The Nigerian military has eliminated more than 15,000 Boko Haram terrorists and bandits in the last three years, while over 130,000 Boko Haram fighters and their dependents have surrendered under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesperson, Dele Alake.
According to the statement, the figures reflect the impact of the administration’s ongoing military operations and non-kinetic interventions aimed at tackling insecurity across the country.
It explained that the surrendering insurgents had been processed through Operation Safe Corridor, the Federal Government’s rehabilitation programme for repentant insurgents.
The council said the military operations and rehabilitation programme formed part of Tinubu’s two-pronged approach to addressing the country’s security challenges.
It also disclosed that the President was determined to end the 17-year scourge of insecurity through a comprehensive Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan designed to strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture, improve military effectiveness and ensure a coordinated response to emerging threats.
The plan provides a long-term framework for aligning defence priorities, operational requirements, capability development and expenditure with Nigeria’s current and anticipated security challenges.
According to the statement, the initiative is aimed at repositioning the country’s security architecture towards a more coordinated, intelligence-led, technology-enabled and prevention-oriented system capable of addressing terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other forms of criminality.
As part of efforts to strengthen the military’s operational capacity, Tinubu has created four new Army divisions and restructured existing military formations.
The reforms are expected to expand operational coverage, decentralise military operations and enable troops to respond more swiftly to security threats across the country.
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The President has also approved the establishment of two additional Army depots in Osogbo, Osun State, and Amasiri-Edda, Ebonyi State, to expand military training capacity and accelerate the recruitment and training of new soldiers.
Each depot can accommodate 6,000 recruits at a time, bringing their combined training capacity to 12,000 soldiers.
The Osogbo facility is already accommodating 5,210 recruits undergoing training.
The expansion is expected to reduce recruit turnaround time and increase the number of soldiers available for deployment.
In further efforts to boost manpower, Tinubu approved the recruitment of an additional 28,000 soldiers and 50,000 police officers to strengthen the country’s security architecture and improve responses to criminal activities.
The administration is also investing in military accommodation and operational infrastructure to improve personnel welfare and effectiveness.
One of the projects is a 700-unit military barracks in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, designed to provide military personnel with a professional living and working environment and essential military infrastructure.
The facilities are expected to provide accommodation and operational support for personnel while strengthening the military’s capacity to maintain an effective presence in the area.
The statement added that the Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan would ensure that investments in the security sector were guided by clearly identified threats, operational requirements and national priorities.
It said the plan was expected to strengthen combat readiness, address critical capability gaps, optimise available resources and minimise unnecessary expenditure and wastage.
