By Kingsley Omonobi-Abuja

THE Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai yesterday summoned to Abuja for an emergency meeting, the General Officers Command of all the divisions of the army following allegations by militant groups in the Niger Delta that some army officers have solicited their support to oust the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari through a coup détat. Present at the meeting were the General Officers Commanding (GOCs) 1, 2, 3, 81, 82, 7 and 8 divisions of the Army, as well as Principal Staff Officers based in Abuja and other parts of the country.

CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF (COAS), LT.-GEN. TUKUR BURATA

The senior officers consequently pledged their loyalty to the constitution of the country as well as to the President and Commander in Chief of the armed forces of Nigeria saying, “Our loyalty, allegiance to the constitutional authority of this land, the three branches of government, is unquestionable”.

Speaking on behalf of the GOCs, after the meeting, General Officer Commanding 1 division, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade said “The Chief of Army Staff summoned his top Commanders across the Army for a quick meeting this morning. Essentially, the meeting was to review the security situation in the country and to also let us know some of the reorganization that has taken place over the last few days.

“You are aware that there was reorganization of the Niger Delta operations; it has changed from the erstwhile Operation Pulo Shield to Operation Delta Safe and the Army is still very strong and we will continue to do everything to ensure that issues of oil theft and Pipeline vandalism will be severely curtailed in conjunction with our sister services, the Nigerian Navy and the Air Force and other security agencies.

“We also did a review of the operation in the North east. It is going reasonably well. There are challenges here and there but we want to assure the nation that in no distant future we will bring the operation to a close, we are working very hard on that.

“Also, we want to reiterate that in all our operations across the length and breadth of this country the issue of our rules of engagement is like our Bible; we have had quite a number of talks here and there but we want to assure the public and the generality of our citizens that the Army will abide by the rules of engagement.

“We also want to commend the civilian JTF who have also done a tremendous job in the North east and we will continue to solicit their support to finally rid the country of terrorism.

“You must have also heard in the last few days of rumours of coup or no coup. We want to assure all our citizens that the Army remains apolitical. Our loyalty, allegiance to the constitutional authority of this land, the three branches of government, Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief, our loyalty is unquestionable.

“We have decided long before now, since the beginning of the fourth Republic, to abide by our code of conduct and to remain subordinate to the civil authority. That has not changed and it will not change.”