Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has charged men of the Nigerian Army to pay attention to intelligence gathering in order to nip issues of insecurity in the bud.
Otti gave the charge on Friday while receiving a delegation of Course 47 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College of Nigeria, led by the Deputy Commandant and Director of Studies of the command, Rear Admiral Ufieko Uko.
Otti reminded them that if intelligence is deployed properly, Nigeria security agencies would be able to nip in the bud criminality and insecurity.
He stated, “A lot of times, if you pay attention to intelligence, you will be able to nip in the bud majority of the cases before they happen. So, pay attention to intelligence. It’s good and that is what this course is about too.
“We have also held a strong view that security starts from intelligence. Thorough and well put together intelligence would always predict and sometimes put the forces in a state of readiness.”
According to The PUNCH, the governor described it as interesting that Nigeria has foreign students coming to train in the country, stating that this is a mark of confidence.
He added that Nigeria has a disciplined and well-trained military, citing the diligent work of military personnel in Abia collaborating with his government to eradicate crime and criminality in the state as an example of this discipline.
Otti, who congratulated the students and thanked the leadership for finding Abia worthy for the study tour, assured of his commitment to working with the security agencies in sustaining peace in Abia State.
Speaking earlier, the Deputy Commandant and Director of Studies of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College of Nigeria, Rear Admiral Uko, stated that the students of Course 47 were in Abia as part of the senior course curriculum called the Environmental Study Tour of the Nigerian Army, with the theme “Harnessing Grassroots Intelligence for Enhanced Internal Security.”
Uko said that the study tour would enable them to come to the field and consolidate on the theoretical teachings they’ve received in the college, stating, “So, the students are here in Abia State to look at Abia and the existing structures which can be galvanized towards assisting the government and also the security agencies with veritable intelligence.
“If there are practices here that we can adopt, we will adopt them as best practices and they will take it back to wherever they serve, all with a view to ensuring that national security is enhanced in Nigeria,” he said.
He also thanked the governor for accepting to host the Course 47 in the state and for the arrangements and logistics that have been put in place to make them comfortable in the state.