New Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Lucky Irabor on Sunday led other Service Chiefs on an operational visit to the Headquarters, Command and Control Centre of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital.
Their visit to the theatre for the war against Boko Haram comes a few days after they met with President Muhammadu Buhari.
This is the first time the new Service Chiefs are visiting Maiduguri since their appointment, and it also serves as the first operational aimed at better prosecuting the war against the insurgents.
Gen. Irabor and Major General Ibrahim Attahiru are not new to the operations within the theatre, as they have previously served as Theatre Commanders of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri.
The visit to Maiduguri became imperative after the service chiefs met with their Commander-In-Chief, President Buhari, on Thursday, January 28.
At the meeting, the president charged them to be patriotic, and serve the country well.
His words: “We’re in a state of emergency. Be patriotic, serve the country well, as your loyalty is to the country.”
The President congratulated the Service Chiefs on heading their various services, adding: “There’s nothing I can tell you about the service because you are in it. I was also in it, and I will pray for you. I also assure you that whatever I can do as Commander-in-Chief will be done, so that the people will appreciate your efforts.
“You know the stage we were in 2015, you know the stage we are now, and the undertakings we made. We promised to secure the country, revive the economy, and fight corruption. None has been easy, but we have certainly made progress.”
According to a statement by his special media aide, Garba Shehu, President Buhari also charged the Service Chiefs to be concerned about the morale of their officers and men, saying they should be made to feel physically and professionally secure.
He pledged that government would do its best in terms of equipment and logistics.
Major-General Lucky Irabor, the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), said the military has no Chibok schoolgirl in custody.
He however did not rule out the escape of some of the girls, from captivity, following clearance operations by the troops.
Irabor was reacting to news reports that some Chibok girls escaped from their Boko Haram captors, more than six years after they were kidnapped from their school.
The father of one of the girls, Ali Maiyanga, said he spoke with his daughter.
Ali Maiyanga, middle with Ogebe, left and U.S. Congressman Chris Smith in 2016
Two of Maiyanga’s daughters were among the 276 kidnapped by Boko Haram on 14 April, 2014. One of them escaped earlier and resurfaced with a baby.
Maiyanga also said last week that the second daughter was among the girls rescued from Boko Haram.
Maiyanga said his daughter informed him that she along with others were rescued by the army.
According to Emmanuel Ogebe of the U.S. Law Group, there are other escapees with the army, waiting to be identified by their parents.
However, Major General Irabor said the girls were not with the military.
“It was the desire of the military to get the Chibok girls back safely and if our operations have helped those said to have escaped, I think we are glad.” said Irabor.
“We do not have any of the Chibok girls in our custody, so if they are not with us we have nothing to confirm again”.
Irabor spoke during an interaction with mediamen in Maiduguri at the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole.
The CDS was accompanied by the Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Amao, and the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo.
He said he was in the Theatre to appraise the security situation on ground and to also get briefing from the officers on ground.