The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, has said that armed bandits that are threatening the peace in the Northwest and the entire country are no spirits but fellow humankind who usually come down to the communities to spend their loots and interact with them.

He called for vigilance and information sharing between the communities and security agencies, vowing to take the war to the bandits and dislodge them from their enclaves.

Yahaya, who addressed reporters in Daura, Katsina State, while rounding off his visit to Katsina State shortly, at Fort Muhammadu Buhari Forward Operating Base insisted that the Nigerian Army would carry out its operational battles to the enemies’ enclaves in the Northwest and Northeast where most of their operations are being conducted to pave way for peace and development.

While admitting several challenges affecting the pathway to the successful prosecution of the war against banditry and insurgency, he assured that the Army is strongly determined and with the right efforts by all, to surmount Nigeria’s security challenges.

He said: “The essence of my visit is to reinvigorate our operations and strengthen them to ensure that the troops take the fight to the enclaves of these criminals and destroy them.

“That is what we are doing and this is what we will continue to do. Every place I visited, my message is clear: We must carry the battle to the enemies’ enclaves here in the Northwest and even in the Northeast where we are conducting them.

“This is done in synergy with other services and other security agencies and indeed other stakeholders. We are all partners and together with this synergy, we will achieve results like we have seen it has started gaining ground.”

The COAS also paid homage to the Emir of Daura, Dr Umar Faruk Umar where he appealed to traditional rulers to support the military and other security agencies by providing actionable intelligence to combat security challenges besetting some parts of the country.

The Emir also vowed to support the Army to achieve its desired goal in its ongoing war against insecurity in the country.

TodayNG