The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai says the Nigerian military will not engage in dialogue with bandits or any criminal to bring an end to insecurity.
Buratai stated this at a news conference to mark the commencement of the Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) 2020 on Wednesday at the Army Special Super Camp, Faskari, Katsina State.
He said the dialogue option was at the discretion of the country’s political leaders, not the military.
According to Army Chief, “May be when I drop the uniform, I may consider that but for now, it is not the military option.
“Some newspapers quoted me as saying that the troops should move into the bush and defeat them tactically; that is our mission and that is what we want to achieve. Anything short of that will only prolong the insecurity.
“So we are determined to deal with them in the bush or wherever they are, even in the town and cities. We will deal with them accordingly,” he insisted.
He described as false the allegations that the troops were not always responding to distress calls from some communities during attacks by bandits.
He said that the allegations were being promoted by those who had decided to politicise the security situation in the affected places.
While accusing politicians of always trying to drag the military into the political domain, the COAS, however, said that army personnel would continue to remain professional in the discharge of their constitutional roles.
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