Following the refusal of the Nigerian Army to provide the needed security to officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and ensue that the country’s general polls holds, the army headquarters has finally responded to criticisms.
The Director Of Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, in an interview with the Voice of America (VOA) said the military institution is committed to securing the
country in time for the new dates of the general election, Tribune reports.
country in time for the new dates of the general election, Tribune reports.
Major-General Olukolade also expressed believes that the goal was achievable, given the increased regional cooperation that “NIGERIA is getting at the moment.
“We have committed ourselves to working to ensure that we achieve the result of making the whole place secured and every effort is being made towards that end in the sense that we are improving our fire power, and improving on collaboration with other forces. What should interest you is what is now different about it. For the period, we have said it has passed through different stages. You will recall that when the state of emergency was initially declared, we were able to curtail them and they simply left our shores and went elsewhere to improve on their mischief.
“Now we are enlisting the support of other nations around us and hopefully that should make it difficult for them to have any other place to escape to after this mission. We believe that every hand will be on deck. Not just the military, but everyone involved in securing our country will put in their best to ensure that we have adequate atmosphere for elections to be conducted. The military is equally a stakeholder in the promotion of our nation’s democracy and anything that is done now is in good faith,” Olukolade said.
Meanwhile, after a long silence and the repeated condemnation that trailed the Independent National Electoral Commission’s announcement of elections shift, the military was also taken a lot of heat from all nook and cranny of the country for refusing to provide security in order for the polls to hold as scheduled.
Recall that Olukolade recently lambasted the Amnesty International over its report that they had been aware of the impending Baga and Monguno attacks.