The Nigerian Army has warned soldiers on internal security operations within Lagos and Ogun states to steer clear of civil matters, saying soldiers and officers found getting involved in civil matters would be severely dealt with.
General Officer Commanding 81 Division of the Nigerian Army Major-General Peter Dauke, who gave the warning charged the soldiers to also respect rights of citizens of the country, especially those in the areas of responsibility.
Gen. Dauke said this while declaring open the 2017 81 Division officers combat proficiency competition hosted by the 9 Brigade in Ikeja, Lagos.
He maintained that military personnel must respect the rule of law and the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.
His words:
“Whenever you find yourself deployed on Internal Security Operations, you are not to involve yourself in civilian affairs . It is expected that you respect the rule of law and all fundamental human rights of everyone.”
Gen. Dauke, who was represented by the Commander 55 Division Signal, Brig.-Gen. Daniel Adeyemi, urged officers and soldiers to remain disciplined and committed to their jobs especially as the Division has a zero tolerance for indiscipline saying “you and troops place under your command are to discharge your duties professionally.”
He said that the combat proficiency test was important to ensure that Nigerian Army formations and units acquire the required combat skills, adding that officers must ensure that they were capable of applying the rudiments of military training in order to develop their powers of judgment especially as it was important to know when and how to act during missions.
Gen. Dauke said that the combat proficiency competition was aimed at promoting esprit-de-corps, inculcating a sense of discipline and responsibility amongst the officers of the rank of Second Lt. to Major, adding that it was also designed to assess and improve the standard of the officers of this cadres in terms of their leadership qualities of courage, will power, judgement flexibility and initiative.
The GOC said that the Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai was working to ensure that resources were channels towards troops welfare especially following the recent decision of the Nigerian Army to issue troops with uniforms and boots, urging them to take this as a springboard for them to do more and work towards achieving the vision of the Army Chief.
Earlier, the 9 Brigade Commander, Brig. Gen. Elias Attu said that competition iwa directed at improving leadership quality of junior commanders to prepare them for higher responsibilities.
He said that the training was in compliance with Army Headquarters forecast of event and and the 81 Division training directives for 2017.
