The New Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Leo Irabor on Sunday led other Service Chiefs on an operational visit to the Headquarters, Command and Control Centre of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital.
Their visit to Maiduguri which is the home front for the war against Boko Haram comes a few days after they met with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The new service Chiefs also paid a courtesy visit on Governor Babagana Zulum where they promised to boost the fight against insurgent.
Governor Zulum, while addressing the Service Chiefs, called for aggressive collaboration with armed forces in neighboring countries of Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic.
Zulum also sought enhanced ties between the military and civilian population to bridge trust deficit and increase military’s access to credible intelligence gathering which he said, was key to success in the fight against insurgency.
The Governor assured the military chiefs of his administration’s commitment and support to the armed forces by way of supplementing their efforts in the ongoing war.
Zulum also urged the Service Chiefs to tolerate fair and constructive criticisms that might be made in good faith to enhance their productivity.
“In democratic settings, the military is an establishment which is subject to constructive criticisms by well meaning citizens. Therefore, you are expected to accept such criticisms in good faith with a view to enhancing the productivity in your operations” Zulum said.
Governor Zulum noted that, for the Nigerian military to achieve success, there should be robust coordination and collaboration between different security operatives, particularly between the Nigerian Army and Airforce.
The Governor also called on the military to ensure a continued and sustained operations to deny insurgents breathing space by blocking all routes to avoid terrorist moving from one region to another.
Leading the delegation, Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Leo Irabor assured that military operations will receive a boost in order to nip out the insurgents completely. He however craved the understanding of the civilian population in the fight against terrorism.
