The Nigerian Army has approved the
promotion of 5,000 soldiers fighting Boko Haram insurgents in the
North-East and others involved in similar operations, as part of steps
to boost their morale.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur
Buratai, made the announcement on Monday in Abuja, at the opening of the
2015 Chief of Army Staff Third Quarter Conference, held at the Army
Headquarters Conference Hall.
Buratai said the promotion of the
soldiers was one of the many measures introduced by the Army under his
command to boost troops’ morale and reposition its operations.
He
added that it was also in line with the vision of the Army command to
reward gallant troops in any way deemed fit to boost their combat
readiness and willingness to serve their fatherland.
He said that troops serving in the
North-East and in other operations in the country would regularly
receive rewards from the Army’s high command for their selfless service
to the nation.
The COAS said, “Since we came on board,
we have introduced several measures aimed at encouraging our troops to
give their best in the service of their nation.
“The approval of the accelerated
promotion of 5,000 soldiers was to redeem the promise made by my
predecessor to the troops fighting insurgents in the North-East.
“It is my belief that this promotion, coupled with other incentives, will encourage our troops to fight for our country.’’
Buratai said that the Army, under his
watch, had recorded major successes in the fight against insurgency as
well as improved on its human rights credentials and the welfare of
troops.
He said that his vision of entrenching
professionalism and bequeathing a combat ready Army to the nation was on
course as commanders and troops had been fully briefed to key into the
vision.
He warned commanders and senior officers
to guard against acts that could undermine efforts of the present
administration to rebuild the image of the Army.
“You will all agree with me that the
renewed breath of change flows directly from the President in his
directive to our operations and other directive on his vision for the
Army.
“I therefore demand that you all react
with corresponding appropriateness with regard to the directive because
majority of our requirements within the limited period has been provided
for,” he said.
The COAS gave all Army officers and
soldiers December 15, 2015 deadline to shape up or face the medical
board for the appropriate disciplinary actions.
Meanwhile Buratai has said that the
military was still searching for the over 200 secondary schoolgirls
abducted by Boko Haram from the Government Secondary School, Chibok,
Borno State, on April 14, 2014.
He said that the troops had been
engrossed in the operation to flush out the insurgents in order to free
the Chibok girls from captivity, saying he believed the abducted girls
could still be in the forest within the shores of the country.
He added that the Nigerian Air Force and
other security agencies, including the Department of State Services,
were all involved in the efforts to track the abducted girls.
He said, “The issue of the Chibok girls
is very crucial; we are making every effort to see that we clear the
terrorists and rescue the girls in peace.
“Despite the progress that is occurring
in the theatre of operation, we know that the girls are somewhere; we
are suspecting that they are somewhere but we are not yet sure where
they are.
“As soon as this is concluded, we will
attempt to see what we can do to bring them back in peace. We will
continue to work with the mandate of the President to end the
insurgency.
“If we don’t see them, then, we can
refocus more seriously on other areas. We still believe that the girls
will be somewhere within the general area of the forest.”
Buratai assured Nigerians that the
Sunday explosions in Maiduguri, Borno State, would be among the last few
that would be counted before the end of insurgency in the country.
He said, “The blasts are among those
that would be the last in this issue. We will start counting very few
before we get to the end of this issue. We have knocked them off around
Yobe and southern Borno.
“We believe it came out from the
central; we are zeroing in on those areas. Immediately it happened, we
gave a directive that we should comb the area thoroughly. We have
knocked them off in northern Borno. The unfortunate incident is only
giving us a lead as to where they are coming from. You can see that it
has reduced drastically since we came on board.”
source: PUNCHNG
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