The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Taoreed Lagbaja on Tuesday said the military will not heed calls for overthrow of democratically elected government to satisfy some interests.
Speaking in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State at the opening ceremony of the COAS Combined 2nd and 3rd Quarters Conference, Lagbaja said the call for military takeover was majorly coming from young Nigerians who never experienced the era of Nigeria’s extensive military rule.
He stressed that the Nigerian Army was not ready to lose the “new prestige” it has painstakingly built in the past 25 years by allowing safe democratic rule.
“The Nigerian Army will not allow itself to be used to undemocratically sail some interests to power. As the service that received the most image bashing as a fallout of previous military interventions in Nigeria,
the Nigerian Army is not poised to losing the new prestige it has painstakingly built in the past 25 years,
secure, and united,” he said.
Lagbaja noted that the Nigerian Army and its sister services have continued to receive support from the government at both the national and sub-national levels as shown in the recent purchase of 2 BELL UH-1 Huey Helicopters equipped with advanced sensors and enablers to conduct a range of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, logistics and medical evacuation, among other functions.
He added that welfare of widows and family members of fallen heroes remains on course.
On the fallout of the recent nationwide hunger protest, the Army Chief stated that the situation was an eye opener that as an Armed Force, they should not only focus on physical security and defense of the nation but that food and social security issues can snowball into physical security challenges.
He said that though the situation that led to the protest seemed to have settled, the Nigerian Army understanunderstood issue of food security was among the factors that led to the protest.
