6th March, 2018
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Tuesday restated the army’s commitment to rescuing the 110 Dapchi school girls abducted by insurgents.re
Buratai spoke at the inauguration of the newly completed office complex in the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt.
He said the army and other security agencies are fully focused on reuniting the missing girls with their families soon.
“The search for the 110 missing school girls from Dapchi is an ongoing process.
“Definitely, everybody is concerned and we are doing our best in finding the missing school girls,” he said.
Buratai also debunked the claims that the Boko Haram insurgents had regrouped and now controlling a large territory in the North East Zone.
He said there was “ nothing like resurgence, ’’ adding that “ one or two incidents’’ could not be interpreted as resurgence.
“It is the responsibility of everybody to join hands and knowing that it is not entirely a military responsibility but a collective task.
“Every facet of our society needs to be part of this fight against terrorism. It is a national disaster and calamity which we must all join hands to defeat,” Buratai said.
He said the media has an important role to play, urging it to set the agenda for national unity and peace with focus on ending insurgency and terrorism in the country.
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The army chief said the newly built complex was completed through direct labour with little support from the army headquarters.
Buratai commended the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 8 Division, Sokoto, Maj.-Gen. Stevenson Olabanji; GOC 81 Division, Lagos, Maj.-Gen. Enobong Udoh, and GOC 6 Division, Maj.-Gen. Musa Yusuf, for completing the project.
“These officers have done a lot and added value to the division which was the youngest division in the Nigerian Army.
“This is what is expected of officers and commanders; to always seek development of their formations wherever they are deployed,” he said.
The army chief also commended security agencies for the relative peace in the Niger Delta, urging continued synergy among security agencies and stakeholders.