The members of the Boko Haram group has been stealing the arms of the Nigerian military. This has prompted the military personnel to take precautions to frustrate their plans.
In reaction to this, the military authorities have made it known that they are taking proper steps to protect all arms in its various military cantonments across Nigeria.
This was disclosed by the director of defence information, Major General Chris Olukolade during his first real-time Twitter chat which held on Sunday night, September 28, 2014.
He said: “We are taking measures to ensure that our armouries are secured. We agree and are aware Boko Haram has stolen arms.”
@BlessinAbundant We are taking measures to ensure that our Armouries are secured. We agree & are aware BH has stolen arms #VictoryForNigeria
— Gen. Chris Olukolade (@GENOlukolade) September 28, 2014
Olukolade disclosed that they recently intensified cooperation among various agencies to help curtail nuisance constituted by these insurgents. Adding that the military were not happy with the latest development.
“Inter-agency collaboration has been heightened; from all indications policing of our borders has increased. Our strategic information-sharing policy considers transparency, security, propriety and accuracy in reporting to the public,” he explained.
He however did not disclose the grades and name of the armouries that has so far be stolen by the Islamist sect.
Further speaking, he said that the military have placed both the front liners and officials at the rear on close watch maintaining that any among them is directly or indirectly involved in the recent insurgency that has been plaguing the North-Eastern part of the nation, such person would be severely punished.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that there was no time frame to ending the insurgency because it takes a while to fight terrorism. However, he said the armed forces would not give up in its fight but will rather remain more determined by maintaining the pace of military capability to ensure that Boko Haram becomes a thing of the past in Nigeria.
In addition, he stated that surveillance and air operations were in place to control and make sure that security damages were brought to its minimum claiming that the Defence Headquarters would not give up any portion of the nation to the insurgents.
Therefore, he urged the media personnel to be watchful of what they report, saying: “This is not the time to prove that the pen is mightier than the sword. Nigerian media should not undermine structures.”
Earlier, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah said most of the weapons used by these insurgents were stolen.
Recently, the Nigerian military force has been frustrating the plans of the Boko Haram insurgents by killing most of their members, confiscating their weapons and bringing them to book.
