DHQ wants military to be trusted in handling insurgency

The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig-Gen John Agim, has appealed to Nigerians to trust the military and believe in their capacity to restore law and order in conflict ridden communities in the country.
Agim made the appeal on Friday in Makurdi during the maiden press briefing to announce the achievements of the Special Military Operation for Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states, code named “Operation Whirl Stroke”.
Flanked by the commander of the operation, Brig-Gen Mutiu Adeyemi, and top operators of the military outfit, Agim said trust was an important element both for the soldiers and the civilians in tackling insurgency.
He said: “For the civilians, they need to trust us (soldiers) and believe in our capacity to be neutral and to contain the insurgents. It is also important for us to trust that the civilians will give us intelligent information to deal with the situation.”
He said the men of the operation would not rest until the armed bandits causing mayhem in the states were brought to their knees.
Announcing some of its achievements since its inauguration in May 8, he said 147 herdsmen had been arrested while several raids had been carried out on flash points in the states where assorted weapons including AK47 rifles were recovered.
He said the operations would soon take off in Zamfara, but added that air surveillance operations were already ongoing in the state.
Agim said the Special Military Operation also involved the Police and the State Security Service.
He said it had the mandate of flushing out all armed criminal elements in the three states and ensuring the restoration of law and order in communities attacked by armed bandits.
Agim called on politicians to stop portraying the military in bad light saying in most communities where there was the highest level of resentment against military operations, politicians were behind it.
He said: “We have arrested some Benue people in the recent raids and investigations are going on.
“It has been discovered that during interrogations, that politicians induced armed bandits to set fire on other communities.
“Usually, such politicians were the ones attacking and condemning the military.”
He said most state governors where the anti-open grazing law was signed, believed that the presence of the military in the states was to enforce the laws.
Agim said: “It is not our duty to enforce their laws; we are an organ of the federal government. It is their duty to ensure the implementation of their laws.”
He said the Special Forces were mobile and well equipped to execute the assignment and called on the people to give intelligent information to help them succeed.
Responding to operational questions, the Operations Commander said they in the states to fight insurgents and destroy their capacity to retaliate.
He said: “We will fight, pursue and destroy the enemy; we will conduct air assault on all targets to achieve our mandate.
“We are not here to defend any tribe or religion. Our mandate is to restore law and order in the affected communities to enable the displaced people return to their farmlands.
“We will use maritime forces, use motorcycles to get to the nooks and crannies of the states.
“We will force and get them wherever they are, we will bring down any militia camp or hideout wherever it will be. We have the resources to deal with, we will use geo-special technology to get them.”
He said there was no way the soldiers carrying out the operation would connive with miscreants to soil their reputation.