CDS tasks military, others on solutions to insecurity

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, has charged military officers and other security stakeholders to come up with a workable plan to confront the security challenges in the country.

Irabor gave the charge yesterday in Jaji, Kaduna State, as the Special Guest of Honour to the annual military training organised by Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) for members of its senior course.

The CDS, who was represented by the Director of Peace Keeping at the Defence Headquarters, Maj-Gen. Henry Ayamasowei, said the security challenges in Nigeria had been aggravated more than ever, and that the Armed Forces of Nigeria were poised to tackle the challenges.

Addressing the participants of Exercise Haske Biyu, he said: “This year’s Exercise Haske Biyu could not have come at a more auspicious period when our dear country is faced with myriad internal security challenges. Thus, the importance of collaboration between the military and other law enforcement agencies in defeating these threats cannot be over-emphasised.

“In view of the dynamics of the global security environment and our current national security realities, intelligence and security agencies, as well as other stakeholders in the security sector, have found themselves deployed regularly on internal security operations. Such deployments require them to carry out an array of operations, which involve kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to counter the threats posed by predominantly irregular groups.”

According to him, the relevance of a training forum such as Exercise Haske Biyu, which engages all the security agencies, the media and other stakeholders in the business of security, becomes very glaring and therefore most critical.

Earlier in his address, AFCSC Commandant, AVM Ebenezer Alao, said the exercise would entail lectures, presentations and demonstrations on internal security operations, adding that participants would also be required to provide practical and workable solutions to problems associated with internal security and counter-insurgency.