The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, announced plans to strengthen security measures and support the return of internally displaced persons.
During a visit from Benue State Governor, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, at Defence Headquarters in Abuja, General Musa praised the governor’s commitment to security and assured ongoing efforts to enhance military operations professionally.
Emphasizing collective responsibility for security, he highlighted the collaboration between the state government and the military to address security challenges and create a safer environment for residents.
“Firstly let me appreciate his Excellency for visiting us. We have actually requested that or have also advised that security is everybody’s responsibility and this shows immediately. You see his Excellency is here to show his concern for his people in Benue States and what he has requested for are things that we equally are working towards. We want to enhance all our operations professionally so that they do so much, we want them to do more. There a lot of issues on ground, the issue of discovery of mineral resources. We know how rich Benue is and the attraction it has, especially to bandits and other criminal elements. We want to assure him that we’ve listened to what he has said. We will take these things into consideration in our deployment and we’re going to enhance our capabilities going forward. We want Benue and the rest of Nigeria to be peaceful. We want every Nigerian to enjoy, the internally displaced camps, we want them closed. We want farmers to be able to go back to their farms. Communities should be able to go back to their communities so that they can live well. These are the efforts, Those are the tasks we have ahead of us and we can assure Nigerians that they can rely and trust that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is here for them.’
Governor Hyacinth Alia expressed gratitude for strides in restoring peace and pledged the state government’s support, advocating for operational bases and barracks relocation along the Cameroon border to safeguard the state’s mineral-rich areas.
“First of all I came in to congratulate the CDs. We know his track records So we also came to appreciate what they have been doing. The Nigerian army has done so much for the state. Since we came on board in May, the state has experienced lots and lots of relative peace and that is the way forward. You know, person. And you know, like Oliver Twist, we came to ask for more, we came to present some more prayers. Because we, we want not just relative peace, we want absolute peace, You know, peace in the form that enables our IDPs to go back home to their ancestral farmland and for everyone to sleep with two eyes closed. So we’re quite happy he received us very graciously and accepted the prayers.
LV