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From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The Military has identified and adopted civil relations as critical tool to tackle terrorism activities in the Northeast to end protracted violence in the area.
The Chief of Defense Civil-Military Relations, Rear Admiral Olusanya Bankole, disclosed this in an interactive session with journalists in Maiduguri yesterday at the opening of a four-day training on Human Security and Civil-military relations for troops of the Joint Task Force Northeast, Operation Hadin Kai.
He said the civil-military initiative is in sinc with the operational principles of the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa,which underscores the use of non-kinetic approach to complement military operations against terrorists, bandits and criminal elements in the country.
“The CDS believes that apart from kinetic efforts of ridding off the terrorists from our land, there is a need for a non kinetic effort to sustain peace,” Bankole disclosed.
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He explained that the training organized by the defence headquartres in collaboration with the British Defence Team, aims at sensitising troops in the frontline of the counter-insurgency and terrorism war on civil relations and bringing them closer to the civilian population.
“The average man on the street sees the military man as brutish or rough but this is not so. We are partners in progress. The military is being paid from taxes got from the civilian population,” he said.
Therefore, what the CDS is doing now is that we are sensitising people to erase that ignorance, and educate them that we are partners in progress with you; we are agency of government. And this is why you see, the military tries to do roads, boreholes and even escort farmers to farm’, the defence Chief of Civil-Military relations stated.
He said a medical outreach will also be held for community members during the training while participant’s are also scheduled to visit public school to show love to children during the period.
