The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja on Tuesday flagged off three training exercises across the country to protect lives and property.

Army spokesman Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement, said the exercises are ‘EXERCISE STILL WATERS 3’, ‘GOLDEN DAWN 3’ and ‘ENDURING PEACE 3’.

Mr Nwachukwu said the exercises, designed to curb the security challenges in the South-South, South-East, South-West and North-Central, would run concurrently in the respective geopolitical zones till the end of the year.

While flagging off the exercises in Lagos, Mr Lagbaja said they are to combat diverse emerging security challenges peculiar to the affected geopolitical zones to mitigate the challenges associated with the last quarter of the year.

He noted that many Nigerians usually travel around the country in the spirit of the yuletide within this period, necessitating a safe and enabling environment for citizens to go about their lawful businesses without fear or apprehension.

Mr Lagbaja charged the troops to carry out their duties diligently within the confines of the law and stipulated codes of conduct.

According to him, army personnel should not be a problem to the citizens they are trying to protect.

The army chief also inaugurated ‘EXERCISE CLEAN SWEEP’ at the Ikeja Cantonment Lagos to clear Unexploded Explosive Ordnances at the site of the unfortunate 2002 bomb blast, which occurred at the cantonment.

The army chief said the objective of the exercise was to completely disinfect the epicentre of the Ikeja bomb blast and clear it of all verified and suspected remaining Unexploded Explosive Ordnances lying around the cantonment.

He noted that the initial clearance operations ensured some degree of safety in the cantonment and its environs. Still, he added that the recent discovery of some unexploded explosive ordnances at the site of the blast made a follow-up clearance exercise necessary.

According to him, the exercise will be conducted for 61 days.

Mr Lagbaja urged the public, particularly those in Lagos and Ogun, not to panic on sighting the movement of special military vehicles and hearing the sound of explosions during the exercise.

He assured that appropriate safety and security measures were implemented to guarantee an accident-free exercise.

Mr Lagbaja added that all relevant emergency and response agencies, including the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps, State Emergency Management Agency and the Medics, would work in synergy to ensure the successful completion of the exercise.

(NAN)