THISDAY

Nigerian Army: We’ll Keep Exterminat­ing Those Posing Threat to National Security

Security situation horrendous, unacceptab­le, says George

- Segun James ÓØ ËÑÙÝËØÎ Hammed Shittu ÓØ ÖÙÜÓØ

The Nigerian Army, yesterday, vowed to continue to exterminat­e any individual or group of individual­s who pose threat to the national security of the country.

Also, former National Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has said the security situation in the country was horrendous and horrible, urging President Bola Tinubu to a meeting of Nigerian elders, especially past military leaders to save the country from total collapse.

General Officer Commanding 2nd Mechanised Division, Nigerian Army with headquarte­rs in Ibadan, Oyo State, Major General Bamidele Alabi, spoke in Ilorin, Kwara State while declaring open the 31st Social Media Influencer­s seminar with the theme, "Emerging Trends on Social Media: Impact on National Security."

He said the developmen­t would go a long way to sustain the current efforts of the Nigerian armed forces to maintain peace and harmony for the nation's civil and territoria­l protection of the country.

The seminar was organised by the Civil Military Affairs, Nigerian Army headquarte­rs, Abuja. About 1000 social media Influencer­s, bloggers and media practition­ers and youths attended the seminar.

Alabi added that, "The Nigerian Army is presently operating in conjunctio­n with other security agencies and stakeholde­rs in 2nd Army division including Kwara State to ensure peace and security within a joint environmen­t.

"This is in line with the Chief of Army Command Staff's philosophy ‘to transform the Nigerian Army into a well-trained, equipped and highly motivated force towards achieving our constituti­onal responsibi­lities within a joint environmen­t."

The GOC, however, said,"The NA recognises the importance of bloggers and influencer­s of the social media as credible partners in shaping narratives towards enhancing national security. This underlines the constant effort of the NA in organising programmes like this to interact with all stakeholde­rs.

"Therefore, this edition of the seminar with the theme: "Emerging Trends on Social Media: Impact on National Security" is indeed timely and apt in the face of a volatile, unpredicta­ble, dynamic and fluid security environmen­t.

Also speaking, the Chief of Civil Military Affairs (Army), Major NC Ugbo said, "security is a collective responsibi­lity of all of us, therefore the Nigerian Army cannot do it alone.

"We all have a very important role to play in the promotion of peace and security in our dear country."

On his part, George who said he was not speaking as a member of the PDP but as a statesman, lamented that the country was on a precipice and that if nothing was done immediatel­y, the nation might collapse irritably.

Speaking at an interactiv­e session with newsmen in his office at Ikoyi, Lagos, he said the establishm­ent of state police has become urgent, saying the current system where command centre is located in Abuja could no longer work.

"Mr. Tinubu must not shy away from state police. He must go and get the report of the report of the constituti­onal conference (2014). The constituti­on is also part of the obstacle that is recklessly disturbing the growth of the country.

"Right now we are on the precipice of total collapse. We are failing. The report of the constituti­onal conference was dropped to the archive. The effect of putting it in the archive is what we are experienci­ng now.

"The President must invite all those elders in the military to come because security is now a national calamity. This invite is very, very urgent. It is the collectivi­ty of all hands that can resolve the issue. You would now have all those elders to share their experience­s."

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