Nigerian Army says 3,800 people are undergoing screening to join the force as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, insists only the best candidates, medically and physically fit, will be recruited.

This is contained in a statement by the army spokesman Onyema Nwachukwu on Tuesday in Abuja.

The director at Manpower Planning, Maj.-Gen. Umar Musa, disclosed that over 3,800 candidates were undergoing screening at the centre to recruit young and physically fit Nigerians to fill the manpower needs of the army. 

Mr Yahaya said the best would be recruited when he visited the Nigerian Army Battle Fitness Centre in Falgore, Kano, to assess the ongoing screening for 82 Regular Recruit Intake on Tuesday.

He urged the recruitment officers to leverage the experience garnered from the previous exercises to improve upon the conduct of the ongoing one.

The COAS advised the officers to ensure that the goals of the exercise were not compromised.

He also pledged to equip the centre with more training aids and facilities to enhance training at the centre further.

Last March, APC national leader Bola Tinubu called on President Muhammadu Buhari to authorise immediate recruitment of up to 50 million young Nigerians into the Nigerian Army, saying such action would overwhelm the ragtag groups of insurgents and bandits terrorising the country across multiple flanks.  

He later recanted.

(NAN)