By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), on Thursday, appealed to Nigerians to support the effort of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies to win the war against terrorists and other criminal elements across the federation.
This is as the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), said that the myriad security challenges confronting the nation are self-inflicted.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, made this appeal while, responding to questions, during the biweekly briefing at Defence Headquarters (DHQ), Abuja.
He said, “When I speak about our security challenges being mostly self-inflicted, I am referring to what we are seeing today. What we are seeing in every part of the country. Look at it through the lens of what happened in Plateau, what is happening in the northeast, north-central, northwest, south, south-west and southeast, all these are mostly self-inflicted. It is not like another country came with aggression and attacked us. We are the ones who are bringing these problems upon ourselves and that is why I am saying that we need to stand up and quench the fire of violence that is raging across the country. It is not beyond us, we can do it. As I mentioned earlier, the military doesn’t go to war, it is nations that go to war. So, someone should not sit somewhere and think that this war is just for the military, that would be laughable. It is our war and citizens have a role to play in war. Let us rise to the occasion and act accordingly”.
Gen Buba’s opinion is in sync with the position of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, who had in different fora expressed similar sentiments.
Just last week, General Musa, revealed how villagers hid guns for terrorists each time troops attack and kill terrorists in their domain.
The CDS recalled some encounters, when he was the Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) in the Northeast.
Gen Musa who made this revelation while featuring on 30 Minutes Trust TV, monitored by ThisNigerian, explained:
“When I was a theatre commander in the North East, for 19 months, sometimes terrorists would come to a village with weapons to launch an attack and we would kill them, but before we would get there, all the weapons would have been hidden”.
He, however, called for value reorientation to change the attitude of citizens towards the fight against terrorism and other emerging security threats across the federation.
Meanwhile, speaking during the press conference in Abuja, Major General Edward Buba, the Director of Defence Media Operations (DMO), urged all segments of society to take example from the gallant troops on the frontlines fighting to achieve the goal of liquidating terrorists and insurgents across the country to restore peace and security.
These men and women, Gen. Buba said, are from all the nooks and crannies of our country, and act shoulder to shoulder as a united force to achieve a common cause of destroying camps of violence in the country.
He said: “Just like our footballers are doing to make the nation proud in the ongoing AFCON, our musicians and artists are doing on the world stage and our athletes flying our flags high with pride. It is not beyond us with our resilient spirit to quench the fires of violence across the country. Unity is key to our victory in overcoming the security challenges confronting us as a nation. Indeed, it must be said that militaries don’t go to war, rather it is nations that go to war. Our nation is at war, and wars can be complex and ugly”.
Stressing that the entire population are citizens already witnessing some of the ugly trends of war across the country, Gen. Buba, said, it is time for citizens to close ranks with the military to win this war.
Citizens, he said, are critical in war, and must therefore be quick to realize their role in the ongoing war and act accordingly.
