Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, says the Nigerian Army under his watch is making efforts to make every region in the country safe and secure.
Lagbaja said it was his desire that Nigeria will experience peace in which the citizens can do business even during odd hours.
The army chief said this during an interactive session with media executives on Wednesday in Ibadan, Oyo State, as part of activities marking the 2023 Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL).
Lagbaja said, “I know that people desired to go back to their farms and live normally as law-abiding Nigerians. We will work to defeat banditry and kidnapping which are being operated freely in some communities.
“We will therefore entrench there in the North-West the stability we have achieved in the North-East region. We want a situation where people can wake up by 2 a.m. and be confident to engage in their legitimate business.
“In those days, truck owners/drivers transport fish from Baga to Onitsha and leave Baga by 2 a.m. without any fear of insecurity.
“So, we want to return to that era where people live peacefully in Plateau and parts of Southern Kaduna and other places where we are currently experiencing security challenges,” he said.
Speaking about the situation in the oil-rich Niger-Delta region, he said, “The Army will focus on the situation in the Niger-Delta region, just as it will not also lose focus on what is happening in other parts of the country in line with the mandate of the current government.”