The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, at a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa on the state of security in the country, reiterated commitment to end the killings in the country by Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists. The Army boss assured to track down the perpetrators of the recent Birnin Gwari attacks that left at least seven dead and five others injured.
Buratai admitted that the army would collaborate with other security agencies in dislodging the merchants of violence hiding under cultural identities to cause disaffection in Nigeria. He was convinced that the security would be restored for gradual return of the Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) to their communities.
Buratia acknowledged that the deployment of the Army unit there is quite strategic. “It is in line with the Nigerian Army Order of Battle that was approved in 2016 and we are going to implement all of them to achieve the strategic objectives of the government.
“That is essentially why we have to put the battalion there and they will work along with other security agencies and be rest assured that Operation Last Hold will further consolidate on the achievements so far in the North East,” he explained
Buratai had inaugurated two units of Battalion Forward Operation Base (FOB) in Kaduna State to complement the efforts of the Police in combating killings by Fulani herdsmen in southern Kaduna. The killer herdsmen struck in the community in Kaduna State within 24 hours of setting up the army units.
The killer squads have rendered hundreds of persons, including security operatives, dead, and many persons kidnapped in Birnin-Gwari in the past one year of communities invasion and arson.