The General Officer Commanding 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj- Gen. Garba Wahab, yesterday said that the military was closing in on politicians, who sponsor terrorism in the country.
He also said the Police alone cannot handle the security challenges facing the country.
“If we are told by the political leadership of Nigeria to leave the streets today, it will take me just a few minutes to order my soldiers back to the barracks. But the police cannot handle the situation alone; that is why we were called in the first place.
“My fear is that if we dismantled the roadblocks and leave the scenes, the situation might take a turn for the worst. We are enjoying peace and safety in Kaduna State because of the coordinated effort of Intelligence and the Nigeria Army,” he said.
Wahab spoke when he received the executive members of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna led by its chairman, Mr. Luka Binniyat, at the 1 Div Headquarters. Kaduna. He said the Army would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that Nigerians live in peace and are well secured.
“Terrorism is based on fear; the Army would do whatever it takes to make Nigerians sleep with their two eyes closed. The Army has a mandate to do whatever is within the ambit of the law to provide security for the people and ensure that the country remains united,” he added
Wahab explained that every operation, which had been carried out by the Army was based on information provided by the State Security Services (SSS).
“We are dealing with terrorists, who operate a complex command chain and understand their turf very well. Some of them who we have arrested are just the foot-soldiers, who do not even know one another. We believe that they have spiritual and political leaders and we have started getting at them.
“These people have well -stocked arms but we do not want to create panic in the public with revelation of arms we have recovered from them. In Zaria alone, in the house of the an influential man, we engaged these terrorists on several hours of gun battle before we subdued them. We discovered a pile-up of explosives, maybe about a tonne. We had to evacuate the entire area before removing the explosives.”