The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai has called on the international think-tank, the Institute of Security Studies (ISS), Regional Office for West Africa, the Sahel and Lake Chad, to carry out a research into the source of Boko Haram finances and suppliers of heavy weaponry such as Anti-Aircraft guns and Gun trucks armed with artillery guns with which they perpetrate criminal acts against the country.
The COAS made the disclosure on Tuesday when he received a delegation of ISS regional office led by its Deputy Director, Dr. Fonteh Akum at Army headquarters, Abuja.
He said that unraveling the hidden facts about these financiers would aid the Nigerian Army and other security agencies win the war against terrorism in the North East.
Represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans, Army, Lt. General Lamidi Adeosun, the COAS said ISS with its spread and reach, has the capacity to go into research and get some facts with regards to the causes of insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin and how to solve them.
He said, “I want us to be on the same page where we can. While we are doing the military aspect, the research aspect is also very important and will be useful for the promotion of the military side as well as the civil side, which is the main side of the whole coin of this security challenge of terrorism”.
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“Your research will also be very useful if it can assist us in unraveling some of the naughty issues regarding fighting either insurgency or terrorism because on our part, our task is to clear out this menace. We are not tasked with the root causes or symptoms.
“Yes, the kinetic aspect which has to do with the military, we can categorize it as 20 per cent while 80 per cent is the other issues that border on groups
“It’s the conglomerate of stakeholders including the religious group, the locals, government, Non Governmental Organizations, all involved in either resolving , expanding and prolonging the conflict, depending on which side of the coin one finds himself”.
While commending the institutions initiative, the COAS urged them to ensure synergy with other critical stakeholders that are concerned with the issues of security as Army are not the only stakeholders in the fight.
Earlier in his address, the Deputy Director, institute for security studies (ISS), Dr. Fonteh Akum, disclosed that the purpose of their visit is in two folds, one to introduce their organization and also solicit the attention of the NA as well as understand exactly the kind of research that would be useful as regards the fighting of insecurity in the North East.
“Our areas of research is very diverse and as such we research mainly in human security which is slightly different from national security because it focuses on human and basically looking at issues of development” he said.
Present at the were the Chief of Training and Operations, Major General Enebong Udoh, Chief of Military Intelligence, Major General SA Adebayo, Chief of Administration, Major General Yusuf, Provost Marshal, Army, Brigadier General Ahmed among others.
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