COAS lauds commanders, troops for operational successes

Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt,-Gen. Farouk Yahaya has commended Nigerian Army field commanders and troops for their operational successes in various theatres of operation across the country.

Gen. Yahaya gave the commendation on Tuesday at the opening of the Third Quarter COAS Conference 2022 holding in Abuja.

He noted that kinetic actions in the Northeast theatre of operations had continued to dismantle the cohesion of insurgents resulting in their massive surrenders.

The surrenders, he also noted had impacted positively on the morale of troops and greatly bolstered the confidence of citizens.

Yahaya stressed that efforts must be geared towards leveraging on the gains so far recorded to stamp out terrorism and banditry permanently.

He said the recent successful hosting of the Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) in the Southeast also impacted positively on the security situation in the geopolitical zone.

He observed that troops had continued to take decisive actions against secessionists.

The COAS assured that the army would continue to perform its roles professionally in collaboration with other services and security agencies as well as with state and local government authorities.

In the South-South region, he said the troops of Operation Delta Safe had continued to perform creditably with rejuvenated joint operations leading to the arrest of many suspects and their sponsors.

He noted that concerted efforts were ongoing to ensure that the nation derived maximum revenue from its oil ventures in the region.

Yahaya also told the conference that in the Southwest geo-political zone, the army had continued to contribute positively to the maintenance of a calm security situation in the area.

According to him, security arrangements in the region have been reinforced in collaboration with sister security agencies, particularly in the wake of the unfortunate incursion by terrorists into the region.

“More successes are envisaged in the region in the days ahead as concerted efforts are being undertaken to track and apprehend criminals and their sponsors.

“Our offensive operations in the Northwest and North Central geo-political zones have also been intensified.

“Accordingly, troops in conjunction with the Nigerian Air Force have continued to neutralise bandits and destroy their hideouts in recently-launched onslaughts such as `Operation Desert Sanity’.

“As troops continue to sustain the offensives on bandits and terrorists, efforts are ongoing to enhance training and inject more manpower and game-changing equipment into all theatres of operations,” Yahaya stressed.

The COAS said the conference would provide an important platform to further appraise the army’s performance and bring in fresh ideas to enhance its activities on all fronts.

He urged commanders and commanding officers from the manoeuvre and other arms and services to advance new strategies from the conference.

(NAN)