The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division/Commander Sector 1 Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar has reiterated the resolve of the Division, and indeed the Nigerian Army at large to enhance non-kinetic efforts aimed at promoting socio-economic development within Borno State in particular and the North East Theatre of Operations at large.
Gen Abubakar made the pledge when members of the Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’a Wa Ikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS), an Islamic Faith based Organization in Borno State, paid a courtesy visit to Headquarters 7 Division, Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri on Tuesday, 9 May, 2023.
Stating the purpose of the organization’s visit, the leader and the State Chairman Alhaji Baba Goni Abdul disclosed that JIBWIS was a faith based organization saddled with the responsibility of monitoring and controlling activities of Islamic leaders in the state, curbing the menace of misdemeanor amongst the youth, and promoting the adherence to the tenets of the Holy Quran within the society.
Baba Goni added that JIBWIS was also involved in humanitarian activities aimed at bringing succour and respite to several victims of the insurgency and other vulnerable members of the society. He appreciated the invaluable support of both the Theatre Command and the Division to the Organization over the years.
Responding, General Abubakar appreciated the Group for their efforts in ensuring that youths were positively engaged and discouraged from negative vices.
It would be recall that Lieutenant-General Farouk Yahaya, the Chief of Army Staff, stated that in order to limit insurgency and other criminal activity like banditry and kidnapping in the nation, the country may need to use a carrot and stick approach. He called the new approach “Non-Kinetic Approach” and it involves initiatives to deradicalize condemned criminals by giving them viable sources of income.
Various types of instability, including insurgency in the North East, banditry and abduction in the North West, IPOB agitations in the South East, and crude oil bunkering in the South-South, he continued, are currently present in various sections of the nation.
