SECURITY ALERT WITH JIDE

Be in war mood to deal with current security challenges.

Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant -General Azubuike Ihejirika, has charged the Nigerian Army to be battle ready to deal with the current security challenges in the country.
Ihejirika this known while declaring open a one-week Commanding Officers' Workshop with the theme Enhancing Military Professionalism in the Nigerian Army to Meet Contemporary Challenges, in Kaduna.
He said the Army would soon introduce specially-trained troops, who would use dogs to fight terrorism and sense locations where Improvised Explosive Devices were either planted or manufactured.
He said the Army must work harder through effective operation to improve its intelligence gathering mechanism to win the war against terrorism.
He said the workshop would improve and sharpen their professional skills, adding that the selection of 1 Division for the training underscored the importance of the current operation of troops of the 1 and 3 Divisions of the Army.
Ihejirika said he was happy with achievements of the Divisions so far, ``but you will all agree with me that a lot still needs to be done to make our society secure.
According to him, the challenges confronting the nation, and indeed, the Army are well-known to all of us as well the directive of Mr President that the Army should work with other civil authorities to secure every part of this country are also well-known.
Ihejirika said the theme of the workshop was carefully-chosen to remind officers of the importance of military professionalism in dealing with challenges facing the nation.
He, however, assured that the Army would to do all within its power to provide the necessary resources and welfare for its officers and men to achieve the desired results.
He announced that on April 19, ``we will be commissioning about 14 boats that have been recovered and refurbished for the use of our troops in the Niger-Delta area.``
On the special dogs' troops, Ihejirika said the second batch of personnel on the use of dogs in the fight against terrorism had just completed their training.
According to him, they will soon be launched to join the existing troops to further complement their effort in the fight against terrorism.
Earlier, the General Officer Commanding 1 Mechanised Division of Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Major-General Wahab Ayodele-Garba, said the participants were Commanding Officers from various formations of 1 and 3 Divisions in Kaduna and Jos respectively.
He said the officers were selected for the workshop in view of the security challenges in their respective areas.