Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has tasked men of the Nigerian Army to sustain the tempo in the fight against the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents with a view to ending the menace.
He made the call at the battle inoculation and fire power demonstration, Camp Highland exercise for cadets of Short Service Course (SSC) 43 (Army), Kachia, Kaduna.
The Governor represented by his Deputy, Architect Barnabas Bala Bantex, said he was impressed by the courage and commitment displayed by the cadets during the exercise.
He also commended the successes recorded by the joint security operatives leading to the recovery of over 5,000 animals from cattle rustlers in the state.
“I’m impressed by the courage and commitment displayed by the cadets. And I believe this is the military that we always know, but I think what we need to do is to give the political backing to them in order to succeed in their efforts to rid this country of all forms of criminality,” he said.
The Commandant, Nigerian Defence Academy, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim, said the essence of the Academy was to build an officer comprehensive enough to enable them survive in all kinds of condition irrespective of challenges they encounter in battle front.
“They are equipped to survive it and improvise where necessary to achieve the maximum impact in the battle field. The more importantly, they have come a long way from the beginning of their training when we extracted them as raw civilians and have gone through all the stages. And I can confidently say that cadets of the 43rd SSC of the Nigerian Defence Academy are matured enough to be graduated,” he said.
He however charged the officer cadets to be good ambassadors of the academy at all times and always show patriotism and commitment to their fatherland.
Earlier, the Director of Military Training, DMT, Brigadier General Okwudili F. Azinta, said the battle inoculation and fire power demonstration was designed to expose the officer cadets to real battle situation.
Azinta who was represented by the Cadet Brigade Commander, Brig. Gen. Bala Isandu, said the officer cadets who commenced their training in January and scheduled to pass out September this year underwent field training exercise such as confidence building training and practical application of map reading and various phases of war, field firing, live grenade throwing and now the battle inoculation.
Meanwhile, highlights of the highland camp exercise include firing of
live ammunitions of various weapons on selected targets.
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