Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin, has said Nigerian military is confronting no fewer than fourteen security threats across the country.

Olonisakin said this at a reception organised for him by the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN.

The defence chief was at the UN headquarters for the Second Chiefs of Defence Conference, alongside more than one hundred other chiefs of defence staff all over the world.

He said “By my estimation, we have about 14 security threats that we are confronting, ranging from terrorism, insurgency, kidnapping, cultism, to issues linked to armed robbery.

To mitigate incidences of suicide bombings, Olonisakin said military high command had met with other stakeholders to encourage the populace to provide them with necessary intelligence.

He said the command realised that intelligence was vital to handling the menace of suicide bombings.

The defence chief also said the military had commenced the process of restoring full civil authority in areas formerly controlled by Boko Haram terrorists.

Olonisakin noted that last week, many Boko Haram militants surrendered, adding that “we have what we call Operation Safe Corridor in Gombe that is to handle this kind of surrendered terrorists.

On peacekeeping operations, the chief of Defence staff said Nigeria had met and exceeded the gender percentage, having 16.2 percent female peacekeepers as against the 15 percent benchmark by the UN.

The Nigeria’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN, Tijjani Bande, commended Nigeria’s security forces for decimating the Boko Haram as a fighting force.

Bande said, “Soft targets are being exploited by desperate group but in truth, even beyond Boko Haram, other challenges are also being addressed.

“What is important is the synergy that has been expressed by Chief of Defence Staff in relation to what all the security agencies are doing together; when we work together, we are secured.