From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Chief of Defence Staff(CDS), General Lucky Irabor, have said that the complexity of security situation in the country requires a multifaceted approach from all sectors of the society.
He has therefore called on government, security agencies, civil organisations, religious leaders, traditional leaders, the media and the general public to work as a team to end insecurity.
The CDS, made this known at a 2-Day Workshop with the theme “Use of Broadcasting in Complementing the Military in Conflict Mitigation and Management”, organized by the Defence Headquarters(DHQ), in conjunction with Zacklair Media Consultants Investment Limited.
Represented by the Director Training Defence Headquarters, Rear Admiral TY Pani, the CDS while noting that the military has been contending with fighting terrorists and other non-state actors in the last decade, said several military operations and exercises have been launched by the Armed Forces of Nigeria across the country since 2009, to tackle and subdue the security challenges.
To curb the menace, he said the federal government recently adopted a non-kinetic approach by developing a policy framework and National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, NAPPCVE.
The plan he said recognizes the integrated roles of the AFN with the larger society as critical, by adopting a whole of Government and whole-of-society approach adding that the combination of kinetic and non-kinetic efforts has led to a lot of success in the ongoing operations conducted by the AFN across the country.
Gen Irabor said that “one of the benefits of non-kinetic operations is that they can be used to achieve strategic objectives without causing unnecessary damage or loss of life which is especially important in conflicts where civilian casualties must be minimized”.
Also speaking, the Director General National Broadcasting Commission, Balarabe Ilelah, who commended the DHQ, for the workshop, called on journalists to avoid using anonymous sources to disclose intelligence to the public.
The DG, while soliciting the support of the media to military campaigns, said the use of broadcasting and complementing the military conflict mitigation and management or design is very critical.