The Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) have brought critical stakeholders together to address the menace of terrorism, insurgency and incidence of electoral violence in Nigeria.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, commended the initiative of NEPAD to partner the NARC to enable stakeholders to formulate strategies to counter the scourge of insecurity for peace, security and the development of the nation.
Buratai pledged that the army would continue to uphold the sanctity of the territorial integrity of Nigeria in line with their oath of allegiance.
He stated that the personnel of the Nigerian Army were deployed in all the geo-political zones of the country to assist the Nigeria Police in keeping the peace.
According to him, significant progress has been made in ensuring that lives and properties of citizens are secured particularly in the North East where Boko Haram insurgents have been denied physical occupation of any Nigerian territory.
“The Nigerian Army understands and fully subscribes to the fact that in keeping the peace either at the national or global level, troops must carry out their tasks in line with extant Rules of Engagement.
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“Where there are infractions or violations of human rights of the citizens, appropriate disciplinary measures are applied. This is aimed at upholding and maintaining the trust and confidence of the populace as well as the dignity and professionalism of the army,” he said.
Buratai said that the incidents, responses and initiatives of the various agencies involved in tackling the challenges required understanding by all the stakeholders for the country to move forward.
“I will therefore like to commend NEPAD for its strong advocacy for peace, security and safety for all persons in the country which has helped to bring about relative peace and economic growth.
“I also wish to commend the NARC for its laudable efforts toward achieving its core mandates of finding research based solutions to security and defence challenges which has attracted this collaboration with NEPAD,” he added.
The two day summit, which commenced on Tuesday in Abuja, has the theme, ‘Terrorism, Insurgency and Incidence of Electoral Violence in Nigeria: Role of Security Agencies’.
Among the stakeholders at the summit is Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha and former Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Atahiru Jega.
Other critical stakeholders include heads of government agencies and Parastatals, heads of para military organizations, PSOs, officers from Army Headquarters among others.
