Olayemi Esan, Abuja
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor said on Monday that the military will be engaging in full kinetic actions in tackling insurgency and banditry in the country.
Irabor made this known at a One-Day National Defence and Security Summit with the theme: “Promoting Kinetic Operations as a major Plank for Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency in Nigeria” in Abuja.
The One day Summit which is initiated by Defense Headquarters is a one day programme to provide a platform for discussion on holistic approach to providing comprehensive natural solution to the enormous security challenges in Nigeria.
The CDS said while welcoming participants that, it is no longer news that the nation experiences a wide range of national security threats including terrorism, insurgency, farmers/herders conflict, ethno-religious conflicts, kidnapping and banditry.
He said that the threats had posed immediate and present danger to the corporate existence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, stability and sustainable development of the nation.
He said that the summit was also expected to promote possible deterrence from violent non-state actors, facilitate strategic communications and promote a cohesive information strategy on the kinetic approach.
According to him, the summit also seek to promote resource support for the kinetic approach, create awareness of the imperatives for past kinetic action, consolidate security and lastly consider other relevant measures to sustain security and stabilise the polity.
“The Summit is designed to quicken, support and consolidate the kinetic effort.
“Our strategic objectives are manifold and imbued to neutralise non-state-actors and other agents of violence in our communities, forests and countryside to stabilise the security situation across the nation, to facilitate law and order; and lastly to provide the enabling environment far peace and development.
“These presuppose that the military would need support from other security agencies during the operations and would be required to give support to others at different stages of the internal security effort.
He said that it was also to promote viable Civil Military Relations (CMR) structures in support of the kinetic effort.
On his part, The Minister of Defence, retired Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi, called for increased public support for the armed forces in tackling security challenges facing the nation.
Magashi described the summit as timely considering the current spate of threats to the nation’s territorial integrity including banditry, terrorism and kidnapping.
He called on stakeholders to ensure that all hands were on deck to support the current efforts to promote peace and stability, adding that several operations were on going in different parts to address the challenges.
He said the Federal Government is committed to ensuring safety of lives and property of the citizenry in line with the presidential directive to the service chiefs to nip the challenges in the bud.
The guest speaker, Amb. Abdullahi Omaki, who presented the Theme paper, “Kinetic Operations as a major Plank for Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency in Nigeria”, said the current challenges could only be addressed through an all-government and all-society approaches.
Omaki who is the Director General, Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, said it was time for the military to engage in full kinetic approach in tackling insurgency and banditry, adding that public engagement and enlightenment was needed for the kinetic operations to be successful.
He said that the country had the capacity to end the multiple challenges of insecurity, saying it must start with the comment of all stakeholders.
Omaki said there was the need to assess kinetic operation as a major plank for redressing the dislocation of the nation’s security.
According to him, kinetic operations are often associated with collateral damage especially on the side of the civilian population owing to the fact that war against terrorism is not a conventional warfare but It should, however, be part of a strategy that is intelligence driven.
“In the case of Nigeria, experience shows that the military, with its air power and specialised weaponry, is best equipped to handle counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency roles to secure the country.
“The tactics used by terrorists and insurgents, which involve extreme brutality against unarmed civilians and hit-and-run attacks on soft targets, have made it imperative and indeed urgent for the Nigerian military to adopt kinetic action in their counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency efforts.
“One of the lessons from the Philippines and Indonesia is that kinetic action can be successfully employed to neutralise terrorists and insurgents.
Among those that attended the summit: The Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari CFR, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio and Petroleum Resources, Chief Diorite Timipre Sylva, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta and Royal Father Ooni of Ife ably represented by Oba Adebisi Layade.