On this day in 2013, the former Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan boosted the strength of the military in the insurgency infested North-east after indications emerged that about 8,000 troops were being sent after Islamic Boko Haram sect, ravaging the region.
The troops, according to security sources, will form the nucleus of an army division to be established in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.
The newsmen gathered that the need to establish the new army division in the stronghold of the Boko Haram Islamist group is to firm up the successes recorded by special forces of the Joint Task Force (JTF) which have reportedly dislodged the insurgents from the forests and mountains of the North-east.
The move came to light barely 48 hours after the United States (US) said security efforts were necessary to protect innocent Nigerians, prevent Boko Haram’s acts of violence, capture and prosecute its leaders.
The US under the then Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, who gave the recipe to ending the insurgency challenge in Nigeria on behalf of her home government, spoke in Abuja at the opening session of the US-Nigeria Bi-national Commission’s Regional Security Cooperation Working Group.
Also reacting to the move, an ex-Inspector General of Police and the then Chairman of Police Service Commission (PSC), Mr Mike Okiro, advocated the establishment of a civil force to complement the efforts of security agencies at the grassroots to curb terrorism and other crimes.
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