
that. So that is why I also drew the attention of commanders to devise
new tactics in dealing with the problem.
“Certain groups are going to be set up
too to monitor the commanders in the field and, no mistake about it,
command responsibility is one area we will emphasise more next year.”
Ihejirika also ordered the painting of
all operational vehicles of the Nigerian Army donated by state
governments, corporate bodies, in Army colour.
He also said that the different uniforms of the Army should be used only for authorised specified activities.
Also on Thursday, the Agence France Presse reported
that Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, had expressed solidarity with
global jihadists, saying the United States and Britain “should witness
that we are with our mujahedeen brothers.”
Shekau, in the 39-minute video posted
on jihadists forum, was quoted to have said in Arabic that,”The world
should witness, and America, Britain, Nigeria and other crusaders,
meaning America and Britain, should witness, and the Jews of Israel who
are killing the Muslims in Palestine should witness… that we are with
our mujahedeen brothers in the cause of Allah everywhere.”
