CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF MOVES TO TROUBLED NORTH EAST

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Kenneth Minimah, has shifted base to the North-East to personally supervise the war against Boko Haram insurgents in the zone.

It was reported that the Generals decision to join his colleagues in the other services in the zone was largely responsible for the recent successes recorded by the military.

There had been a public outcry over  the increased rate of the massacre of innocent civilians, including schoolchildren, by Boko Haram  terrorists in the North-East.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence and the Army, George Sekibo, confirmed the development on Sunday

Sekibo explained that Minimah’s  relocation  was in compliance with the committee’s resolution directing him to move to the  zone  to personally coordinate military operations there.

When asked what action the committee  would have taken if the COAS  had not heeded the February 26   directive, the committee chairman replied,  “What action do you want again? The Chief of Army Staff has already relocated.”

A source said that Minimah was collaborating   with the  Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Olusola Amosu, whose men provide air support for the Special Forces drawn from the Army, the Nigerian Navy, and others.

The  Senate  committee had in a two-page statement, explained that  it came up with the decision  that the COAS  should move to the North-East after a two-hour brainstorming session with him on the way forward out of the Boko Haram menace.

It also directed the   Army  to re-strategise on possible new ways of curbing Boko Haram excesses in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states by mobilising all available military resources for the purpose.

The statement read  in part, “The Senate Committee on Defence and Army condemned the atrocity being unleashed by  Boko Haram elements on innocent citizens   and in particular the massacre of students of the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi in Yobe State.

“The committee has by this, issued a directive that the Chief of Army Staff take the following actions (a), Re-strategise on possible new ways of curbing these excesses, (b) mobilise all available military resources and face the insurgents, relocate his office to Maiduguri for urgent actions to curtail the repeated attacks by the insurgents on innocent Nigerians.”