Nigerian Army Creates New Division

As the battle against the Boko Haram sect enters its final stage, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen Azubuike Ihejirika has created an Army Division that would take over the war from the Joint Task Force (JTF) and this would mean other sister forces might be asked to withdraw from the operation.


LEADERSHIP recalls that since the declaration of the State of Emergency by President Goodluck Jonathan, the Army has been combing all the sect’s camps and this has, among other things, led to the killing and arrest of many of the terrorists, but not without casualties on the side of the Army.

The military has vowed to ensure the sect is weeded out just like the Maitatisine sect and this has led to the re-inforcement of its soldiers with those who returned from Mali.

The Defence Headquarters, which issued a statement yesterday in Abuja, signed by its Director of Information, Brig-Gen Chris Olukolade,   which disclosed this new development, states the JTF would hand over to the new Army Division today.

“The command of the ongoing internal security operations in the North East will tomorrow (Monday) enter a new phase as the control of the mission reverts to the Army Headquarters.   Accordingly, a new army Division has been created and will take off to continue the counter-insurgency operation with immediate effect. Coming three months into the mission to stamp out terrorism in the North East,” it said.

This development is in line with the plans laid out for the conduct of the operations to execute the mandate spelt out in the State of Emergency declaration by the President, Commander-in-Chief.  The phase being concluded on Monday was executed by a Joint Task Force composed by troops drawn from the Services of the Armed Forces as well as other security agencies who conducted Operation BOYONA”.

The statement disclosed further that Code-named Operation BOYONA, an acronym was derived from the names of the 3 states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa covered by the State of Emergency declaration, the effort was meant to constitute the first phase of the counter-terrorists operation.  And with this new development, “The Nigerian Army will now be solely in charge of the operations, but still under the routine guidance of the Defence Headquarters.”

A General Officer Commanding (GOC), in the rank of Major General is being proposed to command the new Division which will have its Headquarters in Maiduguri.  He is due to take over Command and the assets of the Headquarters of the Joint Task Force. The new Division is to continue with the conduct of counter-terrorists operations in the North East which comes under its Area of Responsibility.