Buratai: ‘Commitment to security total’

The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, Thursday met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting, which was held behind closed doors inside the President’s office, centred on efforts being made by Army authorities to restore peace to troubled parts of the country.

Buhari disclosed this in a message he posted on his verified Twitter handle, @MBuhari, after the meeting.

The President said his administration’s commitment to peace and security of the country was total.

Buhari wrote, “I received a briefing from the Chief of Army Staff this (Thursday) afternoon.

“The Army recently established a new battalion in Birnin-Gwari, Kaduna State, in addition to other deployments in troubled parts of the country.

“Our commitment to the peace and security of Nigeria is total.”

Speaking to State House correspondents after the closed door meeting, Burutai said he was duty-bound to regularly brief the President on the activities of the Nigerian Army.

Buratai reassured Nigerians that the Army would continue to collaborate with other security agencies to safeguard lives and property as well as protect the territorial integrity of the country.

He said that the recent deployment of a battalion of soldiers to Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State, was in line with the Army’s guidelines.

“We will continue to operate along with other security agencies that have been charged with the responsibility of securing our country.

“The deployment of a battalion to Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State is in line with the Nigerian Army’s order of battle that was approved in 2016 and we are going to implement all the directives of our Commander-in-Chief, in order to achieve strategic objectives of the Nigerian government.

“So, that is essentially why we had to deploy a battalion there and the soldiers will work alongside other security agencies,’’ he said.