Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says people of the state are proud of the services of the Nigerian Armed Forces to the peace and security of the state and the nation, specifically in regard to their defeating Boko Haram terrorists.
Speaking Tuesday at the 18th Combat Service Support Training Week of the Nigerian Army Corps of Supply and Transport in Benin City, Governor Oshiomhole said that the Army had gone beyond the call of duty in protecting the territorial integrity of the nation, to also ensuring internal security.
“I cannot imagine what would have become of this state in terms of security if we have not had the support of the Armed Forces going beyond their conventional call of duty to support the Police, and the State Security Service to ensure the security of our people in this state. None of us ever thought that the issue of security was far more complicated. It goes beyond defending, as they say, the territorial integrity to now dealing with internal issues of insurgency in ways that are so complicated that just a few years back many of us would never have thought of the possibility of a full-blooded Nigerian carrying out what they would refer to as suicide bombing,” Oshiomhole said.
“We in Edo State are very proud of the accomplishment of the Nigerian Armed Forces in defeating Boko haram. For me, defeat in this sense is in terms of the impunity and the arrogance and the confidence with which they moved freely, hoisting flags and claiming more territories and our people were on the run. I believe today there is no doubt that it is they who are on the run, and the Nigerian Armed Forces have re-established the fact that we have the best Armed Forces in our continent.”
Speaking earlier on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff (Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai) Corps Commander (Infantry) Major General Ahmed Mohammed said that the Nigerian Army was fortunate to be led by a Chief of Army Staff who listens, consults and dictates the limits of action.