Benin, Edo, Nigeria – By Oladipo Airenakho.
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Kenneth Minimah has appealed to state governments in the country to support the Nigerian Armed Forces in its fight against terrorism.
Lt-General Minimah made this appeal during a courtesy visit to Governor Adams Oshiomhole recently as part of his visit to Edo state to commission the newly remodelled Officers Mess of the Nigerian Army Corps and School of Supply and Transport, Benin City.
“I want to thank the Governor and people of Edo state, not only for this project but for other interventions in the Nigerian Army barracks in the state.”
He recalled that last June, Edo state Government provided a commercial borehole and a 500KVA generator for the Ekenhuan Barracks.
“I am also aware of His Excellency’s promise to provide support for the family of late Commanding Officer of 195 Battalion, Lt Col Shangai and some other soldiers who were serving in the state before their deployment to other states in the North East where they paid the supreme sacrifice in their service to the fatherland.”
The Army Chief called on other state Governments to take a cue from the Edo state Government and support “our troops to confront the current security challenges bedevilling our country.”
General Minimah said: “We commend in very wide terms your support and assistance to the Nigerian Army in Edo State. I must sincerely own up that you have done so much to transform some of our facilities in the state.
Our tour here today is to commission the Officers’ Mess at the Supply and Transport Division, and it’s on record that you single-handedly built it.
This speaks of your efforts and desire to ensure that the Nigerian Army is well placed socially and professionally to carry out its constitutional roles which includes the protection of lives and properties, defence of the people of Nigeria and promotion and sustenance of democracy.”
In his response, Governor Oshiomhole commended the Nigerian Armed Forces for standing firm on the side of democracy and unity of the country.
He said: “I know for a fact as one of the senior players in the Nigerian Politics, Society and Economy that no one can lay claim to supporting democracy much more than the Nigerian Army is doing.
The Nigerian Army has stood firm on the side of democracy and above all, you have continued to build bridges of unity across all the divides of the country.
So I am personally very appreciative of the role of the Nigerian Army in our present democratic dispensation and I trust that we can continue to count on the Nigerian Army in the defence of democracy.”
Governor Oshiomhole thanked officers and men of the command for the support which the government has continued to enjoy from the Nigeria Army.
“I never hide the fact that but for the intervention of the Nigerian Army, even normal internal security challenges had become a big challenge when small boys who chose to resort to kidnapping even threatened their victims that if you go to the governor, it won’t do you any good because even himself can be picked any day we feel like picking him”, he said.
The Governor said, “They have kidnapped my commissioners, wives of commissioners, and all manners of people.
It was on the strength of this that we had to appeal to the President and Commander in Chief to permit the Army to join the Nigerian Police and the SSS in matters that are otherwise pure internal security issues and since then, the Army has been one of our most potent pillars in the fight against violent criminals and other people with criminal intentions in the state.”
“Today, we celebrate the fact that Edo State is unarguably the safest state in the South-South but that is largely due to the interventions of officers and men of the Nigerian Army as represented by the Fourth Brigade and that is why all of them who have served here at one time or the other, because of their contributions to our internal security, the partnership that we have formed during that period, we see them as part and parcel of the Edo Community.’’
