One month has passed since President Muhammadu Buhari gave the military three months to put an end to the Boko Haram carnage in the North East.
Buratai, answering questions from journalists shortly after declaring open the 10th Nigerian Army Finance Corps Biennial Training Conference, 2015, held in Kaduna, noted that with the military winning the war on daily basis, it was possible to meet the deadline.
Burutai said: “We will end Boko Haram very soon; it is possible to meet the three months deadline. We are very close to the insurgents. We are defeating them on daily basis.”
He told officers and men that the Army has keyed into the change mantra of the present administration, especially in financial management, through the introduction of The Single Account, TSA.
Speaking on the theme: “Impact of evolving Federal Government financial policies on operational roles of the Nigerian Army amidst dwindling budgetary allocation,” Burutai said TSA has given the military new ideas on how to make judicious use of its funds.
According to him, the change slogan of the Federal Government has brought to life existing financial policies that were dormant in the country over the years.
This is as troops have arrested 33 suspected Boko Haram food suppliers in Damboa, Borno State.
The Army, in an operational update through its Director of Army Public Relations, DAPR, Col. Sani Usman, added that more abducted persons, including women and children, were rescued in the course of operations as troops also cleared Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs from a village.
Boko Haram accomplices, the Army said, were arrested following intensive patrols and vigilance of troops.
“The 33 suspected Boko Haram accomplices were arrested with large quantity of food stuffs meant for Boko Haram terrorists at Korode.
“Nine of the 33 suspects are from Korode, five from Auma, 10 from Geargube, four from Kausautaya, four from Bulbul and one from Dolomi villages,” Usman said.
He said, although, some of the suspects claimed to be traders; they did not however deny buying and selling food items to the terrorists.
The Army said interrogation was still ongoing to further unravel the level of involvement of the suspects.
Usman said troops discovered and successfully destroyed IEDs planted by Boko Haram terrorists at Sandia village, along Korode road.
“Furthermore, more men, women and children were rescued from the terrorists at Buduwa area, along Bama axis,” he added.
According to him, the rescued persons were part of those abducted at Buduwa general area in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, which was earlier occupied by the terrorists.
He said the Army was trying hard to ensure the safety of the rescued persons but not taking anything for granted as some of them are suspected terrorists.
In a related development, Nigerian Air Force, NAF, yesterday, said it has perfected arrangements to ensure that troops and equipment do not suffer high risk level again in the ongoing war. Chief of Air Staff, CAS, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who made the disclosure in Abuja, warned all NAF commanders to ensure strict accountability for all personnel and equipment under their care.
Abubakar was speaking while declaring open a standards and evaluation seminar with the theme: “The Imperatives of Standards and Evaluation in the Nigerian Air Force.”
The Air Chief, who regretted that NAF had lost valuables and personnel to the war, said the ongoing air bombardment would continue to deny terrorists freedom of actions and the opportunity to capture military facilities or slaughter citizens.
“So far, the air operations in the North East are creating the enabling environment for the army to move unhindered in the conduct of their operations. We have substantially degraded the capacity of the terrorists to move freely in hilux vehicles, ravaging and murdering innocent citizens. God willing, they will never move freely again to slaughter our citizens or capture our military units.
“We will continue to do our utmost best to meet our statutory responsibility of defending the territorial integrity of the nation, acting singly or in concert with other security agencies,” he said.
Meanwhile, Defence Headquarters, DHQ, yesterday, asked the Presidential Committee on the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons to urgently implement the modalities to stem small arms proliferation in the country.
A statement by DHQ, through its Director of Defence Information, DDI, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, said Chief of the Defence Staff, CDS, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, made the call when the committee visited him in Abuja.
The CDS emphasised on strategic importance of this process to peace in the country, considering the presidential directive to end Boko Haram insurgency be fore the end of the year.
The CDS urged the committee to pursue the agenda to a logical conclusion adding that it was imperative for the committee to avail itself of the opportunity of collaborating with the armed forces in furtherance of its mission.
The committee, which was set up in April 2013, was designed as a rallying point in the efforts of government to stem the rise in small arms importation into the country to ensure the implementation of the international protocols endorsed by Nigeria and other ECOWAS member countries.
Speaking earlier, the committee chairman, Ambassador Gabriel Imohe told the CDS that his visit was to seek ways to foster mutual working relationship with the military with a view to working with existing security agencies to build synergy and curtail incidences of illegal importation and use of small arms and light weapons.
He noted that the committee had since created institutional framework in the country to tackle the issue in accordance with ECOWAS’ Convention recommendations in small arms
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