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From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi (Retd) has explained why the Federal Government could not classify bandits behind the violence in the country’s North-West states as bandits, at least, for now.
Magashi who spoke to newsmen in Maiduguri after a long meeting with service chiefs and operational commanders in the counter-insurgency operation, said procedures for classification of the bandits as terrorists have not been completed.
“We have not classified them (bandits) as terrorists because of the procedures. There is a procedure for doing that and once the procedure is completed, we will do that,” the minister said.
He said he was in Borno with the Defence Chief, Gen Lucky Irabor and other service chiefs to see the progress of the counter-terrorism operation in the North-East,
“We are here to see the progress of our troops in the theatre of operation in the northeast, review challenges and other issues on the Operation.
“Remarkably, there is a lot of progress and the troops have done well. Some of the things we discuss is how to execute the next phase of our operation,” he stated.
He said problems that required immediate solutions and those that could be attended to in future were also discussed.
He commended officers and troops in the theatre for their courage and patriotism and assured them of government support and encouragement.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya and Naval Chief, Vice Admiral Auwal Gambo attended the operational briefings. Air Force Chief, Isiaka Amao sent a representative.
