Army’s 8 Task Force Division gets spokesman

Commissions Desk Phones To Reach Troops’ Families

The 8 Task Force Division of Nigerian Army, which is in the forefront in the fight against insurgency in the northeast, yesterday announced Col. Onyema Nwachukwu as its new spokesman.

The Division has also commissioned its first set of Internet Protocol (IP) desk telephones for troops to reach their families while fighting Boko Haram insurgency.

The Army Public Relations Headquarters, Kinnasara Cantonment Monguno, in Borno State said prior to his assumption of office as
the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations of the Division, Onyema was the Chief of Staff, Headquarters Directorate of Army Public
Relations and Assistant Director, Directorate of Defense Information (DDI).

The IP telephones is also to alleviate sufferings of troops who travel long distances to Maiduguri to communicate with their family members, as they continue to clear remnants of insurgents from Borno and
the entire northeast.

Nwachukwu, in a statement in Maiduguri yesterday said: “The IP telephone system, which comprises a very small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) and a Grand System handset installed in the headquarters of the Division in Monguno; 7 Brigade and 153 Task Force Battalion Marte.

“Each of the call centres provides five terminal points for officers and soldiers to communicate with their families from the front-lines.”

He, however, noted that prior to the commissioning of the facilities, troops deployed in northern Borno faced challenges of communicating with their family members and relations in the country, due to the massive destruction of telecom masts in towns and villages by insurgents between 2012 and 2015.

General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Division, Brig-Gen. Abu Ali Nani, while commissioning the phones, noted that the
frequent travels of troops to Maiduguri to communicate with their families and distractions associated with troops’ tortuous trips to Maiduguri to make calls would be reduced or eliminated and enable the troops to focus on their duties.