Current security demands in the country are so high that the Military has never been this stressed since the Civil War of 1967 to 1970, National Security Adviser (NSA), Mohammed Sambo Dasuki has revealed.
Speaking at a session on National Civil-Military Dialogue in Abuja, Dasuki lamented that terrorism and other security challenges have forced the Military to open joint operations with para-military outfits in all but eight states of the federation.
“The past decade has witnessed multiple forms of unrest-from armed robbery, kidnapping, electoral, communal to ethno-religious violence,” he said.“Currently, we are battling with insurgency and terrorism. This has raised the flag of security demands to levels higher than we have witnessed since the Civil War. It has meant that the military are seeing more deployments in aid of civil authority than anticipated.”
Dasuki accepted that it is the function of the Military to quell civil disobedience but stated that such internal responsibilities are not the Military’s, as soldiers were originally trained to combat external enemies of the state.
“However, our recent history has seen the military in joint activities with other para-military outfits currently in about 28 states,” he said. “In addition, the military is involved in checking armed robbery and other crimes on interstate roads.”
He added that in addition to helping the Police in its own task of managing domestic violence, the Military has now been saddled with the responsibility of combating terrorists in the North. This, he explained, means the presence of the military in the society is so routine that professionalism is compromised.
