Osinbajo lists role of military, local communities in insurgency fight

The Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo has stated that the strength of the Nigerian military must be blended with the resilience of local communities in the ongoing fight against insurgency.

Osinbajo who said this on Tuesday at a conference with the theme ‘insurgency and counter insurgency in Nigeria: Perspectives on Boko Haram’ in Abuja added that the blend will be useful in an era where warfare is easily waged by non-state actors that hide within the civilian populations.

The Vice President who was represented by the National Security Adviser, Babagana Munguno, at the conference argued that Nigeria needs more than military approach to combat insurgency in the northeast.

He also asked the troops deployed to the northeast to understand and be sensitive to the needs of the residents in the zone, noting further that the current violent extremism in the Sahel region is threatening the relative peace in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

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He said: “In the theatre, this comprehensive approach calls for the harmonization of combat imperatives with those of humanitarian operation, the conduct of military security and law enforcement institutions must exacerbate sensitivity to the peculiarities of the local environment.

“The strength of our military must be blended with the resilience of local communities in an era which warfare is easily waged by non-state actors that hide within the civilian populations, civil military relations has emerged as a strategic point. In recognition of this, the Nigerian army has established a directorate of civil military relations to build trust with conflict affected communities.

“Our armed forces are fully capable of delivering military victory. However, an insurgency of this scale which violently questions the legitimacy of the nation itself requires victories in other spheres that can only be won by non-military means,” Osinbajo added.

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