The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has announced the establishment of the Nigerian Army 8 Division located in the northern part of Borno state.
Buratai made this disclosure on Wednesday while delivering a lecture at the National Defence College, Abuja.
Recall that the Nigerian Army Command in August 2013 had established the 7th Infantry Division in Maiduguri to boost the military’s counter-insurgency operation in the North-East.
According to Buratai, the establishment of the new division was part of a strategic plan by the Army to boost military operations against terrorists, particularly in areas around the Lake Chad Basin.
“The establishment of the new divisions is part of a strategic plan to improve on the Nigerian Army’s operational capabilities in the face of emerging threats to national security.
He confirmed that the establishment of the additional formations would bring the number of divisions in the Nigerian Army to eight.
“Emerging threats to the security of our nation which have been aggravated by the proliferation of armed groups have added to the task of the military in protecting the lives of Nigerians and the integrity of its territory.
“The focus of the Nigerian Army today is to find lasting solutions to these contemporary threats posed by the activities of the armed groups and their allies.
“The Nigerian Army, therefore, remains poised to the extermination of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria; today, they can no longer hold any territory as it used to be in the past that is why they have resorted to the use of IEDs to hit soft targets.
“We have established the 8 division located in the northern part of Borno specifically to clear the area of the remaining terrorists elements while another division, 6 Division, will be established in the South-South,’’ the boss said.
Though details of the new establishment were not disclosed, Buratai said the division would soon become fully operational with logistics and manpower deployments, adding that plans were underway to establish another division to be known as the Nigerian Army 6 Division with Headquarters in the South-South region of the country.
“The Army would embark on an ambitious expansion programme to address manpower needs of the force to respond appropriately to contemporary threats to national security.
“The Army planned to increase its personnel strength from its present 100,000 strength-force to slightly above 200,000 in the next eight years,” Buratai added. The Army boss went further to say 12,000 personnel would be recruited in 2016 alone to fill the vacancies created as a result of the new establishments in the army. According to him, the Army’s expansion programme was aimed at boosting its response capacity, while stressing that its capabilities to effectively deal with its present challenges were, however, not in doubt.
Buratai identified Nigeria’s weak industrial base, the effect of climate change on the environment and Nigeria’s porous borders as some of the factors fuelling armed conflicts in the country, pointing out that contemporary national security needs and Nigeria’s territorial size required more than the army presently had in terms of personnel strength.
“Citing of the Special Forces Training Centre in Buni Yadi in Yobe, one of the theatres of the Boko Haram war, is an indication of the Army’s determination to end insurgency,” Buratai noted. NAN
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