President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday ordered a military crackdown on bandits operating in rural communities in Zamfara State, following fresh attacks on some communities in Shinkafi and Maradun Local Government Areas.
The President in a statement signed by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President, has approved the request of the Minister of Defence, Brig-Gen. Mansur Dan Ali (rtd) for the stationing of a full battalion of Special Forces in Zamfara State to enable the army to carry out the new mandate, and the operationalization of the newly-established 8 Division of the Nigerian Army in Sokoto in the new Order of Battle (OBAT).
President Buhari has also approved the movement of the 1 Brigade of the Nigerian Army from Sokoto to Gusau upon the take-off of the 8 Division.
โTo tackle the desperate actions of Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east, through the use of mostly female, underage girls as suicide bombers, President Buhari has equally approved the setting up of an intelligence fusion centre in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, for the purpose of gathering and sharing intelligence among the security agencies in the country.
โThis phase of the war will be intelligence-driven and the new centre is expected to intensify the harvesting and sharing of intelligence so as to bring to an early closure, the desperate last-minute activities of the terrorists,โ the statement reads.
