The Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Farooq Yahaya, has stated that the Nigerian Army has acquired sophisticated and highly sensitive weapons to neutralize insurgency, bandits, and other acts of criminality in the country.
The Army boss stated this in his opening address at the workshop on Future Improvised Explosive Device Challenges and Threat Mitigation held at the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering, Makurdi, on Tuesday.
General Yahaya, who was represented by the Force Commander, Operation Whirl Stroke, Major General Sunday Igbinomwanhia, said that the defeat of those criminal elements in the country was his top priority.
The COAS said the Nigerian Army had recently embarked on a massive acquisition drive to shore up troops’ morale and fighting spirit.
He listed some of the equipment acquired to include; Vallon handheld detectors, MRAPs, TCVs, Husky vehicles, APCs, and UAVs, adding that efforts were ongoing to purchase some Husky vehicle-mounted mine detection systems amongst several other equipments.
“The defeat of insurgency, banditry, and other acts of criminality remains my top priority. With this commitment in mind, the procurement of equipment and realistic training of personnel were embarked upon.
“Similarly, the research and development drive for indigenous production of some of our requirements is ongoing. The local production of the Ode rechargeable blasting device and the remote control jammers are commendable but more can be done.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
” To this end, the Nigerian Army will continue to sustain its stride of supporting local production of our defence needs to augment our procurement,” General Yahaya said.
While commending the initiative of the Commander Corps of Engineers for organizing the workshop with the theme “Capacity Development in CIED for Robust Support to NA Operations,” COAS said that the workshop was necessary in order to understand the future of Improvised Explosive Devices, its challenges, how the enemy operates and knowing how to mitigate the IED threats.
He said, ” I am therefore glad that the objectives of this workshop are in line with my desire to defeat an insurgency by ensuring that our troops have freedom of action through effective CIED operation.
General Yahaya said that effective CIED operations had contributed towards the successes recorded against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups as well as various unscrupulous elements across the nation.
In his opening remarks, the Commander Corps of Engineers, Major General Philip Eromosele, noted that the use of IEDs by insurgents as force multipliers has become a trend with unpleasant effects on the outcomes of NA operations and the morale of troops.
In order to achieve victory in the ongoing CTCOIN and other operations despite the threat posed by the use of these IEDs, General Eromosele said that the workshop would feature a series of events which include presentations, discussion sessions, and demonstrations on the use of the recently acquired sophisticated and highly sensitive equipment such as; CIED MRAPs and Husky vehicles.
