Buratai Charges Military to Defeat Criminal Elements in Nigeria

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has vowed that criminal elements terrorising the Northeast and North-west regions in the country must be defeated by the troops, as they have neither training nor the weapons which the Nigerian army have. Speaking on Wednesday at the graduation of 1,142 soldiers from Special Forces training at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry (NASI) in Jaji, Kaduna State, Buratai said the bandits and terrorists must be defeated because “they don’t have the training and weapons that we have.” He charged troops to put in their best and make use of the skills acquired during the training to tackle bandits, insurgents and other criminal elements in the their various units in the troubled regions. According to the COAS, "You must go out there to defeat the criminals. They don't have the training we have. They don't have the weapons we have. "You may also find yourselves doing covert and overt operations, but more of covert. The training would be sustained till the desired results are achieved. "We want you to be the hope that will finally get the criminals on their knees; battle field is now intelligence and initiative to determine the right time to strike. "As you are being trained together, you will work together as one unit but grouped into platoons and companies in the field to continue with the Esprit de Corp and cohesion required to fight and defeat the adversaries.” Buratai reiterated his commitment to the welfare of soldiers to boosts their morale, as he ordered the immediate promotion of the 1,142 soldiers, most of who are in the rank of 'private', to their next ranks. He, however, warned the troops to desist from social media influence and serve their country with diligence, noting that the army has rules guiding the use of social media, which do not condone indiscipline. Speaking earlier, the Commandant of NASI, Maj-Gen Kelvin Aligbe, said the graduands were the second batch of the Special Forces being trained on rigorous activities to fight against insurgency and banditry. He said the training which was facilitated through partnership with the Starter Point Integrated Services Limited, covered aspects of close contact combat, camouflage, unexpected incident operations and extraction under fire.