Weather, logistics hamper war against insurgency- Chief of Defence Staff
Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonishakin
The Defence Chief stated this to State House Correspondents after a security meeting of Service Chiefs with President Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that the Armed Forces were committed to meeting the December deadline set by the President despite the challenges.
“ It’s a normal consultation to intimate him of the issues on ground, we briefed him on the security situation on ground after a 60-day review and we had to brief him on the challenges we have and ensure that the mandate we have is properly delivered,” he said.
Asked to mention the challenges, he said: “of course, the challenges we are looking at are the issues of probably the weather as it were and some other logistics that we feel we should have so that the mandate can be quickly delivered.”
President Buhari had made a similar reference to weather in a recent interview with Al Jazeera Television, a Cable TV Network.
According to the Chief of Defence Staff, the President was happy to receive the periodic briefing and vowed to address some of the challenges they were having.
Deadline Extension
He explained that the Nigerian government was not yet considering an extension of the December deadline.
“We have not said that. The mandate is that we should clear Boko Haram from the occupied territories and ensure that we reclaim all the lost grounds. That is exactly what we are doing.” The C-D-S noted.
When asked if he was sure the mandate was feasible, he said: “it is a military operation and military operations have time-lines and these time-lines, we are working on the mandate assiduously”.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Olonishakin was also asked the state of the support pledges promised by the United States and United Kingdom:
“When we get there, we will let you know. They have been involved in some capacity building and of course when we get the tangible ones, we will let you know about it.” He said
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Alhaji Aliyu Ismaila who also attended the meeting said that the President encouraged the military to continue the good work it was doing in the North East and South-South zones of the country.
“The directive is that we should continue what we have been doing and in the next few days, there will be another meeting. But by and large the President is excited and confident that the leadership of the Nigerian Armed Forces will do us proud,” Alhaji Aliyu said.
All the Service Chiefs and National Security Adviser, Gen Babagana Munguno (rtd) were present at the meeting.
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