29th January, 2021
The Voice of Naija Youth (VONY), a youth-focused group, has urged the newly appointed Service Chiefs to make renewed commitment to defeat insurgency, banditry and other emerging security threats in the nation.
This comes following the new appointment of the Service Chiefs by President Muhammadu Buhari after the resignation of the previous occupants of the post.
In a statement signed by Abimbola Oyaniru, VONY’s Spokesperson (Southwest), the group hailed the appointment of the new Service Chiefs as a welcome development, especially with the spate of insecurity in the country.
VONY charged the newly appointed Service Chiefs to use the goodwill they currently enjoy among Nigerians to keep the country safe from insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and other security challenges.
According to the statement, the new Service Chiefs must take serious note of some divisive and subversive elements who are bent on destabilizing the peaceful coexistence of the nation, adding: “such elements pose dangerous threats to the nation’s unity and collective security.”
VONY also stressed that the new Service Chiefs must place much emphasis on intelligence gathering, tackling security threats, and protection of the territorial integrity of the country.
“While we wish the newly appointed Service Chiefs a successful tenure in office, we align ourselves with the overwhelming majority of Nigerians who want the Armed Forces and other security agencies to bring an end to insurgency and allies challenges once and for all.
“This shouldn’t be a tall order as the nation has lost heavily in terms of human and material resources over the menace of insurgency and banditry in the last decade alone,” the statement read further.
The group thanked President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for heeding to the voices of Nigerians calling for a change in leadership of the Armed Forces.
The newly appointed Service Chiefs are Major-General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff; and Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao, Chief of Air Staff.