The Nigeria military has said it lacks the workforce to have a huge security presence in all Nigerian schools to avoid terrorist’s invasion or abduction of pupils.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday vowed to sanction security chiefs if Boko Haram insurgents abduct school children in any part of the country, especially the northeast again.
The military’s claim was made by the Defence Spokesperson, Brigadier General John Agim, who appeared on Channels Television Breakfast Programme, Sunrise Daily on Friday.
He said due to the huge land mass, especially in the North East which is volatile to attacks, it is difficult to deploy troops to schools.
Agim said, “The military doesn’t have the manpower to deploy (troops) to all the schools. It is not possible.
“People don’t know the land mass that we have in the North East and the number of troops that are deployed in that place. The land mass is very large,”
He commended efforts of the Federal government which has authorised civil defence and the police officers to secure schools in Northeast Nigeria.
He, however, maintained that the military cannot deploy to schools like some people are demanding.
“It is very difficult. It is not possible,” he said.
The Defence Spokesperson also blamed this lack of sufficient man capacity on the abduction of 110 schoolgirls from Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State.
Explaining the role, which the military played in securing the Northeast, Agim said the military wasn’t negligent as being rumoured but the troops were redeployed for other assignments few weeks before the terrorists unfortunately invaded the school in Dapchi.
“Where the military was deployed in Dapchi, they (the troops) were taken away. They were deployed for other assignments. So, it is possible that the Boko Haram can operate in a place for a long time without the military presence.
“They were withdrawn out of Dapchi for another assignment on January 10 and this attack took place on February 19,” he said.
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