Polls: Army Deploys Troops, CDS Meets Service Chiefs

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya, has given a marching order to all commanders to identify vulnerable locations in their jurisdictions and take full control of those areas ahead of the forthcoming elections.

Press sighted military vehicles and personnel’s movements in Lagos, Ogun, Borno, and the Federal Capital Territory Monday.

Press observed not less than six branded Hilux vehicles around the Oba Akran axis of Lagos on Friday.

A similar military procession was seen at Mowe, opposite Mountain of Fire church, inward Ibadan on Sunday and at OPIC along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Monday.

Similarly, some residents of the Federal Capital Territory on Monday said they also saw the movement of military personnel and vehicles along Airport Road, Church Gate as well as Area 10.

In Borno,  the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police, and other security agencies commenced a five-day show-of-force in readiness for the February  25 presidential election.

Speaking with journalists in Maiduguri, the Commander, 7 Division Garrison, Operation Hadin Kai, Brig. Gen. Jafar Ibrahim, said the exercise was to boost the confidence of the citizens.

He said, “It is not new;  it is what we hold every four years and the aim of this is to boost the confidence of the populace.

“I am assuring all the citizens in the state that elections will hold and everyone will exercise his/her franchise.  The elections will hold in all the local government areas headquarters of Borno except for two but we have made plans with INEC in such a way that election will hold both at the headquarters and the IDP camps.”

In an interview with press on Monday, the Director, Nigerian Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, said the movement of soldiers and logistics seen across the country was to support the Nigeria Police Force to ensure a safe environment for the elections.

He added that this was in line with the Operation Safe Conduct recently flagged up by the Chief of Army Staff.

Onyema said,”The movement of soldiers and logistics is to give our support to the Nigeria Police Force in preparation for the forthcoming elections. This is also in line with Operation Safe Conduct which the Chief of Army Staff recently flagged off. The operation is taking place in all our divisions and formations across the state of the federation.

“All of this is to aid civil authorities to ensure safe and peaceful conduct of the election.”

Onyema urged Nigerians not to panic at the sight of soldiers and their equipment.

Onyema said, “What we are doing, which is to support the police, who are the lead agency in election security, is to prevent unscrupulous elements from truncating our hard-earned democracy

“Also, the Chief of Army Staff has directed commanders in the GOCs and at the brigade to identify flashpoints and dominate them. They were directed that a peaceful atmosphere must be created in such areas and citizens must vote peacefully in those areas.”

Meanwhile,  the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, on Monday met behind closed doors with the Inspector-General of Police, Director-Generals of the Department of State Services and National Intelligence Agency as well as the Chief of Defence Intelligence.

Irabor stated that the security agencies were also ready to ensure  peaceful atmosphere for the elections.

“We have just finished the meeting. The service chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police, the DSS, represented by the Director of operations, the DG, the NIA, and the CDI.

“Looking at the security for the elections and as you know, the police are the lead agency for elections security, and we have compared notes and assessed the entire situation and we are good to go.

“The assessment is that we are set on all fronts.  We had representation from the Independent National Electoral Commission, who, of course, you have interacted with, who has also told Nigerians and the world that they are ready for this election.

“So, by and large, we are good to go and I like to use the opportunity to assure Nigerians that on the security front, we are good to go on all fronts.”