The Nigerian Army has called on the people to support it in tackling banditry and terrorism across the country.
The military lamented that residents of troubled communities were not always fielding security agencies information that could assist in apprehending the miscreants in their vicinities.
The General Officer Commanding of the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Obinna Onubogu, stated this while speaking with journalists on Saturday at a media briefing in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The programme was organised by the Army Headquarters Department of Civil-Military of the Nigerian Army.
Onubogu who represented the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, at the event declared that the army was making efforts to ensure that the killers of people in Benue, Plateau and other state were brought to book.
He said, “The Nigerian Army has remained engaged in Benue, in Kwara, and you know quite a number of states that are with cases of insecurity here and there.
“I think a few days ago, the President has also stepped in and given very clear orders for us to go out there.
“We are out, we are in Benue, and we are in Plateau tackling the menace. It requires of course a lot of support from the people because in some cases, you find that the people are in many ways not very helpful in terms of information that they give out to help us to get our speed, speeding our reaction time.
“Nigeria is a vast country, the army is not as big as many people think but we try to cover as much ground as we can in that regard. We are doing quite a lot to cover space and ground when it comes to insecurity.
“But of course, there are one or two places where we are not and these people find those gaps and so, it’s important to have the message to get the message across and to give us prior knowledge if you have it that this is about to happen, so that we can get there faster.
“But we have taken note of some of those challenges, particularly in Benue State where these persons, some of them so-called herders have come in.
“We are also mindful that some of these people (bandits), are maybe not Nigerians because the behaviour is utterly despicable the way they go about their work. So we will be there, but what we can assure is that whatever it takes we shall ensure that these activities across particularly North Central Nigeria do not occur.
“In Benue, you will see in the coming weeks very elaborate security arrangements to ensure that all that is going on there completely stops. There are other things going on in the background to ensure that this does not occur again, and I think in the President’s speech, he made that very clear particularly his messages to the His Excellency, the Governor of Benue State and others in that realm.
Recall that over 100 residents of Yelewata community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State were killed while hundreds were injured.
To this end, President Bola Tinubu, last Wednesday, set up a committee to help restore sustainable peace to the state following the massacre.
Credit: punchng.com
