The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has urged Nigerians to resist terrorists and report criminal activities to security operatives in the New Year.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, January 11, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations, stressed the importance of citizens being security-conscious and providing information to assist military efforts.
Buba, using the popular slang “no gree for anybody” among youths, urged Nigerians to stand firm against terrorism, a slang which is currently trending among youths as slang for the year.
“Make Nigerians no gree for terrorists this year. You see something, you say something and we assure them of doing something,” he said in pidgin.
He assured the public that the military would take action based on credible information, adding that the DHQ’s goal for 2024 is to locate and eliminate terrorists, denying them the ability to terrorise citizens across the country.
He said: “The aim of our ongoing operations remains unchanged and clear even in the new year 2024. We aim to find and destroy the terrorist wherever they may be hiding to ensure their enduring defeat. This would deny the terrorist the ability to terrorise or hurt citizens across the country.
“Our operations indicate that we are hunting the terrorist commanders and their senior leadership. Indeed, from their topmost leadership to the lowest commanders are dead men walking and we will stop at nothing until they are dead or surrender.”
He noted that military operations in the last two weeks had resulted in the killing of 86 terrorists, while 101 have been arrested.
“Our operations resulted in 86 neutralized terrorists with 101 of them arrested. Troops also arrested 30 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 21 kidnapped hostages.
In contrast to Buba’s comment, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the spokesman for the Nigeria Police Force, cautioned on Wednesday that the use of slang may cause a crisis in the nation.
Following his call for Nigerians to rise against terrorism, Buba said that the military’s goal for 2024 is to find and eliminate terrorists wherever they may be hiding.
He added: “The aim of our ongoing operations remains unchanged and clear even in the new year 2024. We aim to find and destroy the terrorist wherever they may be hiding to ensure their enduring defeat. This would deny the terrorist the ability to terrorize or hurt citizens across the country.
“Our operations indicate that we are hunting the terrorist commanders and their senior leadership. Indeed, from their topmost leadership to the lowest commanders are dead men walking and we will stop at nothing until they are dead or surrender.”
He noted that military operations in the last two weeks had resulted in the killing of 86 terrorists, while 101 have been arrested.
“Our operations resulted in 86 neutralized terrorists with 101 of them arrested. Troops also arrested 30 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 21 kidnapped hostages.
“In the SS, troops denied oil theft of the estimated sum of N736,115,470.00 only,” Buba added
