We will not fail Nigerians in curbing threats to national security – COAS

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahayahas assured Nigerians that the Nigerian Army will not fail in delivering on its constitutional responsibility in mitigating threats to national security.

Yahaya gave the assurance while addressing troops at the fire power demonstration phase of Exercise Mugun Bugu on Friday at Kontagora, Niger State.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, made this known in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

The COAS said that army would continue uphold its mandate to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation, as well as provide support to civil authority.

He said that the exercise was the first of its kind, where all combat arms and combat support arms of the Nigerian Army Training Schools come together for a final joint training exercise.

Yahaya reiterated that training was key to professionalism being one of the pillars of his philosophy of command.

According to him, it is only through training that troops could internalise, practice and perfect the employment of skills and competences, along with requisite equipment, communication and other enablers for the effective conduct of operations and discharge of the constitutional mandate of the Nigerian army.

The army chief said the combined exercise would ensure effective and result-oriented training that would incorporate multimodal training activities aimed at tackling contemporary security challenges, as well as, eclipsing threats that may arise in future.

He therefore, urged the troops to put lessons learnt from the exercise into practice in their respective formations and units, as they tackle threats to national security.

Also, speaking, the Commander Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Maj.-Gen. Stevenson Olabanji, said the command would continue to engage in training activities geared towards supporting army to actualise its drive for a professional and responsive army.