TheCable

Tukur Buratai, chief of army staff, has challenged the special forces combating Boko Haram insurgents in the north-east to prove that they are better than the insurgents.

Buratai gave the charge while addressing the special forces and army strike group deployed in the north-east in Maiduguri, on Sunday.

The army chief told the soldiers that they were deployed in the north-east because they were given special training.

“You are selected specially and deployed here in the North East. You are given special training and that is why you are called special forces. I am here to tell you that you have a great job to do and you must do it properly,” he said.

“You are deployed in the north-east to make a difference because of your special training.

“If there will be any challenge in terms of capacity, I believe you will fill that gap and you have all it takes to do that. If you apply the training that you are given, we all have cause to be proud to belong the armed forces of our great country.”

Buratai warned the soldiers against exhibiting cowardice.

“We do not have time for the chicken-hearted, the cowards. You all must brace up and be brave. We have done the greatest job so far in the North-East; the greatest in terms of degrading the terrorists,” he said.

“We are better trained, better equipped. We know tactics better than them and what is remaining for us is to dominate everywhere and dominate our areas of responsibilities. We must dominate the whole of the north-east.’’

The army chief said the insurgents must be dealt with “squarely”,

“They must be dealt with squarely. We must say no to their vain and invalid threats. Henceforth, there should be no dull moment in our operations. There should be no gap, but make a difference,” he said.