From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, Tuesday said that the military and security agencies would go only after those that are bent on destabilizing the nations democratic elected government.
The CDS, made this known at a combined news conference after a meeting with service chiefs and heads of security agencies held at the Defense Headquarters, in Abuja.
Gen Musa, while noting that some protesters calling for regime change were sponsored, said that the military and other security agencies were trailing them to bring them to book in the shortest possible time.
He said “I want to appreciate Nigerians for their understanding, for their commitment to upholding the law and order.
“We have had issues in the past few days, but you can see that people have seen reason for us not to continue with the destruction, to stop the looting, to stop giving opportunities for others to subvert our nation and to destroy our nation.
“They have also seen reasons to join hands together with the security forces to make Nigeria better.
“We want to assure them we on this side that we are fully committed to Nigeria, we love the country, we are mindful of the fact that we have been equipped and so we are duty bound to protect the country.
“We are only after those that are against the states, not those that are innocent.
“So I want to make that very clear and we will continue to work together as a team to support Mr president in achieving his mandate of peace and tranquility in our dear country Nigeria,” Gen. Musa, who called for the collaboration of all stakeholders to ensure that they achieve success, called for calm, mediation, discussion, dialogue towards national unity and cohesion as one great country.
The CDS, while assuring that the Nigerian military was people centric in all its activities, said they were not interested in anybody being killed or injured or being prosecuted, except those that had crossed the line.
He said the joint news conference was an opportunity to show that the military and all the security agencies were working as a team in line with the mandate of the president.
“So this morning we’re here to give you some brief on the issue on ground, what we are doing, and then to have interactions with members of the Media,”.
Also speaking, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, said the operational commitment of the army was to deploy resources to combat the protests that had turned riots to ensure sustainable peace in the country.
Lagbaja said the army under his command was more concerned about bringing the country to a state of sustainable peace and security, adding that attention had not been diverted from its main operational commitment in combating terrorism and banditry.
“I checked the number of patrols that troops conduct, the number of ambushes that are undertaken on daily basis, the number of violent insurgents that have been eliminated, incapacitated and other indices, and it has not dropped by whatever measure.
“Also we have continued to expand the frontier of peace and security in Borno state.
“IDP’s are being returned back to Kukawa and some other places as I speak to you, which are indices of return to peace and stability.
“So the troops are not relenting in their operational commitment in the field on our contingency plan in the event that the situation degenerates.
“ I want to also assure you that our estimates looking into the future suggests that the situation will not degenerate but we need cooperation of every stakeholder in Nigeria to achieve that,”.
On his part, The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, said the navy had continued to work with other services and security agencies to ensure safety and security in the maritime domain.
Ogalla reiterated the commitment of the navy to sustain its operations in the Niger Delta to ensure that the nation’s meets its oil production capacity
He said the operations had led to increase in oil output and boost the revenue generation from oil that would help the nation to meet the needs of the citizens.
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, said the Nigerian Air Force remained committed to ensuring successful operations in all operational engagements of the armed forces.
He said the military was mindful of it commitment to defending the territorial integrity of the nation.