The Nigerian Army (NA) on Thursday said it has arrested 37 Boko Haram suspects in the past 15 months in Lagos area.
Outgone General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division, Maj.-Gen. Isidore Edet stated this yesterday at the command’s headquarters in Lagos.
Edet, who was redeployed as Commander, Infantry Corps, Jaji in Kaduna, handed over the flagship of 81 Division to Maj.Gen. Ebenezer Oyefolu, the new GOC.
Addressing reporters after the event, Edet said his most challenging period as GOC was when three army personnel were kidnapped by militants at Ijedodo.
He said: “As Boko Haram is being defeated in the northeast, the terrorists run to other parts of the country. We ensure they are arrested irrespective of where they run to. Lagos is not an exception, we have continued to arrest them and hand them over to the necessary agency. We have arrested over 37 of them from August last year when I took over to this month.
“My most challenging moment here was when three of my intelligence operators on surveillance at Ijedodo were abducted by the militants and I had to work round the clock to ensure their rescue.
“Tackling the challenges posed by the militants wasn’t so challenging because we had to work cooperatively and collaboratively to rout the vandals in Arepo axis. For the Festac axis, the work is still on.
“Commanding 81 Division for me, was an honour. It is the dream of every Infantry officer to rise to command a division. It was an honour I didn’t take for granted. So, I would miss the cooperation and good working relations I had with my personnel.”
In his remark, Oyefolu said he would try to maintain the peace his met on ground, pledging to provide good leadership and professionalism.
He also said the army would as much as possible, support the police to contain activities of militancy and other armed crimes.
