In order to reduce security concerns around the nation, the Armed Forces have strengthened their strength, reassessed their training, and changed their order of battle, according to retired Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi, minister of defence.
Magashi made this statement on Saturday in Abuja at the 15th International Security Conference and Award (ISCA), which was put on by the International Institute of Professional Security (IIPS).
He declared, “In the armed forces, we have strengthened ourselves to the greatest extent possible, revised our training techniques and procedures, and evaluated our order of battle.
At the event with the theme: “Intelligence of Things: Working against Kidnapping and Terrorism,” the minister was represented by Maj.-Gen. Adeyemi Yekini, Chief of Defence Training and Operations.
Magashi claimed that the recent arrest of the terrorists responsible for the June 5 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo in Ondo State, demonstrated that the fresh offensive was beginning to produce results.
He claimed that improved cooperation between the services and other security organisations had helped to flush out criminals from their lairs.
He said that hundreds of thousands of displaced people had returned to their original homes, while more than 70,000 terrorists and their families had turned themselves in to forces in the Northeast.
He continued by saying that soldiers had been stationed on 24-hour patrols along the Abuja-Kaduna Highway and that Operation Forest Sanity had been started in the North Central and Northwest to search the forests.
He said that numerous criminal camps had been demolished and that numerous criminals and terrorists had either been apprehended or neutralised. He stated that numerous kidnap victims had also been saved.
Magashi also reaffirmed the military’s and other security services’ resolve to purge all types of criminality from the Southeast, South-South, and Southwest.
He claims that while crude oil theft, pipeline damage, and piracy are being aggressively combated, the operations of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are being checked.
“As we all know, terrorism never goes away. It could take longer than one might anticipate to end it.
“However, I can promise you that we are in control of the issue and that all of these difficulties will be resolved as soon as possible.
The Director-General of IIPS, Dr. Tony Ofoyetan, stated in his remarks that ISCA was an annual conference intended to discuss security concerns that would be beneficial to security professionals, industry, and the country as a whole.
Ofoyetan claimed that the occasion gave the institute a chance to recognise competent experts.
The attempts of security forces to put an end to terrorism and banditry had been repeatedly thwarted, he said, by saboteurs both inside and outside of the government and the nation.
He added that the three-armed terrorist organisations of Boko Haram, banditry, and herdsmen would have taken control of the nation if it weren’t for the professional tenacity of security personnel.
“As we all know, intelligence is considered to be the primary weapon used to win or lose any type of fight.
“For this year’s conference, we have chosen to look at intelligence from the perspective and functionality of things, outside of the typical box.
He stated, “This is carried out in keeping with the expectations of its characters.
