Military Starts War On Terrorism

The military authorities yesterday vowed to defeat
insurgents operating in the South eastern part of
the country, warning that persons plotting
aggression against Nigeria will not be spared by the
armed forces. Speaking while commissioning the
Nigerian Army Dog Centre in the Ipaja area of
Lagos, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, Chief of
Defence Staff, warned that the military will never
allow insurgents to take over Nigeria, urging them
to go through the normal route to assume power.
"Anybody or group has the right to have that
aspiration to rule Nigeria by a certain set of rules.
But the way to do it is to form a political party,
contest an election and then the rest of us, even if
we did not vote for you, we will subject ourselves to
your rule. But for anybody or group which has not
form a political party, has not won an election, to
want to impose a type of rule on the country, it will
never happen in Nigeria," he said.
The defence chief said that the Nigerian military
must defeat terrorism and aggression against the
people of the country, especially as Federal
Government has shown commitment towards
providing essential resources to the Armed Forces.
He explained that the establishment of the Dog
Centre demonstrates determination of the Armed
Forces to fully embrace transformation agenda of
the Federal Government. Petinrin, who commended
the Nigerian Army for establishing the centre,
urged terrorists to form political parties, sell their
manifestoes and woo Nigerians to vote for them
after which they could begin to make Nigerians see
the world in their own ways.
The Nigerian Army Military Police unit, Saturday
Sun, learnt has trained about 50 dogs to assist the
force in the fight against terrorism. The dogs were
trained to sniff out and identify any Improvised
Explosive Device (IED), narcotics, terrorists and
other security risk items. Several blocks of flats for
the officers and men as well as the 50 dogs were
also commissioned by the defence chief.
Speaking to journalists at the event, Chief of Army
Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Onyeabo Ihejirika, said the
establishment of the dog centre was to enhance the
capability of the service to deal with contemporary
challenges facing the country. He maintained that
introducing dogs to fight terrorism is informed by
the sensory capability of the animal species.
His words: "The primary motive for this project is
to be able to detect explosives, in a more civilized
manner. It would be most helpful if serious cordon
and searches begin rather than do arbitrary arrests
and later apologise." He said that the force is in the
first phase of the programme, adding that at the
third phase, the Nigerian Army would support the
civil society in the use of dogs to check crimes.
He said the dogs would be useful at the entrance of
airports, seaports, banks and other public places
that is needed to be protected against terrorists
and criminals.