The service chiefs, yesterday, said the abducted Chibok schoolgirls will be rescued and the war against insurgency won, while endorsing the Presidential Fact Finding Committee on the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls.
They noted that the committee, by its terms of reference, would help reveal to the world an accurate account of the mass kidnap that had roused global outrage and precipitated the offer of help from some major powers.
The service chiefs spoke when members of the committee held an intensive interaction with the top brass of the military in Abuja yesterday.
Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, at the occasion thanked members of the committee for taking on the assignment, saying that the task of the committee would give them some relief if it could deliver on its mandate.
He said: “It will give us respite if you are able to get to the root of all that has happened.
“Everybody thinks this war is for the military alone. It is a war for all of us. Soldiers do not fight wars on their own. It is a nation that goes to war.”
He expressed the hope that with current efforts and support, “we shall win the war and bring back our girls.”
While thanking the service chiefs for the insight provided, the Chairman of the Fact finding Committee, Gen. Sabo (rtd.), frowned at the disparagement of the country’s Armed Forces, and commiserated with the services on the officers that lost their lives in the fight against terrorism.
In a separate meeting with the Department of State Services, DSS, its Director General, Mr. Ekoenyong Ita, gave a detailed brief on the department’s anti-terrorism efforts, which he said had led to several arrests and the bust of terror threats and plots.
On the Chibok abduction, Ita dispelled the notion of inadequate intelligence gathering as a factor hindering the fight against terror.
“We have gone beyond the lack of intelligence. If we didn’t have intelligence, we would not get the Nyanya bombers,” he said.
While, urging Nigerians to be patient, Mr. Ita gave assurance on the safe return of the abducted schoolgirls. “We will get these girls,” he said. “If we can get the people who bombed Nyanya, we will get the girls,” he assured.
