The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Toareed Lagbaja has charged troops of 6 Division, Nigerian Army (NA) to go after economic saboteurs and ensure they are completely stamped out.
COAS gave the charge on Friday in Port Harcourt while addressing troops during his maiden working tour to 6 Division Area of Responsibility.
According to the statement by Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General, Onyema Nwachukwu, General Lagbaja reiterated that the main focus of the Federal Government is economic recovery, security and infrastructural development.
The nation, he said, cannot experience meaningful economic recovery without having a firm grip of the oil industry, stressing that troops are critical to securing the nation’s oil industry.
The COAS further charged them to be loyal, disciplined and committed to their constitutional responsibilities.
“Your loyalty first is to the Constitution and Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” he asserted.
He used the platform to admonish troops not to violate the codes of conduct guiding the execution of their operations to ensure the safety and security of the society.
Lagbaja emphasized that he wants to continually receive positive feedback about troops of 6 Division throughout the period of Exercise STILL WATERS III.
During the visit, General Lagbaja commissioned landmark projects, as well as critical operational platforms needed to re-jig amphibious operations in the Niger Delta region.
He stated that the set of 10 Gunboats procured is the first wave, as efforts are ongoing to acquire more platforms that will improve the operational capability of the NA in the riverine domain.
The COAS later visited 6 Division Step Up Headquarters at Ahoada, where he stressed the importance of inter agency collaboration.
“We brought you here together with the personnel of other security agencies, so that you can work together in a multi agency environment, essentially to consolidate on existing interagency cooperation. You must work together, you must work as comrades” COAS averred.
Earlier at Ahoada, the General Officer Commanding 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Major General Jamal Abdussalam, appreciated the COAS for the strategic, moral and financial support to the Division.
He clarified that Exercise STILL WATERS III will provide an opportunity for commanders and operatives to carry out effective operational planning, logistics preparation and conduct of Military Operations Other than War (MOOW), as well as tactical amphibious operations.
Abdusaalam added that it will also focus on the conduct of civil-military activities geared towards winning the hearts and minds of the local populace.
