Defence Headquarters has again dismissed alleged sentiments against the imminent inauguration of President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29 and his official taking-over of power from President Muhammadu Buhari whose eight years in office is billed to end. It warned that whoever was nursing any idea of disrupting the event should think twice or risk the repercussions.
The DHQ also announced that the Military High Command has constituted a Board of Inquiry to investigate the remote and immediate causes of a peaceful protest by some aggrieved people which was widely reported recently over allegations against its Sector Commander, Operation Safe Haven, Brigadier General Timothy Opurum by the Atyap ethnic stock under the auspices of Atyap Community Development Association (ACDA) in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State.
Director, Defence Media Operations (DMO), Major Genneral Musa Danmadami made the disclosure on Thursday in Abuja at the regular bi-weekly news conference on the operations of the armed forces across the six geo-political zones of the country.
He maintained that the Defence Headquarters had total commitment to a peaceful transition to a new government on May 29, and assured that the military and intelligence community were ready to counter any threat to national security.
Major General Danmadami appealed to law abiding Nigerians to ignore any sentiment, threats or apprehension being raised by elements he described as enemies of the nation imagining and predicting security threats, saying that the defence forces were ready to tackle them as usual.
Major General Danmadami stated that the military had not yet seen any practical reasons why the inauguration of the President-elect would hold, noting that the police and other security agencies, as internal security lead agencies, were working hand-in-hand to neutralise any possible threat.
He said military officers were always on standby and at alert to forestall any unwanted incident in the country before, during and after the transition process.
“As far as internal security is concerned, the police still remain the lead agency. The Armed Forces and other security operatives are only playing a supportive role. I will reiterate that we are on standby to make sure that nothing unwanted happens.
“The issue of threat to the security and stability of the country is addressed promptly. Elections have come and gone. For the presidential election, a winner has been announced.
“There is a transition committee in place comprising all members of the security agencies, ministries and agencies of government to make sure the event is held successfully and without a glitch.
“We don’t see reasons why there should be a problem during the activity. The inauguration will come and go and nothing will happen. We are not going to relent at ensuring there is peace and stability across the length and breadth of the country,” the DHQ spokesman said.
On reported peaceful protests where some aggrieved people in Southern Kaduna were seen carrying placards with inscriptions against alleged actions by the Commander of Operation Safe Haven, Major General Danmadami said that appropriate steps were being taken to get to the root of the matter.
It would be recalled that the Atyap people under the auspices of ACDA had faulted the security report on the recent killings in the area by the Sector Commander, Operation Safe Haven in Southern Kaduna, Brigadier General Timothy Opurum, saying his report was biased, lopsided, unbalanced and misleading. The group then demanded his immediate removal from the State.
Fielding questions from reporters at the briefing, Major General Musa Danmadami described the military as a national organisation that is always ready to help. He urged residents of the State to detach the military from any form of sentiment.
He explained that as a responsible organization, the military is always ready to help, maintaining that any matter reported to the high command against any of its personnel would be thoroughly investigated before any action is taken.
“Whether we like it or not, sentiment will always come up, particularly when things are not favourable to your disposition. As it is normal in the military, when such allegations are raised, a board of inquiry would be raised to investigate the allegations.
“And whatever the outcomes and recommendations, they will be made to those Commanders and it would be done accordingly,” he added.
He also spoke on some operational successes of the military in the past two weeks across the country.
According to him, within the period under review, troops conducted operations in villages in villages, forest, and mountains in the North-East, and other regions of the country, disclosing that troops of Operation Hadin Kai successfully neutralized 40 terrorists and arrested 25 in the North-East zone of the country, adding that about 510 Boko Haram terrorists and their families surrendered to troops.
”Cumulatively, within the weeks in focus, troops recovered 16 AK47 rifles, 15 dane guns, 6 QJC 88 AA guns, 1 QJC 88 barrel, 1 SMG, 2 DSHKAA guns, 2 NSVT AA guns, 1 GMPG, 1 pump action gun, 2 local made double barrel gun, 1 local made short gun, 51 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition, 26 rounds of 12.7 x 108mm, 280 rounds of 7.62mm NATO and 16 refilled rounds of 7.62mm NATO’’, he said.
Also recovered were 1 rounds of 9mm ammunition, 74 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 77 rounds of 7.62 x 51mm ammo, 182 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm ammunition, 15 empty cases of 7.62mm special, 14 empty cases 155mm ammunition, 46 assorted bullets, 4 Improvised Explosive Devices, and 48 AK47 rifles magazines.
Other items included 1 SMG magazine, 33 snipper rifle magazines, 4 extra GPMG barrels, several UXO to be used for IEDs, 7 x 122mm bombs, 3 x 120mm bombs, 3 x 105mm bombs, 2 x 155mm bombs, 1 x 105mm APF SDS bomb, 2 x 36 hand grenades and 8 metal pressure plate amongst others.
He added: “Troops equally neutralized 40 terrorists, arrested 25 terrorists as well as 8 terrorist logistics suppliers. Troops also rescued 131 abducted civilians while a total of 510 Boko Haram/Islamic State of West Africa Province terrorists and members of their families, comprising 54 adult male, 164 adult female and 292 children surrendered to troops at different locations within the theatre of operations.
“All recovered items, apprehended suspects have been handed over to the relevant authority further action. Equally, the rescued terrorists escapees and members of their families were profiled and given medical attention, while the surrendered terrorists and members of their families are also been profile for further action”, he said.
