• ‘Boko Haram insurgents defeated…’

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai has said the Army is planning to collaborate with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to attain peace and stability in the Northeast. Buratai disclosed this at the weekend in Maiduguri, while speaking at a two-day Civil-Military Coordination Roundtable, in Borno.

According to him, the Nigerian Army is tasked with internal security operations in aid to civil authority.He noted that a cursory examination of conflicts across the globe indicated a paradigm shift from “inter to intra-state conflicts.”

Buratai, who was represented by Chief of Operations and Training,Maj-Gen. David Ahmadu, said: “The Army, is at present, engaged in a number of military operations other than war in several theatres across the country.

“In responding to these security challenges of ensuring a secure and safe Nigeria, the Army has continued to collaborate with CSOs and support local and international populace.”He said that the requisite synergy with civil society, however, depended on robust civil-military relations.

In a related development, Buratai on Thursday declared that Boko Haram insurgents were being defeated, as they were caught with hands in frontlines of Northeast.Buratai, while addressing troops of 21 Armoured Brigade Nigerian Army at Bama, Borno State, said: “to sustain the defeat of Boko Haram, troops should remain loyal and patriotic to complete the twin Operations of Lafiya Dole and Last Hold (OLDLHs).According to him, insurgents can no more dislodge, displace and dislocate any of the soldiers in the frontlines of Sambisa Forest and Camerounian borders areas.