The Army has partnered the National Information and Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on utilising technology to tackle insurgency and other security challenges in Nigeria.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of a seminar on Monday in Abuja, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya, admitted that the nation was currently witnessing one of the most challenging times in its history.

“There is a compelling requirement to explore the utilisation of modern technology and leverage more on inter-agency collaboration towards addressing these challenges,” he said.

Mr Yahaya, who was represented by the chief of transformation and innovation, Maj. Gen. Charles Ofoche, said the seminar aimed at broadening the knowledge of participants.

Mr Yahaya also said the security environment was replete with acts of insurgency, terrorism, kidnapping and banditry, ISWAP, IPOB, and ESN.

He added that the acts had continually posed huge threats to Nigeria’s security and cohesion.

According to him, the complexities of these threats cannot be addressed without harnessing the capacity of the security agencies. 

He said there had been various policy options adopted by both the federal and some state governments to address the security challenges.

The Army chief urged security commanders at all levels to make deliberate efforts to foster effective cooperation and collaboration by their personnel during operations.

He reiterated the need for respect for human rights by security agencies in conducting operations in accordance with human rights laws and constitutional responsibilities.

The Director General, Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC), Maj.-Gen. Garba Wahab (rtd) said the essence of the seminar was to bring security agencies and other stakeholders to collaborate on ways to tackle insecurity.

The director, research and development at NITDA, Collins Agwu, said the insecurity in Nigeria was a challenge for all, adding that every effort must be put in place to curb the menace.

Mr Agwu said despite huge investments injected into the security sector, the government had not been able to tackle the challenge that had been troubling the well-being of the nation for a long time.

“Modern technology has been introduced and we believe this will go a long way to avert this menace,” he said.

(NAN)