Home » Armed Forces, Boko Haram, General Politics » CDS didn’t say B’Haram war’ll end by April —DHQ

CDS didn’t say B’Haram war’ll end by April —DHQ

Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh

The authorities of the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, have denied a statement credited to the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, that the military and security operatives would end the Boko Haram insurgency by April, 2014.

The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said in an electronic mail on Tuesday that the CDS’ comment was only a charge to the new service chiefs to tackle the threat of the insurgency effectively in order to avoid an extension of emergency rule in affected states by the National Assembly in April.

He said that the charge by the CDS should not be interpreted to mean that he was bragging and trying to create a false sense of hope.

Olukolade stressed that it was not possible for terrorism to be brought to an end anywhere in the world with a specific directive.

He said that the CDS was aware of the complex nature of the problem of terrorism and was optimistic that the problem could be brought under control with the vigour and readiness of the new service chiefs when he made the statement.

He said that the clarification became necessary in view of the public’s reaction to the comment by Badeh that the Boko Haram insurgency would be a thing of the past before April, 2014.

“The remarks made by the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal AS Badeh during the handing and taking over ceremony between him and the immediate-past CDS on the need to end terrorism by April this year, has expectedly generated a lot of comments, interpretation and reaction especially from the media. This has necessitated a clarification in the interest of the general public and for record purposes.

“The Defence Headquarters is concerned about the implications of the varying interpretations and insinuations given to the remarks of the CDS which was essentially directed to the new service chiefs.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the declaration was more of a charge to the new service chiefs to brace up to the expediency of sufficiently defeating terrorism and restore normalcy in all parts of the country to avert extension after April.

“The CDS statement should not be mistaken for a false sense of hope or mere grandstanding as have been imputed by some individuals.  Ending terrorism anywhere has never been and cannot be precisely determined by a directive.

“The remarks by the CDS was meant to motivate commanders and troops to work harder towards the restoration of normalcy as envisaged in the states under emergency rule.  Unfortunately, the charge has been taken too literally to mean definite promise to end terrorism by April,” he said.

Badeh had said while taking over as the new Chief of Defence Staff from his predecessor, Admiral Ola Ibrahim at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, on January 20, 2014, that the Boko Haram insurgency must be brought to an end before April.

The CDS had challenged the new service chiefs to ensure that the insurgency was brought to an end before April in order to avoid a constitutional problem in the country.

“The security situation in the North East must be brought to a complete stop before April 2014.

“We must bring it to a stop before April so that we will not have constitutional problems on our hands.

“We don’t want to go back to the Senate to start begging and lobbying. If we do our work cohesively, I can tell you General Minimah, you will finish your work in no time.”

“I can assure you (Minimah) that the Chief of Naval Staff and the Chief of Air Staff will give you all the support you need.  I can say confidently that this war is already won,” he had said.

-Punch

wp_posts

Related Posts

Website Pin Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google StumbleUpon Premium Responsive

Short URL: https://newnigerianpolitics.com/?p=35459

Posted by on Feb 4 2014. Filed under Armed Forces, Boko Haram, General Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Leave a Reply

Headlines

Browse National Politics

Featuring Top 5/1414 of National Politics

Subscribe

Read more

Browse Today’s Politics

Featuring Top 5/45 of Today's Politics

Browse NNP Columnists

Featuring Top 10/1568 of NNP Columnists

Browse Africa & World Politics

Featuring Top 5/2413 of Africa & World Politics

Subscribe

Read more

ADVERTISEMENT

Categories

FEATURED VIDEOS

Advertisements

ARCHIVES

February 2025
S M T W T F S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
232425262728  

© 2025 New Nigerian Politics. All Rights Reserved. Log in - Designed by Gabfire Themes