The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, has said that the military will not use force to rescue over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram on April 14 because of the need to save their lives.
Badeh, who received members of the Citizens Initiative for Security Awareness outside the Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Monday, insisted that the military had since located where the girls were being held.
The CDS assured that the military had the capacity to bring back the girls alive and therefore advised that it should be allowed to do its work.
He said, “We want our girls back; our military can do it, but where they are held, we cannot go with force.
“If we go with force, what will happen? they will kill them . So nobody should come and say the Nigerian military does not know what it is doing. We know what we are doing; we can’t go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back. So we are working.
“The good news for the girls is that we know where they are but we cannot tell you military secrets here. Just leave us alone; we are working and we will get the girls back.”
When prodded by journalists to expatiate on what he meant “that ‘the military would not use force’’ to free the girls, the CDS replied, “That would be telling you our secrets and our strategy. We cannot discuss our strategy in the open.”
He said the military had the capacity to carry out any mission as exemplified in its roles in the restoration of democracy in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Badeh said the insurgence in the North- East was different as it involved the killing of fellow Nigerians, which according to him, was not what the military was happy about.
The CDS stated also that some arms recovered from insurgents showed clearly that some people outside the country were fuelling the violence with the aim of destabilizing Nigeria.
He said, “Some of the arms we have recovered are very alien to the Nigerian Army, which means there are people from outside fuelling this thing.
“That is why when Mr. President said we have al-Qaeda in West Africa, I believe it 100 per cent because I know that people from outside Nigeria are involved in this war.
“They are fighting us; they want to destabilise our country and some people in this country are standing with the forces of darkness. We must salvage our country; we must bring sanity to our country.”
Badeh, who commended CISA, urged Nigerians to support the military to overcome the current security challenge in the country.
He said that President Jonathan was solidly behind the military and had empowered them ‘‘to do the work.’’
Badeh said, “What this is showing is that people have finally realised that you don’t have another military apart from this one that you have. And it is either you support your military or you are looking for anarchy (sic).
“This war is not fought by military alone. This war is fought by Nigerians. Nigeria is at war, all hands must be on deck. If you can’t do anything else, but you have mouth, you can support the military and not disparage the military because you don’t have another one.”
The National Coordinator of CISA, Chidi Omeje, who delivered the group’s letter of solidarity to the CDS, said the military deserved the encouragement of the citizenry.
He noted that many military personnel had been killed while fighting to enthrone peace in the North-East and other troubled parts of the country.