The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has assured Nigerians that soldiers involved in a recent incident at Banex Plaza in Abuja will be sanctioned if they are found to culpable.

The military had taken over the plaza for several days after an alleged attack on its personnel by civilians on Saturday, May 18, 2024.

Lagbaja, who spoke on a special programme to score key areas of President Bola Tinubu’s administration after one year in office, said they army is still investigating the incident.

“The press release from the director of army public relations clearly stated that these allegations will be investigated.

“We are investigating it and we will take appropriate sanction on the troops if the are found to be culpable,” Lagbaja said.

There were criticism for the army for shutting down the plaza after the incident which denied business owners in the plaza from carrying out their businesses. Many said the action by the army was unlawful.

However, Lagbaja justified army’s occupation of the plaza for days, insisting that it was the duty of the army to ensure that law and order is maintained after the incident.

“If we perceive there is a likelihood of breach of law and order, we take appropriate action because if Banex is touched, it is the military that will be called out,” he said.

Meanwhile, the the Nigerian Army on Monday announced immediate reopening of Banex Plaza after days of closure.

In a statement, the spokesperson for the Army, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, said the reopening of the plaza was agreed at a high-level meeting convened in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

In the statement, Nwachukwu said the primary objective of the meeting was to identify and apprehend the perpetrators and ensure the continued security of the Federal Capital.

He added that the leadership of Banex Plaza was instructed to lock up Shop C93 with immediate effect.

Also, the owners of the shop who orchestrated the mob attack on the soldiers are to be arrested and handed over to the Nigerian Police.

The Chief of Army Staff says the security situation in different parts of the country has improved, especially the North East which witnessed a brutal insurgency in the past decades.

Gone are the days when reports of suicide bombing, attacks on our government infrastructure, attacks on troops’ locations, dislodgement of our troops and so many reverses in the North East used to be the in-thing in the news headline,” Lt-General Lagbaja said. “Today, there is relative peace in the North East.”

However, the army chief believes that complex threats remain in the region with troops on standby to battle them.

“We are still confronting the challenge of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). It’s understandable because the threats we confront are complex, ill-defined, and adaptable,” he said.

Part of the gains made by the military in the North East, according to him, is the recovery of military equipment carted away by terrorists years ago, at the peak of the insurgency.

Over the past year, the military has carried out several clearance operations in the region, eliminating terrorists, recovering equipment, and rescuing several people from places such as Sambisa Forest.

Lt-Gen Lagbaja, referencing that, said, “We have been seeing photographs of our mine-resident, ambush-protected vehicles being brought out of the Timbuktu triangle, (and) from Sambisa Forest; places that the troops previously dreaded in the past to enter. Now they go there almost on a weekly basis to ensure there are boots on the ground, and the domination of the geographic space.”

Though the situation in the North East has improved, the situation in the North West is different.

“In the North West, the threat matrix is becoming emboldened, I will say that,” the Army chief said. “This can be attributed to many socio-political factors, clearly outside the purview of the military.

“The challenge has always been the Yankasai, the local vigilante groups, against the pastoralists.”

While part of the issues are beyond the military control, according to Lt-General Lagbaja, troops have continued to play their part and have taken out several of the bandit kingpins in the region.

He also believes that the military’s actions have led to security improvements in the South East with the illegal sit-at-homes tackled, while in the South-South there has been improved crude oil output due to the military’s actions in tackling oil thieves.

The army chief believes the troops should be commended for fighting to secure the nation against the odds.

“Looking back at where we were years ago and the threats that confront us as a nation, I will say that the troops in the field and even the staff in the headquarters deserve the highest commendations for working in a very difficult environment and delivering results despite the challenges,” Lagbaja said.

The Chief of Army said the troops of the Nigerian Army deserve some commendation in the fight against insecurity despite the challenges they have faced, saying security has improved in the last one year.

“Looking back at where we were years ago and the threats that confronts us as a nation, I will say that the troops in the field and even the staff in the headquarters deserve the highest commendations for working in a very difficult environment and delivering results despite the challenges,” Lagbaja said.

The Chief of Army Staff also denied the allegation that the Nigerian military is complicit in the fight against insecurity.

The military have been repeatedly been accused of siding with aggressors by locals and sometimes prominent personalities in communities where troops have been deployed to fight insurgents and restore peace and order, but the army chief denied the allegation.

He said the Nigerian Army does not go about asking people of their religious and ethnic affiliations while carrying out their duty and therefore the allegation of complicity cannot be true.

“The truth is that if there is security infraction in Borno State it is not everybody in Borno State that is an enemy of the state. So, the army does not go about asking people what is there religion, which ethnic group they belong to in carrying out their duty, we do it professionally.

“If they are not seen as combatants carrying arms openly, engaging the military in combat then we treat them as law abiding citizens because that is what they presented themselves to be,” he said.

General Lagbaja rated the military performance in tackling insecurity in the North-East, North-West and South-East high, saying the relative peace has returned to the North-East which used to hotbed of terrorism.