Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Brig.-Gen. Abdulmalik Bulama Biu, has appealed for cooperation of the media to counter false information on military operation against the Boko Haram terrorists in the North East part of the country.
Gen. Biu who spoke at an interactive session with journalists, in Maiduguri, on Wednesday, said the counter-insurgency operation in the region should be seen as a collective one to return peace to the troubled region.
“The business of fighting terrorism is not what a group or individual can do but it involves collaboration, engagement and greater patrotism, commitment of all to quickly put this unfortunate thing behind us,” he said.
He said it was possible to defeat Boko Haram since Nigerians were greater than the population of Boko Haram.
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He said the insurgents believed that criminality should be the order of the day and that coming generation of Nigerians “should not meet anything on ground.”
The GOC said the military recognised that engagement with journalists was crucial to the war against terrorism and insurgency anywhere in the world. He, therefore, called on media practitioners to show more patriotism in their reportage.
He said the counter-insurgency operation was almost reaching its advance stage, urging the press to see any issue arising from military operations as part of development process of its engagement in internal security.
Gen. Biu was recently deployed to the 7 Division of Nigerian Army Maiduguri as the fifth GOC.