The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shuaibu, arrived in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Saturday, two days after President Bola Tinubu ordered security chiefs to intensify efforts to rescue abducted persons and eliminate terrorist and bandit camps across the country.
Shuaibu arrived in the state capital at about 11am, with plans to meet theatre, field and unit commanders operating across Borno State.
Although the purpose of his visit has not been officially linked to the President’s directive, PUNCH Online gathered that the army chief would hold discussions with military commanders deployed across the state.
The visit comes amid renewed instructions from Tinubu to security agencies to step up operations against terrorists and bandits and secure the release of people held in captivity.
As reported on October 15, the Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, disclosed that the President issued the order during a security meeting with heads of security agencies at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Musa said Tinubu tasked the service chiefs and other security officials with ensuring that every abducted person was located and rescued, regardless of where they were being held.
“The directive from the President is: all of us must go all out to fish out and rescue all those that have been abducted, kidnapped, wherever they are.
“There shouldn’t be any camp of any terrorists or bandits anywhere in Nigeria,” he said.
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The Defence Minister also said the President instructed security chiefs to ensure that Nigerians could exercise their voting rights in a safe environment during the elections scheduled for January.
Shuaibu’s arrival in Maiduguri comes as military formations in the North-East continue operations against insurgent groups.
However, no official statement has established whether the army chief’s engagement with commanders in Borno is directly connected to Tinubu’s latest security directive.