The Nigerian Army says it does not discriminate between male and female soldiers in its internal security operations.

Maj.-Gen. On Thursday, Olufemi Oluyede, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, stated this at a sensitisation workshop organised for troops of the division in the Rivers capital.

Mr Oluyode said that both genders were assigned different responsibilities towards achieving its set objectives.

The workshop was organised by the Department of Civil Military Affairs, Army Headquarters.

The GOC, represented by Brig.-Gen. Edore Agbebaku, the division’s Signal Commander, said the army had prioritised balancing duties among personnel, irrespective of their gender.

“To this end, the army headquarters is conducting this awareness, to enable us to understand the roles of men and women participating in various military activities,” he stated. “The army has identified working with various peers as key for success in our internal security operations, in conjunction with sister security agencies.”

Mr Oluyede added that the military’s development of gender policy was in tandem with the federal government’s policy that focused on promoting gender mainstreaming and women empowerment.

“The adoption of the policy by the military will enable it to effectively compete favourably with its counterparts across the globe,” he noted. “It will also facilitate strategic collaboration and a gender-sensitive approach by the various security services, given the multidimensional conflicts and security challenges confronting the country.”

The army pointed out that the policy would create an enabling environment to prevent gender disparity in the military.

(NAN)