Southern Kaduna crisis: Army to conduct “Exercise Harbin Kunama II”

The Nigerian Army will conduct “Exercise Harbin Kunama II’’ in Southern Kaduna State in April as part of efforts to address the current security challenges in the area. Maj.-Gen. David Ahmadu, the Chief of Training and Operations of the Army, announced this on Tuesday in Abuja at a news conference while reviewing the exercises conducted by the army in 2016. Ahmadu also said that the Nigerian Army Small Arms Championship (NASAC) would take place in the Sambisa forest in March, the first in seven years. “The NASAC will also be accompanied by concentration of fires from direct and indirect weapon systems of the Nigerian Army. “In addition, the Roland Missile Weapon System in the Nigerian Army inventory will also be test-fired during the NASAC,’’ he said. On Harbin Kunama II, Ahmadu explained that the exercise would cover Birnin Gwari, Kyambane forest in Kaduna State and “contiguous areas in Plateau, Lame Burra forest in Bauchi State and Falgore forest in Kano State’’. He said both NASAC and Harbin Kunama would entail massive movement of personnel and military hardware. The chief of training and operations, therefore, urged the public not to panic as their safety would be guaranteed. Responding to questions, Ahmadu said, that the army did not immediately respond to crisis in Southern Kaduna was not a failure on its part. He explained that it was the responsibility of the police to deal with internal crisis. According to him, the army comes in to deal with internal crisis after due process when it is certain that the crisis is beyond the police. Ahmadu also allayed fears and doubt that the NASAC would hold in the Sambisa forest in spite of pockets of suicide bombings and other attacks being witnessed in the North-East. He recalled that in 2016, “hybrid Command Post Exercises and Field Training Exercise’’ nicknamed “Shirin Harbi’’ were conducted at Alkaleri forest in Bauchi state. Others, he said were Exercise Harbin Kunama I held at Dansadau forest in Zamfara, Crocodile Smile in South-South and Python Dance in South-East. “The objectives of these exercises were to sharpen the skills of troops with respect to specific environments and to rid the geo-political zones of prevailing security challenges at the time such as armed robbery, armed banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, illegal oil bunkering and oil theft, amongst others,’’ he said. According to Ahmadu, the exercises were assessed as hugely successful. He called on the general public to remain on high alert and be security conscious. Ahmadu said this was necessary as insurgents fleeing from military operations in the North-East had started “infiltrating to hibernate in the midst of innocent communities’’.