COAS Calls on Nigerians to Dispell Negative Perception against the Military
By Daniel Agada, Jos
The Chief of Army staff, COAS, Lt.Gen. Farouk Yahaya has stated that the men and officers of the Nigerian Army remained resolute in discharging its constitutional duty inline with the rules of engagement.
He call on Nigerians to dispelled all forms of negative perception being peddled against the Military, and build trust and confidence towards fostering peace and harmonious coexistence.
The Chief of Army staff made this assertion at the second quarter 2023 CIMIC media chat. He was represented at the event by the General Officer Commanding Armoured Division, Maxwell Kolbe Cantonment, Rukuba Barracks, Jos, Major Gen. Abdulsalami Ibrahim.
The second quarter media chat engagement, championed by Army Headquarters department of civil-military affairs with a theme ” media as a critical tool in addressing insecurity in Nigeria”, held in Jos the state capital.
The Army chief acknowledged that the media engagement and the choice of holding the discourse in Jos is apt considering the fact that Plateau had persistent siege and insecurity thereby necessitating prolonged youths unemployment.
“I am proud by the achievements and the efforts made so far on our non-kinatic values in line with my vision which is to have a professional Nigerian Army ready to ensure trust and secured environment.
“Nigerian Army professionalism remain sacrosanct.This event is apt which explain the critical role of the media in a non-kinatic lines of our operations “, he stated.
Major Gen.MG Kangye, chief of civil military affairs, confirmed that for them to tell Army story along non-kinatic lines of operations to the Nigerian society, they have to partner with media.
“We had the first quarter of this engagement in Maiduguri (Borno state), and the lessons learned from that is the need to more engage the media and carry out programmes that will always cement relationship between the civilians and the military personnel.
“We have achieved tremendous result because the litigations and reports about the Nigerian Army personnel that were received during the last quarter by this legal desk department has significantly reduced.
“Unlike before in a quarter you may have 10 to 11 cases of alleged human right violation against the personnel of the Nigerian Army.But that has significantly reduced because of this engagement we had with the members of the media.
” And also, we went to various military formations to sensitized our soldiers on the laws of arm conflict, international humanitarian law and then the rules of engagement and the code of conduct for any internal security operations”, Major Gen.Kangye stated.
