By Taye Obateru

Jos — Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Onyeabo Iheajirika, has given assurance of the army’s preparedness to rise up to the current internal security challenges facing the country in its determination to defend democracy.

He stated this yesterday when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State during his maiden visit to the Three Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army.

He promised to promote professionalism within the force in the face of the security challenges confronting the country adding: “We have to in addition to defending the territorial integrity of the country expand our focus to address the challenge of internal security of the nation.”

The army chief said he plans to transform the force into global standard with emphasis on tackling internal security challenges.

“Part of my mission is to transform the Nigerian Army to a force that would meet exigency of time. The challenges at hand now are more of internal operation than external. We will have to assist the civil authorities to not only ensure adequate internal security and to make sure we are proactive in our operations”, he stressed.

Governor Jang was thankful to the army for the restoration of peace to the state, noting that the peace efforts could not have succeeded without them.

He made a case for equipping the army with modern warfare equipment to enable them meet international standard of operation.

At the Maxwell Khobe Cantonment, headquarters of the Three Armoured Division, Lt. Gen. Iheajirika urged the officers to remain professional and remain respectful to civil authorities, promising to address the challenges militating against their smooth operations.