By Augustine Ehikioya
Just like other parts of the country where the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, “Soldier-First” mantra is taking root, the 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Imo State, is full of praises for the new Command Philosophy.
The implementation of the mantra has started to yield results and improving security in the State.
This was disclosed by the Commander 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Imo State, Brigadier General Ibrahim Abbas, during exclusive interview with Security Watch Africa (SWA) crew in Imo State.
He said, “Well, the general security situation in Imo state, I think for now it’s cool and calm, but very unpredictable. We have been carrying out various operations in our AOR.
“All this is to stamp out this issue of insecurity that keeps on popping up from time to time.”
According to him, the major security challenges in the area included the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB, and its security network, the Eastern Security Network.
“Those are some of our issues here. And we also have the issue of cultism. And I think on the part of bunkering, it has kind of gone down a bit significantly for now.
“Then tied to that, we have issues of kidnapping and armed robbery here and there,” he stated.
But the Commander noted that collaboration with other security agencies has helped to keep them low.
“We have been doing our best to ensure that these things are reduced. In fact, we’re trying as much as possible to eradicate it once and for all.
On the COAS Command Philosophy, Brig Gen Abbas said that everything has been done to strictly follow the directive since he assumed office at the Brigade.
“One of the major directives of the General Officer Commanding 82 Division has been that we should take care of the welfare of the soldiers. He has always taken that as a very, very important pillar of the Chief of Army Staff, and he really keeps on hammering on that.
“And that is why anything that has to do with their welfare has been taken seriously. If I may start from the administrative part, when it comes to the issue of their welfare in terms of passes, in terms of accommodation, their Ration Cash Allowance, all this has been taken care of.
“Then also when it comes to the aspect of medical, you know, for all our soldiers that have been involved in one incident or another, I can vividly tell you now that since I assumed command, I’ve had a total of seven in terms of wounded in action.
“All of them were taken care of, even taking them to private hospitals, that’s to show you the extent that we go into taking care of their welfare.”
The Commander added, “And I think apart from that, we carry out the occasional doubles. You know, all the Commanding Officers have been directed to carry out monthly Durbar while, me, I carry out quarterly Durbar with the troops, and not only to the troops themselves, but we also carry out Durbar with their wives.
“You understand we go to that level because sometimes there are things that soldiers may not be able to talk about, but their wives will talk. So I think we really strongly stand on that pillar.”
Speaking on the philosophy’s implementation and impact on soldiers, he said “Very well, very well, like I told you, that you would have noticed when you came into the headquarters, it’s a bit quiet. Almost everybody here is deployed in the field.
“Most of them you see coming to the offices, they come to try and clear their tables and still go back to the field.
“And when it comes to the soldiers, you know, if not for the kind of morale, high morale that they are having, honestly speaking, most of the successes are based on that.
“Because, as you know, all these places are littered with IEDs. You know, improvised explosive devices everywhere, So their morale has to be high for them to be able to push forward and try to achieve the mission that they were given. So it has translated very well.
On the achievements, he commended the Civil-Military projects been conducted, increasing information sharing from the people, and lowering security challenges.
He said, “I’m the Commander here, but we’ll talk as a Brigade, you know, I think we have brought the issue of security to a reasonable standard, I won’t say completely, you know, but to a reasonable standard.
“I think that civil military relationship has been enhanced to some extent. Some would, say, security issues that have to do with things like bunkering the rate of kidnapping, I think, to some extent, have gone down a bit.
“But you see that the rate at which we receive intelligence has kind of increased also, and that is because the people are kind of okay with us operating.
“They have been cooperating with us. Because, I think some months back, we carried out some outreach project that had to do with some Medical Outreach Project. We distributed some books to schools. And even presently, as directed from headquarters, we are going to carry out one, I think, in the next two weeks, if I’m not mistaken. And we also visit communities from time to time.”
He said those are some of the things that are being done to win the hearts and minds of the people.
The Commander also disclosed that they have taken the job further by mediating in crises between communities and oil companies.
“I know of an issue, if you check my board now, you see number three. So what happens is that most of the time you see communities reporting that oil companies are refusing to do this or they are refusing to do that. So we have gone to that level now to start mediating.
“Initially, we don’t. We try not to involve ourselves. But once you don’t mediate, they start protesting. From protesting, they now move into the aspect of vandalising their assets. From vandalism, they start kidnapping and demanding all sorts of things.
“So we have even waded into that. So, from time to time, we mediate and try to amicably solve their problems.
“And also, urge the companies to try and heed to some of their demands, so that we can have some level of peace in that area. So I think to an extent, we are doing our best,” he said.
