Boko Haram: Army Now To Play The Offensive Role – Army Chief

Chief of Army Staff, Major General Tukur Buratai yesterday told men of the Nigerian Army that the era of playing the defensive role against the Boko Haram is over, saying, henceforth the army will play the offensive role against the sect until they are completely dislodged. The Army Chief stated this in Kaduna during the graduation ceremony of Nigerian Battalion 37, United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), pre-deployment training at the Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Centre (NAPKC) and the combined graduation of basic airborne course 37 and basic rigger course 23 of the Airborne wing of the Nigerian Army School of Infantry (NASI), Jaji Cantonment. He challenged the troops to adopt offensive disposition and respond quickly and appropriately to all situations. The army boss also reiterated that the Army has the wherewithal to tackle its internal problems, assuring that it is on top of the situation in the Northeast. According to him, his vision for the Nigerian Army is to be professionally responsive in the discharge of its constitutional roles. “The cardinals of this vision are professionalism and responsiveness. In line with these, we must learn to adopt offensive disposition and respond quickly and appropriately to all situations taking into cognisance, our rules of engagement. The era of waiting in defensive positions for criminals to come and attack and run away must stop. We must take the battle to them and dislodge them wherever they are. I therefore want you to show your commitment to this vision,” he said. To the 658 troops deployed on peace keeping mission to Liberia, the Army Chief warned that, “the Nigerian Army will not accept any situation where its troops are seen as soft targets or conducting themselves in unprofessional manner such as trafficking in illicit substances of any kind, including alcohol and drugs, as these practices negate United Nations ethics. “I must also remind you of the United Nations zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse. The Nigerian Army and indeed Nigerian government will not tolerate the contravention of this policies,” he said. Source:Leadership