Following apprehension over safety of Nigerians living in some parts of the country over recent agitations, the Defence headquarters has given assurance on the safety and security of every citizen in any part of the country.
A statement to this effect saigned by Director of Defence Information, Major General John Enenche said, “There has been so many requests in the recent past, to know from the Military about the safety of Nigerians living in parts of the country, other than their aboriginal habitats.
“As such, it behoves on the Defence Headquarters to reassure the general public that all lives and property in Nigeria are secured and safe at any location they reside.
“Thus, the Armed Forces of Nigeria are constantly on surveillance and in collaboration with other security agencies to curb acts capable of distorting the peace.
“Members of the general public are requested to immediately report suspicious movements and any act that points to creating any situation of insecurity to lives and property to the nearest security agency.
“Other means such as the Nigerian Army call Centre, short code 193 and email: [email protected] should be readily utilized.
“The Armed Forces hereby reaffirms its commitment to protecting the lives and property of all Nigerians living in any part of the country.
“Therefore, all should go about their normal life wherever they are living without fear or intimidation.
“Meanwhile the Defence Headquarters wishes to notify the General Public, Ministries, Departments, and various Agencies in Nigeria, that the Nigerian Army has established an Information Call Centre where the Nigerian Army could be easily reached for the purpose of information sharing.
“The dialing short code call number is 193 and the e-mail address to send message is; [email protected] .
“The center is to provide a platform for gathering and sharing of information for quick intervention, in view of the security challenges being witnessed across the country.
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“Ministries, Departments, Agencies and the General public are hereby urged to take note and make effective use of the Nigerian Army Call Centre to provide timely information on suspicious persons or movements, as well as criminal elements in the society, for prompt action.
Also, the Defence Headquarters has reacted to the disinformation about the counter terrorism troops trained in Pakistan recently.
It said, “A voice clip in one of the major languages of the country has been in circulation on the social media with the summary as follows; “The misinformed claimed to be in Pakistan where he saw about 1000 Nigerian troops selected from a particular region in Nigeria graduating after their special training, with the directive to come back home to kill Nigerians of a particular tribe”.
“It is an incisive, untrue and unverified lie against the Armed Forces of Nigeria, targeted as discrediting the capacity building effort of the Military.
“Operationally, the Armed Forces of Nigeria is poised on building its capacity to meet the contemporary security challenges in the country.
“This is being done with other countries with similar security challenges of which Pakistan is one.
“Hence, the collaboration with Pakistan for the training of additional counter terrorist troops in addition to own local training efforts.
It is instructive to clearly state that; a. The Nigerian troops that trained as a unit on counter terrorism in Pakistan were drawn from the Nigerian Army, Navy and Airforce, in line with the concept of the force generation.
- The personnel cut across all the religions as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.
- All the geopolitical zones and major tribes in Nigeria are represented in the composition of the unit, as usual with the Nigerian Military.
- It is not an isolated training programme but an existing and continuous exercise.
“The Defence Headquarters therefore, reassures all Nigerians that, the Armed Forces of Nigeria is non-sectional, regional or tribal.
“The military is ever ready to protect the lives and property of all in the Country. Hence, the ill motivated voice clip should be disregarded.
END
