The Nigerian Army has trained 106 cadet officers of the 69 Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in mechanised operations to address the country’s worsening insecurity.

The NDA commandant, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Yusuf, said this during the closing ceremony of the training at Victor Kure Armoured Range in Bauchi on Thursday.

Mr Yusuf stated that the week-long training tagged ‘Exercise Battle Crime’, was to expose the cadets to mechanised operations in tackling insecurity.

“This exercise here today is the final phase of mechanised operations which is the phase four of the cadets. The objective of the exercise is to expose the cadets to mechanised operations in order to prepare them in dealing with the current security threats,” he said.

The NDA commandant added that the cadets would graduate from the NDA in October. 

He also mentioned that the training was in collaboration with the Armoured Corps, the Corps of Artillery and the Special Operations Command of the Nigerian Air Force.

The commandant said before the training, the cadets were at the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering, Makurdi, where they participated in an assault river crossing operations across River Benue.

He added that they moved from there to the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre, Jos, where they went through the adventure phase of their training.

“All these couldn’t have been possible without the overwhelming support from the chief of army staff. All the tanks, the Artillery guns that took part in this operation were courtesy of the CAOS,” added the NDA commandant. “We appreciate the Army Headquarters for this outstanding support and I also want to appreciate the Chief of Air Staff that has authorised the Air Force to provide close air support during this phase of the operation.”

(NAN)