The Nigeria Army will severely punish any soldier caught blabbing details of counter-insurgency ops going on in the northeast.
A nine-point communique issued at the end of the 2017 Chief of Army Staff Annual conference held in Ibadan, Oyo, the Army said the resolution is in line with the 1962 Official Secret Act.
The army has come under fire from rights bodies over its alleged rights violation in the southeast and northeast in recent times.
The conference enjoined commanders to henceforth strictly employ “established Rules of Engagement.”
“The Official Secret Act of 1962 was to be applied strictly in the conduct of future Nigerian Army operations,” sated the communiqué signed by Maj-Gen. C.A. Jemitola, chief of staff to the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, a lieutenant general.
“It is the resolve of the Nigerian Army to remain responsive and apolitical while re-affirming its total loyalty to the President, Commander–in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR”.
The conference noted that for the Nigeria Army to attain development and effectively discharge its professional constitutional role, it must invest massively in training and retraining of all cadres of personnel.
The commanders also agreed the Army has experienced improvement “in the areas of training, operations, discipline and force posture.”
Again, the need to maintain high morale of Nigerian Army troops was also an issue for deliberations at the conference.
The federal troops have been complaining of non-payment of allowance as and when due.
All that may change as the federal and state government approved $1 billion to boost the finance for the long-running counter insurgency.