The Nigerian Army 81 Division has Commenced OPERATION STILL WATERS’ exercise in Lagos and Ogun States to address insecurity during the festive period.
The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division Nigerian Army Major General Obinna Ajunwa ‘during the flag off of Exercise STILL WATERS at Foru Terminal Ikorodu Road Ojota Motor Park, Lagos State stated that the whole idea of the Exercise was to assess troops in various aspects of leadership, CIMIC, critical knowledge of maneuver, and its application as well as command and control in Military Operations Other Than War in a multi-agency setting.
Acting Deputy Director 81 Division Army Public Relations, Major Olaniyi Osoba in a press statement made available to SpyeTV News on Tuesday said, the GOC, Major General Ajunwa noted that the Exercise would provide a good opportunity for conducting joint operations with other Services and relevant security agencies to strengthen inter-agency cooperation for the efficient conduct of operations in aid of civil authority.
General Ajunwa disclosed that the Exercise will be based on the Nigerian Army Forward Operating Base Concept and will involve Civil Military Cooperation activities as well as media operations. In his words, the objective of the exercise among others is to reduce to the barest minimum the prevailing security threats in the riverine environment such as piracy, illegal oil bunkering activities, pipeline vandalism, cultism, militancy, terrorism, and some other common sundry crimes.
He added that the Exercise will be intelligence-driven and will dovetail into real-time operations at any moment a potent threat is encountered.
The GOC assured that the waterways would also be secured because there would be military gunboats on patrol and soldiers would be deployed to water banks and jetties across Ogun and Lagos States.
Also speaking at the event, Commander 9 Brigade Brigadier General Isangubong Akpamoutia stated that a recent intelligence report revealed an unprecedented wave of criminals within our environs who have taken over some communities to perpetuate their criminal acts.
He disclosed that despite efforts of security agencies, these criminal elements have continued to engage in criminal activities such as kidnapping, banditry, militancy, cultism, and other crimes within the city of Lagos.
He disclosed that given this, the Brigade is tasked to conduct this exercise to curtail these criminal activities in conjunction with other Sister Services and security agencies as the yuletide approaches.
The commander 9 Brigade similarly noted that, the exercise will involve the physical deployment of troops to the field where they would conduct real-time patrols against criminal elements within the environment. Moreover, the exercise would test the unit and sub-unit commanders in battle procedures and decision-making processes regarding the employment of weapons and assets in internal security operations.
It will also test the ability of troops to communicate skills and communication security in an operational environment. “This exercise will also expose commanders to levels of service support available to them at the tactical level for Operations, among many other things,” General Akpaumontia said.
Also, the 2 Division Nigerian Army with her affiliated Formations and Units which spreads across six states of Edo, Kwara, Ekiti, Ondo,
Osun and Oyo states and some parts of Niger State has today 18 October 2022 flag off Exercise Still water 2 2022. The General Officer Commanding 2 Division Maj General Aminu Chinade in conjunction with the Commander Engineer Construction Command Brig Gen KF Sulaiman performed the flag off ceremony at Engineer Construction Command Step Up Headquarter in Ede Osun State.The Exercise was conducted with sister security services, the para-military and other security agencies in the State in attendance.
Furthermore, Exercise Still Water 2 will dovetail into real-time operation and is aimed at enhancing troops level of professionalism and preparedness in curbing security challenges prevalent within areas of responsibility such as kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, cultism, pipeline vandalism and other social vices .
Further to this, the Exercise will involve the effective application of the Nigeria Army Code of Conduct, strict adherence to the Rules of Engagement, Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) focused on communities the Army is operating on. Equally, the exercise will involve movement of troops and military equipment within the aforementioned states.
Earlier, the GOC paid a courtesy visit to the Governor of Osun State Alh Gboyega Oyetola in Government House Oshogbo. The Governor expressed happiness on the synergy existing between the security agencies in the State and urge them to continue in that direction .
