Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Ibrahim Attahiru has said more equipment, weapons and armoured fighting vehicles among others are required in order to curb and defeat security challenges confronting the country including banditry, kidnapping, insurgency and secession.
Attahiru stated this when the Senate Committee on Army, led by its Chairman, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume visited Army headquarters, Abuja as part of oversight functions.
“To curb and finally defeat these threats, the Nigerian Army requires equipment, weapons, armour fighting vehicles, platforms and various combat enablers,” he said.
Speaking on the current situation in the country, the COAS said, “As we all know, Nigeria is faced with a lot of security challenges that include insurgency in the North East, banditry in the North West and part of North Central as well as secessionist agitations in the South East and South-South geo-political zones of the country.
“I urge you to as a matter of urgency consider these critical needs as you legislate and appropriate funds. I will be counting on your support so that we can efficiently perform our constitutional roles and defeat all our threats.
“This courtesy visit is timely because it affords us the opportunity to interact and discuss issues that would impact on the funding of Nigerian Army activities and operations while also strengthening the cordial relationship between the National Assembly and Army Headquarters.”
In his remarks, Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Ali Ndume said that the army had a daunting task of mitigating the various security challenges confronting the country, adding that the National Assembly played an important in terms of giving the necessary legislative support to the Nigerian army.