By PHILIP NWOSU, Lagos and ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE, Kaduna
•FG assures on Chibok girls
The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Adesola Amosu has said that the Boko Haram insurgecny is a serious war and as such requires officers and soldiers who can think out of the box to win the battle.
He asked Nigerians not to sympathise with the military in its campaign against insurgents, but to pray for them, because they are trained to fight.
The Air Chief stated this while addressing 156 armed forces officers who graduated from Junior Course 77 in the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji Kaduna yesterday.
According to the CAS, the officers who were trained as Junior Commanders were likely to join the operation in the North-East, stressing that the capability of the Boko Haram terrorists cannot really match that of the military.
“I want to assure you that the war in the North-East of our country is not ‘moi-moi’. It is a serious war. This is a fight that concerns the sovereignty of our great nation.
“One of the Americans who came said, the Boko Haram terrorists are not sophisticated, they are complicated. How do you undo a complicated issue? Want to recommend to you, it is simplicity. Simplicity brings about clarity.
“The Boko Haram terrorists use Okada, they use Hilux. Now, what do we need to do? We need people that will think out of the box. Why would they use Okada and Hilux? They want to be fast, because the capability they have cannot really match our capability. That is why we talk about asymmetric; war between unequals. So the enemy with low capability will go for unusual tactics.
“So, as you go into the field, I want to advise you, what we need is something out of the box. It is not going to be conventional. We are going to look to you to bring about the changes that are necessary.
“For me, the Boko Haram terrorist activity is a huge opportunity for the armed forces to expand capabilities. It has been a long time that we have not built on the capabilities that we had at the inception of the armed forces. So, it is a big opportunity to expand capability. So, you should be excited to join those in the field.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government said it is doing everything humanly possible to ensure that the abducted girls from Government Girls Secondary School Chibok, Borno State are rescued and returned to the families.
The Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro who gave the assurance, said President Goodluck Jonathan is pained by the abduction of the girls and the inability of the security agencies to rescue them 60 days after they were abducted, but added that concrete efforts are on to get the girls back to their families.
He spoke at the at the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC) Oshodi, Lagos during the passing out parade of over 400 military personnel who were voluntarily retiring from the Nigerian military after 35 years in service or have done the first mandatory 10 years.
