The chief of army staff gave the assurance during an Inter-Denominational Church Service which was used to mark the 2014 Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Catholic Church, Mogadishu Cantonment in Abuja.
Minimah, while fielding questions from journalist on security issues at the service titled: "Combating Current National Security Challenges through Collective Effort" said: "We are going through troubled times but they will soon come to an end and we shall be glad at the end. I promise you it will come to an end and we will be victorious. The war against terrorism is a collective effort of all Nigerians and I appeal to all Nigerians to join hands in fighting this new war of terrorism. I want to thank Nigerians for standing by us, for their perseverance. I also appeal to them that terrorism is a new warfare. It requires time and patience for us to defeat it. I am very much optimistic that we will deliver. We will win the war. What we have in the North-East will certainly come to an end soon. Our job is to continue to protect and preserve the unity of this country and making it stable for prosperity. Our job is also to uphold our constitutional role, which is to defend the country’s territorial integrity from insurgency and external aggression, and provide aid to civil authority. That, we will continue to do".
The army chief while expressing optimism that terrorism would definitely end cited the Niger-Delta, Abia and Benue States, which had similar crisis before but have now become peaceful. He said the army would overcome terror as it has always done in the past.
Minimah revealed that in order to achieve victory over insurgents, it has started purchasing new equipment, training its personnel as well as the provision of a good welfare packages for its troops. He explained that the army decided to have a low-key celebration for NADCEL 2014 following the immerse security challenges currently bedeviling the nation.
"A man does not celebrate his birthday if he is bereaved. He has to just mark his birthday. I want to salute the gallantry of our troops, who have paid the supreme price in the course of defending their fatherland. These officers and soldiers had died in their duty posts and we will not forget them" he said.
Similarly, Rev. Dawuk Danfulani, the Director, Army Chaplain (Protestant), in his sermon, expressed the need for Nigerians to faithfully unite and seek God’s support in order to end terrorism.
The army chaplain urged citizens to collectively condemn and expose evil deeds in the society, noting that even if the person executing such did was a close relation.
"If a person is pulling down the system that is supposed to stand, you have the right to expose him or her. If we condemn collectively and expose evil-doers, they will be afraid to do evil" he said.
Danfulani, who took his reading from the second book of Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 11, urged Nigerians not to be ignorant as children of God.
"So, we should unite and fight these perpetrators of evil. As Nigerians, as Christians and as members of the Armed Forces, since we have known the source of our problem, we should unite spiritually to fight the enemy. We must patriotically defend what God has given us,and God will ask us and punish us if we fail to defend it" Danfulani said.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army which was established in 1863, celebrated its 151 years of existence. Prayers were offered for the country, President Goodluck Jonathan, the Armed Forces as well as deceased military personnel. The name "Nigerian Army" was first used 100 years later when Nigeria became a republic in 1963.
It would be recalled that the Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- General Kenneth Minimah, on Friday March 20, 2014, gave an assurance that the Nigerian Army will not rest until terrorism was brought to an end.
Courtesy:
naij.com
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