Army chief charges soldiers over insurgency, oil theft

CHIEF of Army Staff (COAS), Maj.-Gen. Tukur Buratai has charged officers and soldiers to always be at alert, saying weak personnel would not win the fight against insurgency and oil theft.

Buratai gave the charge at the inauguration of a gymnasium built for army personnel of 2 Brigade, Port Harcourt.

He said: “As professionals, officers and soldiers must be physically fit at all time as physical training will enable them have stamina and endurance to withstand security challenges confronting the nation.

“We know the challenges the nation is facing in the North-East and recent escalation of militancy, piracy and other criminal activities in the Niger Delta.”

Meanwhile, it was an emotional situation at the weekend when about 1,400 victims of Boko Haram insurgency in the North East refused to be relocated to Kano and Jigawa states from their Edo State camp as they insisted that whatever aid the Federal Government has for them as Internally Displaced persons (IDPs) should be brought to them in their Uhogua community location in Ovia North East Local Council where they are being cared for by the International Christian Centre.

According to the Army chief, “personnel must be physically fit and alert to enable them be in a better position to perform their duties when deployed to operational areas to combat security challenges.”

Buratai said the gymnasium built by Brig.-Gen. Koko Essien, Commander 2 Brigade, conformed to his vision of putting in place a professionally responsive army that would expertly perform its constitutional roles.

Also speaking, Commander 2 Brigade Army Port Harcourt, Brigadier-General Koko Essien, said, the command had begun mop up of all illegal refineries in Rivers State and environs, adding that the operation, which began on August 27, had so far discovered and destroyed 60 illegal refineries.

The Guardian gathered that about 40 buses were brought to the community to evacuate the victims by security officials from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), police and Department of State Security Services (DSS).