Nigerian Army to Station Special Forces at Shiroro, Chikum, Says GOC

By Laleye Dipo

The Nigerian Army will station special forces in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State and Chikum Local Government Area of Kaduna State as one of the strategies to check insecurity in the two states.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Major Gen. Danjuma Hamisu Ali, disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to the Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, at the Government House on Tuesday.

Ali said the decision was taken because cases of insecurity are very high in the two local government areas and the government is determined to bring it to the barest minimum.

He said the Nigerian Army is re-strategising to tackle the security challenges in many parts of the country, but said manpower shortage is hindering the quick implementation of the policy.

Ali explained that he was in the state as part of his tour of military formations under his command, with a view to understudying the security situation in the state and to get first-hand information about the situation in order to find lasting solution to them.

In his remarks, Governor Bello expressed the hope that the new service chiefs will work assiduously to bring insecurity to an end in the country.

Bello said the GOC has been fully briefed about the security challenges facing the state, adding that: “His response gives us hope that insecurity will soon be taken care of because I can see that with the new leadership in the military, they are really determined to address these security issues.”

He told the GOC that the current security challenges in the state and other parts of the country “is of great concern to government at all levels”, stressing that “the state is disturbed, the entire country is disturbed”.

Bello disclosed that the government always got privileged information about attacks by the bandits but the response from the security agents is very slow, adding that: “I strongly believe that it is due to lack of manpower.”