The Armed Forces of Nigeria are working with retired soldiers to fight killer herdsmen, bandits, unknown gunmen and Boko Haram terrorists, says the Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor.

According to him, the forces remains committed to tackling worsening insecurity in the country. Mr Irabor stated this at the CDS Interactive Session with Retired Senior Military Officers in the North-Central geopolitical zone on Wednesday in Makurdi, Benue.

The director of defence information Benjamin Sawyerr disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.

Mr Irabor stated that the one-day security parley was part of a nationwide consultation and engagements with military veterans towards proffering lasting solutions to the security challenges bedevilling the country.

He added that violent communal and farmers-herders conflicts were responsible for the worsening deterioration of insecurity in the zone.

“The military as an institution remains at the forefront of leading the war against every form of criminalities as the constitution avails AFN the mandate of supporting civil authorities, which in this case is championed by the Nigeria Police,” he said.

The Chief of Defence Civil-Military Cooperation Fredrick Ogu added that the security parley with retired senior military officers across the six geopolitical zones was to identify the threats in terms of their intensity and peculiarities to address them.

Mr Ogu disclosed that the maiden edition of the CDS security parley was held in the South-West, while the second and third editions took place in the North-West and South-East.

The Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Tactical Air Command (TAC), Air Vice Marshal Idi Lubo, acknowledged the critical roles played by military veterans in the defence and security sectors.

Mr Lubo expressed optimism that critical issues bothering on intelligence gathering, information sharing and security management would dominate discussion during the close door session.

The AOC expressed the command’s commitment to sustaining the ongoing synergy with sister services and other security agencies towards ensuring peace and stability in the North-Central.