Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin
By Chiemelie Ezeobi
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, has reiterated the commitment of the Armed Forces to stamp out the threat of insecurity as well as the echoes of terrorism that has recently confronted the nation, even as he added that they are winning the war already.
His disclosure that the security agencies are winning the war might not be unconnected with the recent raid carried out on the Boko Haram Communication Centre where their equipment were confiscated by the Joint Task Force.
The CDS reaffirmed this Friday during the unveiling ceremony of the Nigerian Army (NA) Headquarters Dog Centre at Ipaja, Lagos.
Said to be the first of its kind in the entire West African Sub-region as well as the African continent, the dog centre in Lagos currently houses 38 dogs of different species including the Labrador, Belgium Monreo and German Shepherd and are to assist in counter-terrorism measures.
With its creation, the dog centre is expected to assist the army in conducting searches and help eliminate mistakes since it has been trained in the act of detection of packages like the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and narcotics, search and rescue, detection of human remains and patrol.
According to the CDS, the centre is aimed at combating the security challenges and aptly demonstrates the zeal of the NA to tackle insecurity in line with the president's transformation agenda.
He said, "We must defeat terrorism and ensure that the peace that holds Nigeria together does not disintegrate.
"We can no longer remain on our oars. Therefore, our security agents must remain very active and efficient so that the few people who may decide to veer into crime will be nabbed."
On the aim of the dog centre, the CDS said, "Explosives can be packaged like any other luggage and you and I might not know because our senses are not well developed like dogs.
"But when we introduce dogs to the equation, we will be able to detect such packages even when they are hidden."