BENIN CITY- The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai has told 130 soldiers on parade and officers of the 4 Brigade Military Headquarters in Benin to be highly professional in the discharge of their duties so as not to betray the confidence reposed in them by President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian people.
The COAS who was paying his first visit to the 4 Brigade, to personally assess the operational readiness, equipment and manpower within the 4 Brigade stated that adequate measures were going to be deployed at meeting the needs of soldiers in an holistic manner to alleviate their stress and boost their confidence level.
Revealing that the 4 Brigade Commander, Brig-General Faruk Yahaha, had briefed him adequately on areas of needs, the COAS implored the soldiers to be of good cheer and high moral as he would look into, raised issues relating to accommodation problems, provision of adequate equipment as well as meeting the educational and health needs of their children and dependants within the barrack system, in Edo State.
Being an operational visit, the COAS had the opportunity to listen first hand to the needs and grievances of soldiers, and officers of the 4 Brigade with the view of fostering effective communication and problem solving.
Lt. General Buratai stated that the Nigerian Military was responsive to its constitutional role and was operationally doing well in all parts of the country despite pockets of violence by the Boko Haram insurgents in the North/East of Nigeria.
He urged the soldiers to show 100% loyalty and commitment to their duties as President Muhammadu Buhari was soldierly behind the military which evoked the need to retain the confidence reposed in them by the president and Nigerians, in general.
In an interactive session with members of the media, the COAS said the Army had already stationed its men in Rivers State whom will be on ground to keep the peace during and after the senatorial election, even till the end of the month.
Observing that the Boko Haram insurgency could not be wished away except by adequate intelligence, gathering against the backdrop that such people lived among people in society from where they strategize before carrying out their violent acts, the COAS called on all to be vigilant and act adequately within the ambit of the law.
Reacting to the incidence of arrest of drug peddlers at the Dikwa Internally Displaced People (IDP) Camp in Borno State, the Army Chief stated that the army was doing its best to ensure that general security was maintained at IDP Camps but he sued for the co-operation, support, collaboration and co-ordination of other security units to make things better at the IDP Camp.
