Lt-General Tukur Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff, has disclosed that the Nigerian Army will soon deploy some gallant soldiers to Lake Chad region in order to flush out remnants of Boko Haram insurgents.
According to Vanguard, Buratai, who made this disclosure in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the closing ceremony of Operation Crocodile Smile II, in the Niger Delta region, noted that only troops who excelled in the exercise would be involved in the clean-up operation in Lake Chad waters.
Speaking at the 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Buratai stated that the fight against the sect had been won, but stressed that there was need for the round up operation to make the area free of terrorists.
The army chief commended the Joint Military Task Force, JTF, in the North-East for its operations in Lake Chad region, stating that the troops would be deployed to cap the recorded success.
He said: "I want to assure you that most of the troops that have excelled in the operations across the region, we will redeploy, especially within the Lake Chad waters, to be able to flush out the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists that are within the Lake Chad island and other nooks and crannies of north.
"This is a task we must accomplish. The effort of the JTF in the Lake Chad region is equally appreciated. The remnants who are in the other areas with our contiguous states will have to be properly identified and flushed out in our joint effort."
On the Crocodile Smile II in the Niger Delta, Buratai said the goal of the operation has been achieved, adding that the troops involved have been given different skills to excel in the profession.
He enjoined the personnel to utilise the skills acquired during the exercise and tasked the troops to be professional in their operations.
"The conduct of Crocodile Smile II which is one of the major training activities of the Nigeria Army this year has been considering the nature of threats confronting the Niger Delta region. I am pleased to note that the key objective of the exercise has been achieved as clearly brought out in various report from the divisions.
"It is my hope that the skills you have acquired in this exercise, particularly in the areas of operation planning, conduct of land-based and riverine operations, inter-agency cooperation and equipment maintenance will be brought to bear positively in subsequent exercises and indeed in operations whenever deployed," he added.
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