Chief Of Defence, Irabor, Says Nigerian Soldiers Not Trained For Banditry, Insurgency

The Nigerian Army says it’s not been able to holistically tackle the perennial issue of banditry and terrorism in the country because the soldiers are not trained for such unconventional battle.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, who made the disclosure, said the military has not been able to annihilate non-state actors such as bandits, Boko Haram, and ISWAP, who have been wreaking havoc in northern part of the country because the federal government did not train its soldiers to fight asymmetric warfare.

Irabor, who spoke  Thursday night at a dinner held in honour of officers of the Senior Course 43 of Command and Staff College Jaji, Kaduna, disclosed that the armed forces were developing new capabilities essential in tackling the security challenges across the country..

“Our involvement in containing asymmetric security threats in the past few years has highlighted the need to acquire new operational capability of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to deal with emergent threats.

“As you are aware, asymmetric warfare encourages the use of non-traditional military tactics, for which our previous training and operational doctrines were not well suited.

“Accordingly, we are developing new capabilities in intelligence and surveillance, which are critical for staying ahead of terrorists and insurgents, and other criminal elements in the society,” he said.

Irabor: Marching Adroitly To Address Insecurity

He explained that the use of Special Forces Units had proved to be critical in asymmetric warfare because of several unique capabilities it could bring into combat.

Irabor further noted that the armed forces would continue to review their training curriculum to accommodate new platforms, maintaining that their involvement in managing internal crises required a complex interplay of factors that military and security practitioners needed to focus on.

Irabo pointed out that a major determinant in winning an asymmetric war was for troops to understand the dynamics that defined the crises to make decisions effectively.

The participants of Senior Course 43 underwent 11 months of training at the college.

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact Us

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG